Rawr256

As some know I just picked up a TA just over two weeks ago and had temp tags on it for that time, I just got the plates for the car and have been told by the wife the front plate has to be on the car.

With my GTP I was able to get away with no front plate for almost a year and half until I finally got pulled over for it and told to put it on or I get a ticket next time I am caught w/o one. I am trying to decide if I should do the same thing with the TA because I love the bird cover in there so much better than a license plate! While thinking about it was trying to think of a good reason that it is a requirement... No more front tabs required on them and in my last 6 years of driving I have yet to see anyone run a redlight... ever... even at 3AM, but over here in Spokane we really don't have any cameras on any lights.

Anyone shed some light on this? Just seems sort of dumb, and honestly I think it takes away from some cars looks, like the F-bodies, Vettes and many other cars.

WS6freak

iTrader: (3)

I never installed a front plate on my car. I don't even think I have it. Never got pulled over.

1BAD95Z

It's because when the cops use their laser on you they have something to bounce it off of. The front plate is a nice flat area for them to get a good shot.

00'WS6Rocket

iTrader: (3)

we need them here in texas but I don't have one and neither does every corvette i see or every other pontiac grand am

93TAWicked1

iTrader: (28)

I never run one but did get a ticket for it last year. I'm pretty sure it was a "training" stop and just my luck to go through it. Kind of BS that was the reason he pulled me over. But 90 bucks for 8 years of looking good is fine. I spend more than that on Microfiber towels a year!

Poik

I took mine off and 3 days later I passed a cop going down a 25mph residential road. I shouldn't have made eye contact, because he flips a bitch and comes flying over the hill lights ablaze like I just murdered a whole family or something. He said he could write me a ticket for the plate but he was going to be nice today, so it was just a warning. So it's back on now.

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Its bullshit IMO. I haven't run front plates on the majority of my cars since I was in high school (we're talking 15+ years now) and have NEVER gotten pulled over for it until last year. Of course it was some zealous Sno. Co. deputy that looked like he was fresh out of handgun cleaning class. Ironically it was in my DD GTP as well (and I simply had the plate off because I had lost one of the screws that held it on - go figure). Actually, I have been pulled over in cars that haven't had front plates for various reasons and never even been questioned about it. IMO its just another easy money-making scam. Since its a non-moving violation I really don't give a ****, I'll just challenge every ticket and worst case I pay $101 to keep the car looking good...

Tranzor

I don't run a front plate... unless you count the "CAMARO" decorative plate I have on the front. Been like that for about 3 years now.

94greencamaro

iTrader: (8)

I leave my front license plate on just because there are ******* cops out there that see a teenager in a camaro and feel the need to write more bogus tickets once they get them pulled over. About a year ago i was getting off work at 2 am or so and driving home. My left headlight was out, and i knew it was (went out like 2 days earlier, just hadnt gotten around to fixing it) so i tell my buddy to drive in front of me. Well with our luck we get to a left turn light, my friend turns and there is a cop right across the intersection in the left turn over there. I see him turn around in my rearview, so i knew i was gettin pulled over. I made sure to stay the speed limit. So about 1/2 mile later he pulls me over after following me for a bit. Comes up to my window and tells me i was going 55 ( i was going 35) and following the car in front of me to closely. I get a following too closely ticket and a headlight ticket. Luckily i got the following too closely taken away in court, but that is seriously bullshit. Why cops think they have to **** up someone elses insurance payment because they are jealous of their car is beyond me.

krazzycowgirl

steph mythbusters busted that They now use the windshield of the car

HitmanLSX

I only have one on there cuz I don't wanna cut the insert to go around the radar unit for the detector in the car. Unless someone has an extra NBM insert?

TwoFast4Lv

iTrader: (8)

I can tell you for a FACT when you are doing 160+ lasesr wont lock on the windshield!

Rottluver

iTrader: (3)

Interesting concept except that front plate laws have been on the books since LOOOOONG before radar (let alone LASAR radar) was in use.

To answer the OP's question, they are there to help people (and cops) identify vehicles used in crimes (not traffic crap since front plate laws were around long before photo radar or photo red light cameras). Now, with the advent of the above technology, they are used for that as well, but that was never the intent of the legislation since none of that stuff existed back when most States enacted front plate laws. :shrug:
I will be glad to agree that a lot of tickets people get are borderline BS but get over yourself, maybe one in 10,000 street cops gives a flying **** what you drive or is "jealous" of your car. I drove F-Bodies almost my entire time as a cop and never once stopped anyone cuz "I was jealous of their car". And since when do fix-it tickets like no front plate have ANY affect on your insurance (so long as you take care of them)?

I have stopped everything from rusted out junkers to Lamborghinis and never once did I stop a car or write a ticket cuz I was jealous. MAYBE 1/2 of 1% of the young, fresh out of the academy types MIGHT stop someone cuz they think they have a bad-*** ride, but get over yourself. No one wrote you a ticket cuz they were jealous of your car, which according to what you wrote, was at least 11 years old at the time of the citation. Sorry to burst your bubble. But if ya got damn headlight out, you KNOW it and you are driving it at night, there is a REALLY good chance you WILL get stopped and if you have more wrong with you car, you may get tickets for that as well.

No the system is not perfect but I am so sick & tired of people whining that cops only write tix to make money (which is crap as I have explained in the past) or that they need to go bust "real criminals" instead of writing BS tickets (talked about that too) or that just because you or I don't think a law is right, that it gives us the ability to ignore it. I don't run a front plate and if I get busted then I know I have to pay the piper.......but I also rarely drive in a manner that even gets me noticed, let alone warrants a 2nd look from Johnny Law.

94greencamaro

iTrader: (8)

Well, i guess i just wrote it wrong. I didnt mean to say that a bunch of cops are jealous of camaros, i just meant they see a teenager in a V8 sports car or any fast car for that matter and just want to pull them over for some reason, because they are dicks with nothing else better to do.
And its not the headlight ticket i am talking about that ***** up insurance, its the other bogus tickets they try to give you while they have you pulled over. Like in my situation, i was neither driving 55 nor following too closely (not to mention me, my friend, and the cop were the only 3 cars on the road at 2:30 AM) yet i got a following too closely ticket. Tell me that the cop would try and pull that **** if i was a 45 year old guy with a 4 cylinder honda civic. He wouldnt. Actually i doubt that guy would even get the headlight ticket. You need to face the fact that there are a lot of cops out there that just love to be dicks to young kids with nice cars. Maybe you were not one of them, but a lot of cops are.

HitmanLSX

Attitude plays a big part in whether or not you get a ticket and how the cop deals with you. I got let off with a warning when I was 16 driving a loud obnoxious 67 mustang 289 for 50 in a 25 in EDMONDS all because of how I dealt with the officer. Same with the time a couple years ago when I got let off doin 130 in a 60 lol granted these aren't everyday cases. However had I had a bad attitude could've easily gone the other way. You talk to them like they're interrupting your day and inconveniencing you then yeah they're gonna return the courtesy. Respect them and they'll respect you a lot better.

Rottluver

iTrader: (3)

Like I said, there ARE dick cops out there, just like there are dicks in every profession.....but a lot of cops are assigned to what we call the "Traffic Unit" which has no other respnsibility other then writing tickets, to 16 year old punks in "V8 sports cars" and to 45 yr old men in 4 cylinder Honda Civics. My old man is/was a cop and he always said you knew before you got out of the car if you were going to write the ticket.....and more often then not, you can't tell who is driving until you walk up there. I found that to be very true. I had my mind made up before I ever made contact, BUT, and I stress this because it happened a LOT with younger people, my mind changed quite frequently when they were either total ****** with no respect or if they were totally cool and very respectful. I never asked, expected or demanded that anyone lick my boots, but if someone went out of their way to be polite and respectful, more often then not I changed my mind if I had planned on giving them a ticket. Now I admit that I was not your average cop, I hated writing tickets but for the 2+ years I was assigned to the traffic division, I HAD to, but I still let WAY more people go then I should have because of respect. Simple stuff like being honest when I caught them doing something stupid...........or being an idiot in the same situation. If I stop you for 110+ MPH and you say, "What's the problem Officer?" or "Gee, I didn't know I was speeding" you can bet your fat *** (figure of speech) that you will get a ticket and probably find me snooping around your car for more violations. However, if you "man up" and admit you were wrong I either let you off or gave you a significant reduction in what could have been a very ugly ticket.

The only times age or what was being driven ever played a part in my ticket writing was when I worked the area I hated the most.....the rich, white neighborhoods....and then, and only then, if some 16 yr old with a **** attitude & his Mommy's Bimmer/MBZ/etc or whatever ran his mouth at me, then yeah, he got a fat ticket. But if he/she was kewl and respectful, usually they got a warning.

I knew guys who enjoyed giving tickets to smart mouth punk kids in fast/expensive/whatever cars....but even they let off the ones with good attitudes. Now NONE of this is directed at you. I am just making a point, ok?

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Rott,
I don't blame the officers nor do I direct any "money-making" comments at the black-and-whites. 99.9% of the time they are doing their job (enforcing the law) and they have my respect. When I have a problem, and it isn't often, its usually with our beloved legislators and city-council types. That's where the "money-making" happens IMO. I have been stopped many times over the years for various reasons by Sheriff, WSP, and city police, and never dealt with an officer that was unprofessional (especially WSP). I am always respectful and honest and I usually end up with a warning. In this particular case (the front plate story I noted above), it was a little different. This guy barely made contact with me before writing the ticket and for the record I was doing 21mph (posted limit was 25mph) through a residential area in a silver Grand Prix with no front plate. I'm not saying I shouldn't have gotten a ticket, I did not have a front plate, but I think a stern warning could have had the same effect under the circumstances. Either way, no biggie. I will continue to be rebelous and drive without one and will pay, if necessary, to do so.

Rottluver

iTrader: (3)

I hear ya man, I don't run a front plate and cannot for the life of me recall the last car I owned (I have had over 30) that had a front plate. Wait, I had a Toyota p/u back in the late 90's, that might have had one.

Some guys love to write tickets, some guys (I was one) prefer warnings so long as the person isn't being a tool......sounds like you (and most everyone here) has the same way of dealing with them, and even though I don't do it anymore, it is appreciated.

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

All I know is its illegal not to have one so I have one. It’s an easy catch for a cop and I don’t like being pulled over. So I don’t take the chance. If I didn’t care about being pulled over I might not run one. The car certainly looks better without it.

TravisH.

my last 3 trucks I have teken it off becaus eI dont like the way it looks. I was pulled over in the first two and they never said anything about it.

And my buddy was pulled over like 7 times just for not having one, but they never ticketed him. I guess it was just the car , a dodge stealth that was primered.