His son was critically injured during a traffic stop. It's changed this Oklahoma legislator's goals

Last year 16-year-old Mason Treat got a new car: a shiny black Dodge Charger, a muscle car.

It was a gift from his parents.

Mason’s parents bought the car in a private deal. Under state law, the car’s previous owner kept the car’s tag and wrote out a bill of sale to Mason’s family. Mason had up to 60 days to go to a tag agent, register the car and get a new tag.

Until then, he needed to keep the bill of sale, his vehicle title and proof of insurance with him when he drove, just in case he was pulled over. Mason, who had only recently gotten his driver's license, did exactly that. He followed the law to the letter.

On Jan. 5, Mason was stopped on Interstate 40, near Garth Brooks Boulevard by Canadian County Deputy Jose Tayahua-Mendoza. Tayahua-Mendoza pulled Mason over because of an improper tag. Mason spoke with the officer — who was standing on the passenger’s side of the car. Mason explained that his family had purchased the car in a private sale.

Then all hell broke lose. As Mason spoke, another vehicle — whose driver authorities said had fallen asleep — sideswiped the deputy's truck and slammed into Mason’s Charger. The car was destroyed. Mason and Deputy Tayahua-Mendoza were critically injured.

They never finished their conversation.

Son's accident changes Senate leader's prospective

Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat is well-schooled when it comes to Oklahoma politics. A member of the majority Republican Party, Treat has served as the Senate’s leader since 2019. He understands state politics well.

When he was young, he was mentored by then-Congressman Tom Coburn. He served as a state government liaison for Coburn and as the legislative director of the Oklahoma House Republican Caucus.

Today, as the leader of the state Senate, Treat is seen as a conservative but pragmatic politician. He's reasonable, and even his harshest critics will say he is skilled. This year, for example, Treat has been in the center ring in an ongoing debate about tax cuts with Gov. Kevin Stitt and House Speaker Charles McCall.

McCall and Stitt have aligned on the side of a .25% income tax cut — and they want it done quickly.

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Treat, however, is taking a slower, reasoned approach. He said he wants to see final budget projections before making big changes. Oh, he supports tax cuts, but he won't be pushed. He's withstood the heat from McCall and Stitt and even some members of his own caucus.

Not much gets to him.

This is, until Jan. 5.

At that moment a usually routine traffic stop left his son and a sheriff's deputy with life-threating injuries. Mason Treat also suffered a traumatic brain injury.

And in that moment, Greg Treat's world changed.

Politics became a non-issue. Lately, Treat's days have been, instead, filled with doctor's visits, consultations with medical experts, and family time with his son.

“As a father, I have cried more in the past month that I have in my entire adult life,” Treat said. “No family should ever have to go through this. It was entirely random. Mason was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

And Mason Treat probably wouldn’t have been stopped if his Charger had displayed a car tag.

Oklahoma tag law change had unintended consequences

Several years ago, state lawmakers — acting on a request from car dealers — changed the way new and used vehicle purchases were handled. Under the old way, when someone traded in a car to purchase another, the tag stayed with the car that was traded.

But there was a problem.

It's well known that Oklahomans are inconsistent on when they transfer their titles, get their tags and pay the excise tax on vehicle purchases. The tags on traded-in cars often weren’t transferred quickly. Other issues, such as when the lien against the vehicle is released, cause problems, too.

Because of this, the car’s new owner could rack up unpaid parking tickets or toll charges that would be listed in the name of the car’s previous owner.

The previous owners complained to the car dealers.

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The car dealers complained to the Legislature.

The Legislature changed the law.

Under the new law, the owner of the car being traded in — or being purchased in a private transaction — would keep the tag instead of letting the tag stay with the vehicle. The new owner would have 60 days to transfer titles, get a tag and do all the necessary paperwork.

Until that was done, however, the new owner was required to keep a copy of the car’s title, a bill of sale and proof of vehicle insurance with them, since there was a good chance that a vehicle without a tag would be stopped by law enforcement.

It was this one small point that became a huge unforeseen consequence — one that altered the course of Greg and Mason Treats' life.

"The law was changed mainly at the behest of the car dealers," Treat said. "Customers complained that they traded the car in, but the new owner was racking up toll charges or, say, parking illegally. The parking tickets were still coming to them (the previous owner) because the new owners weren't getting the cars registered (quickly) in their name."

The problem was similar for a private — also known as a "private treaty sale."

So lawmakers came up with what they thought was a simple solution: have the tag stay with the previous owner and extend the time allowed — to 60 days — for the new owner to get new tags, registration and lien releases.

And up until Jan. 5, that new process worked pretty good.

Plan B — a different legacy for the Senate's pro tempore

For almost every member of the Oklahoma Legislature the big debate this session will be over tax cuts and tribal compacts, economic development — big issues that make a big impact.

House Speaker Charles McCall has made tax cuts the centerpiece of the session and of his legacy as the state's longest-serving speaker.

Senator Treat could have made those same issues part of his legacy, too, but he's not interested in that right now. He's said over and over that he wants to see what the state's final revenue projections are before he starts cutting taxes. He's also pushed for greater transparency in the budget process.

But most of all he wants to make sure no other Oklahoma family has to face what his family did — so Greg Treat's focus this session will be on a single issue — fixing how cars are tagged and titled.

"I don't want anyone else to go through what we did," he said. "So I'm going to fix this."

Treat said the simplest solution to the tag problem would be to go back to the original way. That is, let the tag stay with the car. But he knows that car dealers and other groups will probably oppose that plan. Another way to would be to write different language for the "private treaty sales" or perhaps have used car buyers obtain a paper tag through Service Oklahoma.

"My bill is a work in progress," he said. "The way I have it drafted right now, I am absolutely confident that car dealers won’t like. That is, if you buy a used car, regardless, tag stays with the car. I know the dealerships don't like that because they get blowback if the new buyer doesn't do the transfer quick enough. So we want to get people to the table to talk."

Hope for the future

About a month has passed since Mason Treat's accident.

And, in a small way, things are returning to normal. Mason, his father said, is up and about, talking and healing from his injuries. And while Mason's days will probably be filled with doctor's visits for the next year or so, the family is just thankful for the chance to see Mason smile.

Not long ago, Mason attended a legislative breakfast with his father in Edmond. That trip, Treat said, was important because it was one of the first times his son had gone to a social event since his accident.

"Mason has a positive spirit," Treat said. "We have ongoing medical appointments and he's still struggling in some areas, but we're just happy he is alive and is walking and talking. It's amazing the miraculous recovery he’s made."

Mason is also the reason that the Senate's pro tempore wants his legacy to be about fixing car tag legislation — and preventing future accidents — instead of about politics and policy and taxes and debate.

"I am confident that I'll get this done, and I'm confident that it will be harder than it needs to be," Treat said. "But this is my last session. Even if I get nothing else accomplished, if I can get this done, I will be satisfied."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Oklahoma Senate leader wants to change the state's car tag laws