Front license plates

I only have the front plate on one of my 3 cars & have never had any problems. I DO ensure I have the plate with me, just in case. And of course, none of my vehicles is a red Ferrari & I don't tend to drive in the city itself...
'97 Montreal Blue Z3 (no plate)
'93 White 911 C4 (no plate)
'83 Ruby Red euro 928s (plate)

 

I've never had a front plate on any of my F-cars or other sports cars. This goes back many years.

A couple of years ago I was pulled over by a state trooper for no front plate. He told me it was a pet peeve of his, but let me go with a warning.

That's the only time I've been stopped for no plate.

YMMV

 

What is a front license plate?

Must be something they use in Switzerland...

 

LOL! I've never had one on my 328. Actually, front plate violations seem to me like the domain of suburban and state troopers. City cops tend to focus more on the more serious issues, such as expired meters and missing city stickers!

 

Warning: This thread is about to be hijacked!

You mentioned city cops; made me think of a funny story.

While in Chicago, I got a parking ticket on a Ferrari. The ticket writer showed the make of vehicle as a Ford.

The ticket was legit, but I sent a picture of the car with the license plate, and attached a note saying "Does this look like a Ford??"

The ticket was dismissed!

Anyhow, I'm off for a much needed vacation tomorrow. Not sure when I'll be back so, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!!

Skip

 

Jack,

There is at least one place in the city where they do focus on front license plates- O'Hare. They have guys out there just driving up and down the aisles looking for things expired vehicle registration (got a ticket on the 5th of the month following the expiration) and no front plate ( got a ticket on my MBZ when the front was up against a column and it was not easy to see). On the plus side, I'm real sure that I'll never to worry about parking my Ferrari in O'Hare.

 

When I first titled my 308 the title came back reading Ford for the make as well. Took a while for them to get convinced it was their mistake.

 

I have never put the front plate on my 308,and It is now 4 years since I've owned it. Never got pulled over for it either.

Also,didn't have a front plate on most of the (7) Corvettes that I've owned for the past 20+ Years. I believe I did put them on the front of the 'Vettes when I was a big Drinker...Didn't need any extra excuses for a Pull over....But,since I quit drinking,it's not an issue for me.

 

I have a eurpoean type plate on the front of my Saab Viggen which simply reads "Viggen." Had it parked on Wabash (downtown) a few months back on a Saturday afternoon. Came out to find a ticket for no front license plate. I completely ignored the ticket because I thought it was senseless. The city does not see it that way.

The last notice I received from the City was that my car is eligible for the boot as I have yet to deal with the ticket.

I think it simply depends on the cop and what they feel like doing. I would suggest you carry your front plate with you behind the drivers seat in case you get stopped.

As an aside, technically, you can park a vehicle in Illinois with the front plate displayed in the front window, up on the dash. I would not really suggest this because of the possibility of tearing a leather dash.

Live on the edge. Refuse to display a front plate!

 

There's been a Bill pending in the Illinois House to change the law where Corvettes can only display a rear plate for an extra fee. I wrote the legislator saying this law should be expanded to include other vehicles (basically anyone who would want to pay the extra fee). The lawmaker was nice enough to write back, saying he would take everything into consideration:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=4345&GAID=3&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=8627&SessionID=3

I've had a front plate since day one, because the cops around here are bored all the time. I feel it's just not worth the potential hassle of having to mess with them...

 

Now that you mention it, I got a parking ticket last year and it said Ford on it also!

 

It's probably the cop giving you a warning, in a way. He knows that if you're an intelligent, law abiding citizen, you'll be able to get it dismissed.

Not having a front license plate does give an officer probable cause to pull you over, even if you're obeying all other traffic laws. Keep that in mind before driving the F Car to happy hour.

 

I didn't have one on my Mercedes ML one time I was pulled over. It was in Schaumburg and when I passed a police officer past 2am, he pulled out of the strip mall and followed me for a few miles right on my car's tail. Eventually lighting up and me pulling over, he said that my tags were not correct as they were registered to another Benz. After explaining it was my old car he let me go stating the truth of the pull over was just a simple check for drunk drivers, ( he was friendly the whole time, no attitude. ) I had no front plate and he had to see that when he first spotted me. No mention of it though as I think they don't hold that offence as their highest priority. Perhaps only a cop who is short to his monthly quota would do it?

RocketBoy

 

I don't have a front plate on my 308, but I do realize that it's a magnet for a pretextual stop if you get a cop suspicious. Frank's right. But I don't drink or anything else when I drive my Ferrari so it doesn't really concern me much. Never had a problem, even though I did get a speeding ticket once and the cop said nothing about it.

I continued the speeding case to Christmas Eve figuring the cop wouldn't show, and I was right! (that's why I get the big legal bucks)

Interesting case though - DuPage Sheriff was in DuPage County with a radar gun. He shot me coming over a bridge while I was in Cook County. I was looking forward to see if he could give me a ticket for an offense that happened outside his jurisdiction....

 

Does one out of two count?