License plates on American cars...

harman/kardon

From the Fatherland
Subscriber
Just watched an Irma aftermath coverage of Miami. I was very astonished to see that none of the cars in the streets have a license plate at the front anymore. Since when is that? And why? I also noticed a truck with a license plate at the front...

In my opinion, a car looks better with a license plate at the front, see picture... :D


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The vehicle code in California requires a plate on the rear and front. About thirty years ago I got pulled over for no plate on the front. Well, it was actually an "If you don't like Hank Williams, you can kiss my (donkey picture)" plate. I suspect that may have been part of the reason I was pulled over. I had to take it off and go to DMV and have them sign off on it.

The plate was given to be my Hank Williams Jr.
 
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Only a few states require it. The cars also have to have a special bumper on the front with screw holes. So, if you buy a car in a state that does not require it, but live in one that does, you have to bastardize your front bumper or get a new one to mount the plate.
 
No front plate here in Michigan ... that went away decades ago. Neither of my cars has mounting brackets for one either.
 
Depending on individual state statutes, front plates are not always required on passenger vehicles. For trucks (commercial vehicles) they seem to always require a front plate. Here is a summary of the states I've lived in (with my memory being somewhat reliable):

Minnesota - front plate required
Oregon - front plate required
New Mexico - front plate optional
Kansas - front plate optional
 
It varies from state to state. Tennessee requires just a rear plate, but Virginia across the border requires both. New cars around here come with the front plate bracket included but not installed.
 
Isn't a front plate absolutely necessary for the radar speed check photo? :idea:

In the Fatherland it is. We get pulled over if the front plate is too dirty...
 
when you blow a red light, or go thru a toll without paying, they take a picture of the back of your car and the plate.
 
I think they did away with them to save money. They only have to stamp one plate now but the fees keep climbing.
 
Isn't a front plate absolutely necessary for the radar speed check photo?

Systems here snap the face through the windscreen as well as the rear plate for recorded violations. Some of the new high tech stuff also uses automatic plate recognition to check travel time between two fixed points - if you get there ahead of the max window, you're cited for speeding.

And ya, you can get cited for a dirty or covered plate here too. I have a tinted cover on mine and got pulled over once by a gung ho county boy - I headed off a visit to the judge by just taking it off on the side of the road. Put it back on a week later and no problems since, and that was years ago.

northstar-badge-trunk.jpg
 
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I think they did away with them to save money. They only have to stamp one plate now but the fees keep climbing.
In PA, they just did away with the Year sticker for the plate when you pay for your yearly registration. Now cops have no idea if you have proper registration without pulling you over to ask for it.
 
Anyone still have the state inspection sticker anymore? Did away with that here in Nebraska many moons ago.

Nebraska does require plates front and rear.
 
No inspection sticker in NC anymore, they combined it with the plate year sticker. We now have to get inspected before we re-register our vehicle. They are linked, no inspection, no registration renewal. They also combined the property tax with the registration fee.
 
Virginia and DC both have safety inspection stickers. MD does not. All three require plates F&R. In VA, depending on county, you may have a personal property tax sticker as well.
 
CO still has front and rear plates, and supposedly still enforce having the front plate for the jedrools who can't be bothered.

Yearly registration stickers too...though folks get creative about where to place them.

Cheers,
Larry B.
 
NH requires plates on both front and rear of the vehicle, and you must take the car to an approved service center to have the vehicle inspected, annually. The technician inspects the vehicle and issues/attaches an inspection sticker, which is prominently displayed just behind the mirror in the center of the windshield. And all the local cops do indeed check to ensure the stickers are current...
 
Only a few states require it. The cars also have to have a special bumper on the front with screw holes. So, if you buy a car in a state that does not require it, but live in one that does, you have to bastardize your front bumper or get a new one to mount the plate.

Same bumpers in all the states. For awhile they had threaded mounts for some of them with plugs that were left in in the other states but for most they just use big self tapping screws to add the license plate holders to the smooth bumper surface for cars in states like California. It made me cringe the first time I saw them doing that with an expensive new car. Some people get creative and use mounts that go into the tow hook spot in the bumper or other mounts to avoid the holes. Too bad the car companies can't be bothered to make a mount that would use hidden screws.
 
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