Illinois revenuer got me.

You deliberately broke the law. You must accept the consequences. You have nothing to complain about.

 

Dude, he got a ticket, not doomed the earth to a fiery death in two weeks.......
I don't like the front plate thing either. Here in CA, it is still a fix-it ticket. At least it was only $50 bucks!

 

In Florida, we only have rear plates. A lot of people like to keep the front plate from where they came from on the car....very confusing, most likely illegal, but one of those things that don't seem to be enforced.

 

He wasn't complaining. It sounded like a cautionary tale to me.

Tom

 

It sucks but you know what they say - don't do the crime if you can't do the time, or in this case pay the fine.

It shows you just how good most state inspections are - they should have dinged you for this at inspection - you would have fixed it then and you would not have a problem now.

It is strange that the dealer did not even give you the bracket for the front plate. I bought my car in RI and was working up there during the week, but living in Philly. PA only has a rear plate so I made sure to tell the dealership a few times not to put the bracket on the front of the car. They did make sure to put it in the trunk and now it is somewhere in my garage.

When I lived in Boston there was a problem with people splitting plates - since 1990 or so when they redesigned their plates they came in pairs, but before then they had white and green ones where you only got one. The plate stays with the owner so a decent # of the old ones exist - my folks still have their old plates. In a lot of poorer neighborhoods people will register one car and then use the plates for 2 cars (hense the term splitting) - the second car is typically uninsured.

I have only seen it once, but a few years back I remember seeing a Porsche GT3 parked on the street with new plates. I remember thinking what a shame it was that someone had to drill into the front bumper but when I went around front and saw that instead of a plate there was a perfect plate replica made out of vinyl.

 

The dealer only installed the rear temp tag when I bought my Prius in October. I assumed we didn't need a front tag for temp tags,in Maryland, or he would have given me a front tag too.

Now I have both front and rear plates now that my permanent tags have come in.

 

I think that part pretty much sums it up to me. They always look for secondary items they can ding you for once you're pulled over. A lot of them, if they haven't been hassled by folks that day, will tend to waive the secondary items and give a warning for them.

In DE, they'll ask for insurance as well. If you can't produce the card showing it's current, then you get dinged for that one as well.

 

I think the Prius comes with the front plate bracket stowed under the cargo area. But any dealer that is worth anything should have taken care of that in a state that requires front and rear tags.

 

If your state requires a front plate, proof is insurance, or whatever, just comply and there's no worries. It's pretty simple people.

 

We get a lot of folks who think they SHOULD be able to run illegal headlights/tint/tags/emissions gear/mufflers.

I personally have no trouble with that so long as they stay off public highways.

 

when i bought my miata in 91' they didn't require 2 plates so no front brackett. when they went to 2 plates, i didn't want to ruin that beautiful front end. i think i got away with it for quite a few years until one day, when i took it for an inspection. when they told me the car was ready, they had mounted a brackett and the extra plate i had left in the trunk.

 

My son is a patrol sergeant with our local sheriff's department. He tells me that equipment violations are probable cause to stop a vehicle to check for things like valid licenses and insurance, etc. Once in a while, such a stop results in an arrest for drug possession, weapons or outstanding warrants. I was riding with him recently when he stopped a nearly new Mercedes for a burnt out headlight. Turned out the driver's license was suspended, which earned him a citation. However, if everything is OK, a verbal warning is given. Easier on the driver, and also leaves another opportunity for a PC stop later on if the issue is not corrected. Before all you liberals jump on that tactic, the area my son patrols has a lot of problems with drugs and gangs, and something as simple as a light being out can mean getting a fugitive or a weapon off the street.

 

Watch it, you'll have the righties on your case for that one.

 

Yep, should have specified an "illegal, unlicensed, serial-numbers-filed-off , or felon-in-possession-of" weapon.

 

Wow - in MT and CA it's just a fixit ticket - much like window tint ... for which I got tagged. Oh well, no fine ... just the inconvenience of buying a hand-held mini steamer to melt the tint glue off. Took maybe 30 minutes for both front windows. That's about the same time it'd take to install a front license frame and plate. But if you've got the time? Here's a sweet alternative:

Can you imagine the look on the cop's face when you say, "what are you TALKING about ... of COURSE we have a front plate ... have you been drinking officer? ... I'd hate to have to call your watch commander - I'm gon'a let you off this time ... but DON'T let it happen again".

You KNOW you've always wanted to tell 'em that.

.

 

LOL, that is sweet, but that grille needs more than a license plate to improve it's looks!

 

I drove for six months with no plate on either end. It was on my old Jeep CJ5, and those things were hard on plates. The rust had finally won, and the plate fell off. I had it in the back of the truck with good intentions to get it remounted right away. I didn't, and days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. It got to be a kind of game, wondering how long one could drive without displaying a license plate.

Six months was the answer, and unfortunately it was my wife who was driving. A state policeman pulled her over on the highway. She was on her way to student teach, which made her late, and she also suddenly remembered that her driver's license had expired the week before. She got off with a warning. I can't say I got off that easily. I got the plate reinstalled the next day.

Tom