Sorry I've been on vacation (3 weeks riding my Harley on Route 66) and am too lazy to go through three weeks of posts to see if this has been flogged to death or not.

Just before I left the cops were cracking down on lack of front license plates up in the city (L.A.). When I came back the notice was here that my new enviro plates were ready for pickup. I put the rear one on but left the front off, and took off the holder besides. The car just doesn't look right with it on there.

Question is, what is the score now? Did anyone get a ticket for not having their front plate, and what did you have to do to fix it? Are you leaving the front one on now or waiting for the second ticket? Thanks.

 

I always have mine on. You don't want to get pull over just for the front license plate violation. I think LAPD is the agency that starts on cracking down people didn't put the front plate. If you get the ticket on not putting the front license plate. You need to pay the fine and have the cop to check it, too.

 

I got a $31 ticket in Beverly Hills for no front plate. I still have not put the plate back on though. One more ticket and I'll probably put it back.

 

I'll stay out of Beverly Hills, thanks for the tip. I want to get tinted windows too...may as well just get two tickets to kick off my career as a criminal.

You know, on my vacation I traveled to Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona. Not all those states have front license plates. I wonder how necessary it is here in California. I haven't seen one car yet that had its' appearance improved by that plate stuck onto the front. Maybe it's time to start lobbying our lawmakers to delete the requirement.

 

almost four months now without front plate - so far, so good.

fyi - i typically drive westside to downtown. but also have no mods on silver 01 tl.

knock on wood.

 

I've lived in southern California all of my life, and I have never mounted a front license plate to my car. I got a ticket in my '99 Accord V6 coupe last year. It was in Torrance, just around the corner from the Highway Patrol station. I stuck the front plate on with 2 pieces of double-sided tape and drove to the station the next day. The officer signed it off....no charge. The court took my $10 and proof of correction (signed-off ticket). The plate was back in the trunk before I left the court parking lot

 

I was in the LA area all last week, driving all over the place..
Even though it was only for a week, I have had my front plate off since the first week I got my car in Dec driving around Northern Cali..

I have all 5 windows tinted 35% and no front plate.. passed a whole bunch of cops too.. none of them did anything..

Just as long as you don't give them a reason to hassle you, they probably won't..

 

Hey I just bought my CL Type S two weeks ago and am still waiting to get my plates, i obviously haven't had a problem yet, but I really like the look of the car without them on. I know it's a ticket, but it won' teffect insurance rates whatsoever will it?! Stupid question, but I'd like to know. If not....I think the ticket price is totally worth it, especially if it's only 30something bucks!!!!

 

Okay that settles it...front plate stays off. BUT the next person who gets caught and gets a ticket has to buy a round for everyone who replies to this post. Fair enough?

 

Los Angeles (west la), West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills are all on the warpath about front plates. They have all gone nuts with the photo-red-light radar, and want to be sure to snap that front plate.

My brother-in-law (now in Hawaii) had to give a car back to a screwed-up dealer; they misplaced the front plate. My brother-in-law went crazy and returned the car -- he was being pulled over on every other trip. He would show the cops the ticket and explain, but the tickets just kept coming.

If you haven't gotten a ticket for no front plate -- consider yourself very lucky!

BTW -- that old trick of just putting the plate in the truck with a, "Gee, officer, I have the plate but the hardware isn't in, etc..." will not cut it!

 

CT changes its mind about front plates every 5-7 years or so. The law now says you have to have one, but I keep mine off, as do most of my friends, and I've never heard of anyone being pulled over for it. I think you get a ticket for anything else and the cop has a bad day, he may add a fine for the license plate on top of it, otherwise I think they could care less.

 

Be careful everyone!!

LAPD is ruthless now. I heard examples of cars getting pulled over in Sherman Oaks, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Encino, Glendale, and West Hollywood.

The meter maids are now even tagging along a citation too.

 

no front plates needed in the here in the South: NC, SC, GA, and some others.

 

I haven't heard of anybody in Orange County getting a fixit ticket. I've had mine off since I got the car in May. The only thing that drives cops nuts are heavily tinted windows or lights of some sort at night. Basically if you drive normally you shouldn't get pulled over just for a front license plate violation.

 

I've been lucky. I spend a lot of time in Century City, Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks and Studio City, and have not got nabbed yet. [Knock on wood.] To anyone in So Cal that has gotten nabbed, did they get you for something else (i.e., speeding) and then tack on the plate violation, or did they actually pull you over just for plates?

 

I haven't had a front license plate on any of my cars for the last 10 years. I've heard from every one I know that the cops are cracking down on us NO FRONT PLATE CRIMINALS. I'd be just as happy to pay a few tickets a year to keep the front end of my cars looking clean and unobstructed. So far, none to speak of...

Fortunately the front bracket on the TL is pretty easy to install and uninstall just in case.

As I get older this is about as rebellious as I get!

 

why do you need a poll to see what everyone is doing???

if you are worried you will get stopped, then put the plate on. personally i put mine on eventhough the car is all stock on the outside. i've gotten a couple of no front plate tickets with my previous two cars, but they were hooked up so that attracts more attention. but if you are stock, i don't think you should worry.

so if you do decide to take it off just because others have said "no ticket yet", "oh they don't really care" and "only if your modded" then that's your own fault if you get a ticket and no one elses.

 

I dont have a plate on mine........ I keep it on the dash. I agree I dont like it on the front of the car.

Evan

 

>> why do you need a poll to see what everyone is doing??? <<

Same reason we have polls on this board on best window tinting, what kind of problems have you had, why do you like your TL, how do you install springs, etc. etc. --- that's what the board is for!

I'm capable of making my own decisions but if there is selective enforcement in the metro area I want to know where they are and what they're doing. The police talk among themselves, why shouldn't the drivers?

Just driving around I'm amazed at the number of cars with no front plates. I never noticed it before but it's obvious that a lot of people just don't give a damn, whether the police do or not. I guess it might depend on whether your city has the red light cameras or not, as someone has suggested. All the more reason to fight the cameras.

 

Another television feature on front plate crackdown last night (Monday 7/16). This time, Channel 4 on the 11 o'clock news.

 

why don't the law or officers concentrate on catching bad guys? instead wasting so much technology and man power on this???
talk about waste of tax payer dollars...


G

 

I've had my front license plate on ever since I bough the car... partly because the holder was already bolted on to the bumper with two big azz holes on the front bumper. Besides, I got a fix it ticket in my previous car for not having the front plate on.. I don't want to go thru the hassle again. You should consider yourselves lucky if you haven't gotten a ticket for not having the front plate on, especially now that the cops are strictly enforcing the law.

BTW, my friend in her Lexus GS recently got a ticket for no front license plate around downtown LA.

 

And yes, we have beaten this subject to death, but I guess I like speaking up when I'm in the minority.

I like the look of most cars (TL included) better with the front bracket and plate ON. I guess it's just an added bonus that you're not breaking the law and risking a ticket...

 

I see we are re-visiting a thread I started a while ago. Well, for those of you in California, every news channel lately has been talking about the police cracking down on cars w/o front plates because of the cities that have red light cameras. All you no-front-platers, stay out of the valley, L.A., Pasadena and Beverly Hills. Those are the areas that are really out to get you. And, don't park on the street either because now the parking enforcement people are going to ticket you too! Why can't they just leave us alone?

 

Damn, I live in the Westside, eat in BH, work downtown, and play golf at Brookside. Knock on wood after four months.

 

i agree the springs, car troubles, tint, etc are helpful...but i don't think this one is. so if indeed in pasadena, bh, la...you gonna take the time and trouble to drive AROUND these cities instead of going through them? or do you stop at the border, pop the plate on and then take it off after you drive through??? what happens if you drive into a city that you get popped in, but someone didn't list it as a hotzone? this is the point i am making.

although you didn't agree with my reply...it's another point of view and/or constructive criticism, so we are STILL talking about it!!!

 

Again you're missing my point, Stanman. I asked a simple question and expected some simple answers. Anyone who was bored, didn't care, doesn't live in So Cal or doesn't moderate the board didn't have to read and/or respond. Still don't in fact.

What I do or don't do with the information I got isn't the issue. I was curious as to whether anyone got popped yet for the front plate, and secondarily I wanted to warn anyone who might have come in late that enforcement is a hot issue. No more no less.

 

I wussed out and put mine on last night.

 

Mine is still off. While we are thinking about it, what is the difference between a no-front-plate ticket and a you-ran-the-red-light ticket? Given a choice maybe it's better to pay the no plate ticket.

 

Some of the "newer" red-light intersections are adding cameras to take pictures of the back of the car. If they have your face and the back, they can get you.

It does make it much harder to nab you if your are following someone else through the red light (if your front plate is off).


Here is little excpert from the Colorado folks...

"But the photo red-light program could be less effective and more expensive to operate if a bill permitting vehicles to display only rear license plates is adopted by the Legislature, said Kathleen Dezio, spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin IMS, which works with the city of Boulder's photo red-light program. At the very least, she said, the city would have to buy more cameras for intersections monitored.

Local law enforcement officials have other concerns, namely about identifying vehicles in investigations.

City officials say the impact on the photo red-light system can be overcome if the bill becomes law, and the cost of a few more cameras would not be prohibitive. And having only a rear license plate would not affect the photo radar program..."

 

Fix it is around $10, running the red is around $150-200. The last time they did the sting, one law enforcement rep said they are going to have to increase the penalty for no license, because right now it doesn't pay to have it on.

 

They don't have to increase the no front plate ticket to $150 to get mine back on. But I don't want to run a poll on where everyones threshold of pain is for fear somebody with some power to do something about it might be listening and find out what to jack it up to.

 

never had front plates on my cars....

and *knock on wood* if i get pulled over... i aint got rear plates on either!! HA!!! =P

sorry mister officer, my car is too new =P LOL

i kick it in the westside, long beach, SGV as well

 

I they make us put the front plate back on, I wan this as my new license plate!!

"3M 3TI8"

What do you think?

 

>> "3M 3TI8"

What do you think? <<

I don't know. What does it mean?

 

Hee hee, I think most states will be reluctant to issue you a plate like that, or "3M TA3". Gotta come up with something original.

"ATAMA2AW"
"TUO 3MIT"

 

Ah, I see. Sort of like pig latin for cars.

 

I heard that cops still ticket for the front plate in LA (especially along sunset blvd, beverly hills, the san gabriel valley). A couple of my friends got pulled over just for that, they weren't even speeding! Even my friend in the Mercedes E class was harassed for the missing plate!

I've never heard of problems in Orange County yet. The cops are more lenient here, but I go to L.A. often enough that I put my front plate back on to be safe.

 

To those Texas folk:

What's the rule in our state? My uncle has a 99 BMW that he hasn't put a front plate on (just the BMW logo plate)....and not had a ticket yet. I didn't really give it a thought about not having a front plate....will have to take it off this weekend (as well as the mounting frame) and see if I like it better.

What's the word for us Texans?