You should contact the Georgia Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) for clarification on this issue but we believe you can buy and register a new vehicle while you have suspended registration on a different vehicle.

The GA MVD says that a “lapse” in auto insurance means ten (10) or more days upon which the records of the department do not reflect that a motor vehicle was covered by a policy of minimum motor vehicle insurance coverage. Prior to July 1, 2005, a “lapse” in insurance coverage was defined as one or more days upon which the records of the department do not reflect that a motor vehicle was covered by a policy of minimum motor vehicle insurance coverage.

If you receive a letter about what the MVD perceives as a lapse in coverage and you cannot provide proof of insurance for the period of the lapse than a fee needs to be paid. If the lapse fee is not paid within thirty-days (30) of the letter’s date, the vehicle's registration will be suspended. To cancel the suspension, the vehicle owner must pay the $25.00 lapse fee and a $60 reinstatement fee.

If the MVD is sent information showing that your auto insurance policy had canceled out and no new insurance information is received within the thirty-day (30) time period allowed, a thirty-day (30) "Notice of Pending Suspension" will be printed and mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner advising the owner that their vehicle’s registration is subject to suspension. This letter will include what is required to avoid suspension and fines.

After 30 days from the date on the “Notice of Pending Suspension” without proof that there was not a lapse, the insurance status on the vehicle’s record will be changed to "No Insurance" and the registration status to "Suspended". A “Suspension of Vehicle Registration Notice” will be printed and mailed to the vehicle owner advising the owner that their vehicle’s registration has been suspended. This letter will include what is required to reinstate or cancel their vehicle’s registration. As you can see the GA MVD only notes that this one vehicle's registration will be suspended, not all of the owner's vehicles' registrations.

The GA MVD does note specifically that:

• A license plate (tag) will not be issued, transferred, replaced or renewed until the vehicle’s liability insurance coverage is reinstated.
• The vehicle should not be driven without Georgia liability insurance coverage or with a suspended revoked or cancelled registration.
• Driving a vehicle with a cancelled, suspended or revoked registration is a misdemeanor.
• If the vehicle is driven without Georgia liability insurance coverage or with a suspended, revoked or cancelled registration, the vehicle’s registered owner is subject to additional fines and the vehicle is subject to impoundment when discovered by law enforcement or if the vehicle is involved in an accident.

So you cannot try to get a different plate for the car with the suspended registration but nothing is said about registering a different vehicle with new plates during the suspension of your old vehicle's registration. You could not try to transfer the plates from the vehicle with the suspended registration to the new car though; you would have to get new plates for the new vehicle.

If this is your first occurrence though for a lapse in insurance than the reinstatement process for your vehicle's registration suspension is not that difficult so you may just want to do that instead of going to the trouble of buying and registering a second car. If is the first (1) occurrence, the vehicle’s registered owner must do the following to have their vehicle's registration reinstated:

• Obtain and keep continuous Georgia liability insurance coverage on their vehicle;
• pay a lapse fee of $25.00;
• pay a $60.00 reinstatement fee;
• and pay any other registration fees and vehicle ad valorem taxes due, if it is during the owner’s registration period.

If however it was your second occurrence of a lapse in auto insurance than there are more penalties. Georgia law requires the suspension of the vehicle’s registration for ninety-days (90) when it is the second occurrence during any five-year (5) period. You then must follow the steps above to reinstate the vehicle's registration.

Click here to get instant car insurance quotes for GA on your new car or for your old car so that you can get its registration reinstated and not longer have a lapse in coverage.