Do cars in America need a front number plate?
Discussion
Wikipedia: 19 states – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia – do not require an official front license plate.
sparks_E39 said:
I wish we didn't need them on the front, cars look much better without them.
I agree, I also wish they'd relax the rules and allow black and silver plates on modern cars. At least ours are plain though - It's worse in the US, their plates are an awkward shape which don't look good on any car and usually covered in gaudy colours. sparks_E39 said:
I wish we didn't need them on the front, cars look much better without them.
Agreed, I dislike them too, they ruin the front of alot of cars. MX-5 being a prime example, no wonder so many people put a stick on license plate, or have it poking out the side of the front grille in a mk1.Sometimes I see people driving around with no license plate on the front, but instead they've put it on the front of their dashboard so you see it through the windscreen.
Anyone know if thats legal at all?
Perd Hapley said:
Wikipedia: 19 states – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia – do not require an official front license plate.
Wikipedia appears to have missed out California.ambuletz said:
Sometimes I see people driving around with no license plate on the front, but instead they've put it on the front of their dashboard so you see it through the windscreen.
Anyone know if thats legal at all?
No, it's not legal. I suspect you would just say "it just fell off officer" if pulled over for it.Anyone know if thats legal at all?
Strangely Brown said:
Wikipedia appears to have missed out California.
California requires a front plate. http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d05/vc11713_17.ht...
but a lot of people just don't bother and take the tickets:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/karl/2006/03/front-licens...
i thinnk placing your numberplate in the front window looks worse than just actually having it on your car. I always see a young lad in a z3 with his numberplate in the front window, to make it worse the plate is in that chavvy German font - you cant read the plate anyways as its obscured lol (his rear plate however is legal)
I was stopped in Texas for having no front number plate- the result was a citation. I then took a picture of my car (with front plate photoshopped in place 
) to the court and paid $20 in costs. I then continued with my car and its front bumper undrilled.
A lot of people in Texas just stick the front plate behind the 'windshield' and 'display' it that way..........
) to the court and paid $20 in costs. I then continued with my car and its front bumper undrilled. A lot of people in Texas just stick the front plate behind the 'windshield' and 'display' it that way..........
Perd Hapley said:
Strangely Brown said:
Wikipedia appears to have missed out California.
California requires a front plate. http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d05/vc11713_17.ht...
but a lot of people just don't bother and take the tickets:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/karl/2006/03/front-licens...
quoted DMV page said:
Added Sec. 1, Ch. 365, Stats. 2004. Effective January 1, 2005.
I stand corrected. I am pretty certain that it was not a requirement in 2004 so that explains it.Perd Hapley said:
Strangely Brown said:
Wikipedia appears to have missed out California.
California requires a front plate. http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d05/vc11713_17.ht...
but a lot of people just don't bother and take the tickets:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/karl/2006/03/front-licens...
plates in CA are issued in pairs and can not be reordered if lost or stolen so a lot of people only fit the rear plate (often in an anti theft case if its a good plate) and keep the other as a spare in case its stolen
Dave Hedgehog said:
my BIL and my Sister live in CA, BIL says its like a $10 fine and the police do not stop people for no front plate, if you get done for something else like speeding they normally add it to the tally
plates in CA are issued in pairs and can not be reordered if lost or stolen so a lot of people only fit the rear plate (often in an anti theft case if its a good plate) and keep the other as a spare in case its stolen
Why buy a personalised plate if you are only going to display one of them? Seems a bit odd to me, the front is almost as important as the rear.plates in CA are issued in pairs and can not be reordered if lost or stolen so a lot of people only fit the rear plate (often in an anti theft case if its a good plate) and keep the other as a spare in case its stolen
What are the rules when driving out of state? If you don't need one in your home state what happens when in a state that does need one? What about the other way? To me this is something that should be standardised at a national level. I know in states that don't require front plates, owners of european cars put vanity plates of the cars origin so people think they imported it themselves.
Rostfritt said:
What are the rules when driving out of state? If you don't need one in your home state what happens when in a state that does need one?
Don't know chapter and verse on the rules but we never had any problems driving from NY to SF in a CA registered car with no front plate, even when stopped for "a chat" by a huge Missouri State Trooper that must have been at least 8 feet tall and looked like something out of a Sta-Prest advert.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff