Executive Order  No. 39: (1st Series) Registration and insurance of motor vehicles and trailers owned by military personnel

WHEREAS, many residents of this Commonwealth who are owners of motor vehicles or trailers now are or hereafter may be in the United States military, naval or merchant marine service or in auxiliaries thereto, and therefore may be in places distant from this Commonwealth, or otherwise situated so as to be unable to properly attend to the registering and insuring of their motor vehicles or trailers, and to enjoy or exercise other lawful privileges and duties as owners of motor vehicles or trailers; and

WHEREAS, under existing provisions of law only the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer is entitled to the registration and insurance thereof in his name; and

WHEREAS, during the existence of the present state of war between the United States and certain foreign countries it is desirable to continue in operation motor vehicles or trailers that may be used for the transportation of persons to and from work in war industries and motor vehicles or trailers that may be used in civilian defense activities; and

WHEREAS, it will promote both the continuance in operation of motor vehicles and trailers for activities connected with the war effort, and the proper functioning of the laws of the Commonwealth relative to the registration and insurance of motor vehicles and trailers, if some person other than the owner, and properly authorized by him to register and insure his motor vehicle or trailer, be regarded for certain purposes as the owner of such motor vehicle or trailer;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Leverett Saltonstall, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acting under the provisions of Acts of 1941, Chapter 719, Acts of 1942, Chapter 13, section 2, clause (15), and all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue this order as a measure necessary and expedient for meeting the supreme emergency of the existing state of war between the United States and certain foreign countries:

1. A motor vehicle or trailer owned by a resident of the Commonwealth who has entered or hereafter shall enter the United States military, naval or merchant marine service, or an auxiliary thereto, and who because of his absence from the Commonwealth on such service is unable to register and insure his motor vehicle or trailer, may be registered and insured in the name of the mother or father, wife or husband, sister or brother, or child eighteen years of age or over, of such person, upon certification by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles that such relative has authority, express or implied, from the owner of such motor vehicle or trailer so to register and insure it. In the case of any person not bearing such relationship to such owner of a motor vehicle or trailer, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles shall require such person to show written authority from the owner before certifying such person as having authority so to register and insure such motor vehicle or trailer, and thereupon the motor vehicle or trailer of such owner may be registered and insured in the name of such person. Registration and insurance of a motor vehicle or trailer in accordance with this paragraph shall not be deemed to be invalid or illegal for the reason that the person in whose name said motor vehicle or trailer is registered and insured is not the true owner thereof. On every certificate of registration issued in accordance with this order, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles shall cause to appear the statement that such registration has been issued pursuant to this order.

2. The registration and insurance of a motor vehicle or trailer in accordance with para- graph one of this order shall not be rendered illegal or invalid during the remainder of a calendar year by reason during said calendar year of either the termination of the existing state of war or the death of the owner of said motor vehicle or trailer who has entered or hereafter shall enter the United States military, naval or merchant marine service, or an auxiliary thereto.

3. Reference to the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer shall be construed to include any person in whose name the motor vehicle or trailer is registered in accordance with para- graph one of this order in the application of General Laws (Ter. Ed.) Chapter 60A, Chapter 90, Chapter 175, Chapter 231, section 85A, 85B, and Chapter 255, sections 25-31, inclusive, during the existing state of war, or during the remainder of any calendar year in which the existing state of war shall have terminated or in which the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer registered in accordance with paragraph one of this order shall have died.

4. For the purposes of enforcing the criminal law and departmental rules and regulations, the person in whose name a motor vehicle or trailer is registered and insured in accordance with paragraph one of this order shall be deemed to be the owner of such motor vehicle or trailer. 5. Nothing in this order shall be construed to authorize the person in whose name a motor vehicle or trailer may be registered in accordance with paragraph one of this order to mortgage, sell, transfer, or in any way encumber such motor vehicle or trailer.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this twenty-third day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and sixty-seventh.

By His Excellency the Governor,
LEVERETT SALTONSTALL.

PAUL D. HOWARD,
Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth.