ttsport15

I know in NY you can't

hankinid

Your states cops will pop you for a small electronic device attached to the windshield as it supposedly destroys your view. Take it from there.

docboy

With the exception of a temporary license permit that can be taped up against the rear windshield, front and rear license plates HAVE to be on the front and rear bumper respectively in plain sight and clearly visible. Placing it against the windshield is a risk you would be taking.

The plates don't have to be centered, but it has to be on the bumper itself.

lexusrus

Man, so many rules. I'll just get my horse buggy and my horse out.

tlhicks

So you would rather have a huge metal license plate sitting on your dash?

hankinid

If the "CA" in the location means California, you've probably got at last 50 laws about livestock on a thoroughfare...you and your horse would both probably take a trip to jail.


Sometimes logic or lack thereof is amazing.

Even more amazing to me is a thread about license plates that's now 1-1/2 pages long. Mind boggling.

DocT

Yeah, CA has a lot of laws...and they also tax on livestock farts ( I am not kidding)

ClaytonW

If you live in California, move to Nevada (as I did) and you'll be fine :-)

Bimmer32

So no one bothered to ask what is the purpose of a front license plate if it is so important? If I drive away, you'd look at the back and not the front, right? Cops pull you over from the back, right? Toll takes pictures from the back, right? Save that piece of front plate metal for something else. In Houston, police don't pull you over for missing front plates unless you are doing something else that makes their eyes itch. Contrary to popular belief, police don't pull you over just because you have a nice vehicle to give you a hard time.

DocT

Good point! However, speed cameras would need to have your front license plate and the face of the driver. 2. The more license plates on a vehicle , the easier to memorize it in case hit and run ( a witness might miss the first/last 2-3 digits/letters in the front license and will continue to see in the back after driving by).

lexusrus

I wonder if there is a relationship between states using "LASER (not radar) speed measurements" and requiring front plate? Meaning the LEOs using the front license plate when target acquiring your vehicle speed? Or do the LEOs use your headlights?

So the real reason is MONEY!!! As outlined in the following except from article:

https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/1...icense-plates/

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Walden said when researchers began the study they expected law enforcement and safety to be the primary benefits from having two license plates. Turned out, though, it is revenue — and not from the higher price of sticking a second slice of metal to the front of a vehicle.

Instead, the study found that having a second plate makes it easier to photograph those who run stop signs and red lights, don't pay tolls or drive out of unattended pay garages and parking lots without paying. Linking automatic license plate readers to databases also makes it easier to track down scofflaws electronically instead of having human eyeballs view every image to identify license plate numbers.

That adds up to millions of dollars in cost savings and millions more in additional revenue collected, Walden said.

For example, in Colorado (a two-plate state) on the E-470 tollway around the Denver area tolls are collected electronically. One-third of the revenue collected in a 12-month period — $23 million — came from the ability to capture information from front license plates.

The study also found that two plates make it easier for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to screen vehicles at border crossings. In Arizona (a one-plate state), 10 to 15 percent of parking transactions at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport have to be processed manually because sun glare prevents accurate reading of the rear plate. In Pennsylvania (also one plate), 16 percent of rear plates couldn't be read electronically on toll roads.

A frequent argument against having two plates is that it raises costs for the issuing state, and changing to one plate would save money.

Not so, Walden said.

"If you have two plates and then go down to one, the production costs go down, but it's by cents," she said. "We're not even talking about a dollar level, and the price is passed on to the customer. It's not like it's costing the state money because the plate cost is being passed on."

Also, users don't replace the plates on an annual basis, she added, and often keep them for five years or more, spreading the cost over long periods.

Still, that doesn't stop some disgruntled motorists in two-plate states from trying to change the law to require only one. The Texas Legislature, for example, discussed such an idea earlier this year, though Walden said it didn't get much traction. And a bill to move to a single plate is pending in the Ohio General Assembly.

Despite the cost arguments, Walden sees aesthetics as the real motivator for change.

"That is a huge argument, the fact that people didn't want to put license plates on the front of cars that don't come with a really evident location for a license plate," she said. "If you have this $100,000 car, you don't want to hurt the appearance of the car by putting a license plate on the front of it. They feel like that not only ruins the appearance of the car, but it somehow affects the value."

Though campaigns to change to one plate or add a second frequently pop up, Walden said states seldom change their license plate laws. Law enforcement officials in states that have two plates want to keep it that way, she said, and in states that have one the feeling is, "We can't do anything about it, so we'll just deal with it."

​​​>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
​

Also if you are cruising around in a state only required a rear plate and you are from a state with DUAL plates, then the LEO can spot you further out as you approach the LEO.

Several years ago I got stopped on the interstate in a metro area in Louisiana for alleged speeding. After some discussion, the LEO let me go. But I HAD to ask him what made him to signal me out in a 5 lane divided interstate going in the same direction? I was not going over the speed limit at all and other vehicles were passing me. Also I was NOT in a fast looking car at all. The LEO said he saw my front out of state license plate way yonder. Plus I figured out of state people will not return to argue about the ticket.

Needless to say, since that car will not return to Cali anytime soon, I removed the front plate and put it in the trunk. 😀😀😀😀😀😃😃😃😃👍👍👍👍👍

hzhao

Excellent finding and recap. That summaries all!

As you said, I haven't had my front plates since 2014, and have been traveling in many states that require front plate, I have been crossing boards many times, include frequently crossing within a week, I have not been stopped for the reason of without front license plate. Since 2014, I have been stopped for speeding (ironically THREE TIMES in one day, speaking of lucky) in OH and IL, by LEO and camera, no mention nor citations for no front plate. Not saying right or wrong, my point is as long as you are a law binding citizen in general, it is unlikely for LEO to really want to spend efforts just to enforce the plate issue. For most of part, their focuses are for safety of public and unwanted criminal activities. That is why you have much better chance to get citation for a faulty tail lights than missing front plate. With that being said, there is alway someone feels they have unlimited time on their hands and would like to make others more miserable just by showing their authority. If you ran into one of them, I am sure you could be stopped by having a splash bug on your hood

tlhicks

I call BS on "Contrary to popular belief, police don't pull you over just because you have a nice vehicle to give you a hard time". uhh, they do if you are black! And its "popular belief" for a reason. As a successful Black Man that has always driven nice vehicles. I have been pulled over more times than I can count while committing no traffic offense at all! After all what is HE doing driving that. He must sell drugs because there is no professional sports teams in this area. It has just been a fact of life for us always. It must be nice to be so naive! I cant afford to be naive an neither can my sons who I gave nice vehicles to also!

hankinid

I chortled a little when I read the "contrary to popular belief" post. I'm Caucasian and a couple of decades ago had unkept hair down to my shoulders. My business was building custom cables for those in the music business. I was stopped a number of times for "burned out rear light". Interestingly, once the cop left all rear lights were functional. An cop knows some long-hairs are into illegal activities. A BS traffic stop is just the beginning of a cops attempt to establish "reasonable suspicion". Cop is wondering if the driver is impaired and / or has anything illegal on board.

I've been asked by cops to step out of the truck without even looking at my ID 2 or 3 times. Basic pat-down and the most evil thing found was a Swiss Army knife. Cops who actually read my Texas CWL and DL all immediately relaxed, as did the guys that patted me down once they saw the CWL. The 1911 was / is always in the truck, usually sitting on the passenger seat.

Steve

lexusrus

X2. I know what you mean as I'm a minority as well.

​​​One good friend of mine who is a LEO told me way back when he had just joined the Navy and was stationed in WA he was advised to have his car windows darkly tinted so one can not tell there is a Black man in the car!! He took the advise and he rarely got stopped for no reason anymore after that while he was in WA back then.

Now HE STOPS PEOPLE!!! LOL. Profiling still goes on. Don't be so naive to think otherwise.