Is front license plate required?...

[budeneighe]

Perry Florida had one in the 1960s. So did Bainbridge, GA and Winter Park, FL. Those are just the remnants that I have personal knowledge of.

 

I have to assume that there are some pockets of low tech officials, probably due to local budgets, that either don't believe in the electronics or can't afford them (more likely).

 

It is rather irrelevant at this point. The law is the law, except when it isn't where your circumstances lie. Every day, we see cases on the news (pick a network) where the practices of officials, whether in law enforcement, State government (think NC) or county clerking.. yeah, that one, where local or even personal interpretation of existing policies make a bad day for someone.

 

No disrespect is meant but the truth is both sometimes stranger than fiction and just as unbelievable.

[jayc103]

I was an Officer in Texas for 34 years, on Patrol for about 19 and can tell you that there was not any kind of point or quota system in place where I worked.

[Big5er]

 

I'm curious - We have a lot of retired and active LEOs here. Would any and/or all of you chime in and educate us to whether ''points'' do or do not exist? Has there ever been a point system? I've heard references to this for years but never asked....

Oh yeah, there sure is...If I had written two more tickets today I would have been entered in the drawing for the toaster oven. Or is it the set of Ginsu knives and a Sham-wow (as seen on TV)? Oh well, that's not important. What really sucks is that they could deduct from my adjusted gross annual salary for the missed pro-rated revenue resulting from my lack of productivity for today. Thank goodness I have a surplus from yesterday to make up for it or else I couldn't afford to buy dog food for my precious puppies.

 

BTW: I have proof that LBJ killed JFK with help from the CIA. No wait! Maybe it was Colonel Mustard, in the living room with the drapery cord. Yeah, that's it. It was Colonel Mustard. What was the question again?

[Chad Heiser]

There are no point systems that I am aware of. In CA it is illegal to require an officer to write a certain number of tickets (impose a quota). CA requires a front plate. I have pulled many vehicles over for not having a front plate and even issued some tickets for it. I however was not really interested in that violation for the most part. It was a legal reason to stop a vehicle that would allow me to contact the driver and have a conversation. That conversation would hopefully lead me to a more serious violation. Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't.

 

In CA if you buy a vehicle from a dealer, they will have you sign a form telling you two plates are required, whether or not the manufacturer provided a readily accessible way to attach the front plate. This removes the liability from them when the buyer of a car gets pulled over for no front plate and they try to claim the dealer didn't install it or didn't install a bracket for it or whatever. There is no excuse for ignorance of the law.

 

I just bought a used Jeep with a custom front winch bumper and no front plate (no mounts and no plate in existence). I had to sign the form acknowledging I knew the vehicle required two plates. If I want to be in compliance, I will have to go to DMV and order a replacement front plate and come up with a way to mount it. I think I will wait until (or if) I have to to do this.

[Vladimir]

I have a friend that lives in Arizona. He is proud of the fact that he lived in Hawaii.....so he puts his Hawaii plate up front. The legal Arizona plate is in the back.

 

He has NEVER been stopped. I really can see where you would NOT be stopped for not having a front plate if your licensed in Arizona.

 

BUT a expired plate for another state!!! Hmmm......works for him.

 

Anybody know what the "legal" status of his plates is??

[HamRad]

Posts degenerate quickly but this one has accelerated beyond belief! Time to move on.

[oscarvan]

No point system here, but we DO have the officer with the highest amount of DUI arrests in the state in our township. Now, getting drunks off the road is a good thing, but I can assure you that to get to that record he also has to pull over a LOT of people that shouldn't be pulled over.

 

The rest of our PD is absolutely fantastic......

[bruce t]

HamRad the simple solution, if it annoys you, is to stop reading the thread. But don't decide for others what is 'interesting' or not.

 

regards

[jtown]

So, going to the original question, is it really worth it? Seems like you're trying hard to take umbrage with something that isn't really a big deal. Just leave the plate on and you don't have to worry about it. It's not like putting a front plate on a Ferrari where it's going to destroy the lines and disrupt airflow. If that's the most annoying thing in your life, congratulations! It's an awesome place to be.

 

FWIW, I lived most of my life in CA where a front plate is required and lots of people don't display them and the cops rarely bother to write a ticket for it, let alone pull people over to write a ticket. Most of the time, no1curr.JPG. But then there's that one time you run into the cop who cares and you've got a $50 (I'm guessing) ticket you didn't need to get.

 

These days, I live in a state that only issues 1 plate. I assume 2-plate-states won't issue me a ticket because of reciprocity and whatnot. I've got some Caribbean plates around here somewhere. Maybe I should put a St. Maarten plate on the front my car just to be safe.

[HamRad]

HamRad the simple solution, if it annoys you, is to stop reading the thread. But don't decide for others what is 'interesting' or not.

 

regards

Whoa! Bruce lighten up. It was just an observation! No one is coming for your weapons! And there is nothing unique about this thread wavering from the OP statements. It's just interesting to see how threads deviate from what was intended. Sometimes it is a good thing because it ends up helping. Many times, however, it just gets completely out of control. And I do, indeed, simply skip the threads or individuals that don't interest me. Thank you for your thoughtful input. Dennis

[Pappy Yokum]

I would certainly hope that LEOs are earning their keep by doing important things than memorizing the inane DOT rules of 52 states so they can get their points for the day.

 

Three "individuals" (LEO's) with different takes on traffic enforcement in the same jurisdiction.

 

IMO - none would probably care about the (required) front plate *unless* he needed a "probable cause" for a traffic stop.

 

"John" - a Motor Officer. if John stopped you for some infraction, you would receive a cite. Period. No excuses.

Didn't matter if you were a city employee, or his supervisor's wife (yes, she did rate one).

 

"Larry" - Larry would park his vehicle (car) at an alley exiting onto a busy street, next to our station.

He would "radar" the passing vehicles around rush hour.

He wasn't hiding - plain sight, no billboards, no trees or shrubs - an observant driver could easily see the black & white if he/she was paying attention.

 

So one day, we asked Larry if he allowed a certain mph *over* the posted speed limit.

Answer was - "I don't cite anyone unless they're 15 mph over the speed limit".

 

Asked why so generous?

Ans: "If I didn't have other things to do, I could write cites here all day long - and at 15mph over - I never have to go to court".

 

"Mark" - another Motor Officer.

Unlike John, most LEO's I knew (including many from dept's both large & small) - - unless something was an egregious violation, would factor "attitude" into consideration to cite or not cite.

 

So here's a classic Mark......

Mark stopped by the station to use the facilities, about 15 minutes after his shift began.

One of the guys was "jabbing him" about not being "productive" (or whatever) so soon into his shift.

 

Mark's rely was - "I've already written 10 cites!"

"Ahhhh - you've been on duty for 15 minutes, and you've written ten cites????"

 

The details:

Mark left the PD HQ, rode the approx 2 miles to Pacific Coast Hwy (it's a CA beach city) - pulled up to a signal at a major downtown intersection on PCH next to a car with five young guys in it.

None were wearing seat belts.

So that rated a "chat" - which would have normally been a warning - but the driver had a bad attitude.

Real smart azz., so he rated a cite.

Then his buddies chimed in - and since all were over 16, and un-belted - they received a 'greetings' also..

That's five cites (total)

 

Sooo - as he's standing next to his M/C, putting his citation book away - he watches the car w/knuckleheads - continue down PCH about a quarter mile, park on the inland side of PCH (in the middle of the block) and

the five occupants jaywalk across busy PCH to the ocean side. Some folks just never learn!

Five more, for a total of ten cites.

 

Who needs points with that kind of motorist "cooperation"?

 

And one more.....

Many cities in CA allow their Motor Officers to take their M/Cs home, and commute (in uniform) to and from their employment.

I was in a Lowe's -in *Orange County*, CA- and a uniformed motor officer from *L..A. County* Sheriff Dept was in the checkout line ahead of me purchasing a can of paint.

We shot the bull a bit, and I asked him about his lengthy commute from L.A. to South Orange Co.

He said the LASD twisted his arm to join motors (pay incentive) , as well as permission to use his PD M/C for the commute.

 

Sooo - for this thread.......during our chat, he said on his way home a few weeks after being on motors -and "commuting"- a driver blew past him on the freeway in *Orange County* at 80+.(65 mph speed limit).

 

He guessed the driver figured he was (way) out of his jurisdiction, not CHP, and could get away with it.

Wrong! He cited the driver - who took it to court in *Orange County*.

Judge said, as far as he was concerned an LEO is an LEO - - "guilty".

 

Hmmmm - should have asked if "out-of-county" rates double points, LOL!

 

.

[sandsys]

Coming out of a friend's driveway is a blind spot where you momentarily cannot see an oncoming vehicle. John was driving and a friend was riding shotgun. John pulled out just as cop car came out of the blind spot. Cop did a u-turn and pulled John over. Cop walk up ands says something like, "You carrying gold or something? You were coming out of the driveway kind of slow, weren't you?" John says, "You were coming over that hill kind of fast, weren't you?" Passenger laughs. Passenger gets ticket for no seat belt.

 

That's one of my favorite cop stories. The owner of the driveway is a retired cop so he tells a lot of them if we can get him started.

 

Linda Sand

[wygolfnutz]

Does anyone know how this applies to me: we just took delivery of a MH in AZ, we are domiciled in TX which requires a front plate, it has an AZ 90 day temp tag and we're leaving on Monday for Summer travels. The paperwork just hit our mail forwarding to start registration, I have to get the paperwork forwarded to where I'll be next month. Think the LEOs will give me a problem?

[Chalkie]

Does anyone know how this applies to me: we just took delivery of a MH in AZ, we are domiciled in TX which requires a front plate, it has an AZ 90 day temp tag and we're leaving on Monday for Summer travels. The paperwork just hit our mail forwarding to start registration, I have to get the paperwork forwarded to where I'll be next month. Think the LEOs will give me a problem?

On a temp tag .... not likely as long as you are within the dates on the temp tag.

 

The responses to the this thread have been humorous in my opinion. I really fail to see the issue. If your state requires a front plate then put it on! Simple, no worries. If you do not want to follow your state law then don't! Simple, just worry all the time that you are going to get nabbed.

 

I mean, really? All this angst over a stupid piece of metal on the front of your vehicle? Ya'll need a life in my opinion.

[mohamer]

Speaking of tags, for several years I carried 3 sets of tags on my truck, Missouri Apportioned tag, Yukon tag, and Alaska tag.

One day a Montana LEO stopped behind me on the side of the road, I was napping, and he came to my window and asked which tags were current, I told him that they all were current and required. I was running commercial to Alaska at the time and Yukon did not participate in Apportion tag program, Alaska did not also. So, I had 3 current tags on one truck, some of them were front and back. It got kinda crowded!!

[Kevin H]

 

I mean, really? All this angst over a stupid piece of metal on the front of your vehicle? Ya'll need a life in my opinion.

 

Angst? I don't see any. This sounds like a conversation around a campfire. "Hey, whatta ya think about...." and off the conversation goes with questions and anecdotes. We're all having fun. Angst?? Nah. That's one of the problems with written conversation. can't see everyone smiling. Can't see the smiles? Just assume we all have them and Life is Good.

[Chalkie]

 

Angst? I don't see any.

angst

äNG(k)st/

noun

informal

a feeling of persistent worry about something trivial.

And that is what I saw starting right at the beginning of the thread.... /shrug/

[msgtord]

My domicile State requires a front license plate (as do 19 other States)... My question is while outside of my domicile State (which I rarely reside) can I remove the ugly front plate?... My assumption is that States that have no front plate requirement will not be a problem... But what about the 19 States that do?...

You'll be ok.