Contributor
Unless they're really bored, few cops will pull a car over just for a missing front plate, but it'll get added on to to any "real" ticket you happen to get. Or so claimed the CHP guy I parked next to at the gun range. I had four front-plate-free years with the Boxster and the Corvette, no issue. (Still have both those plates on the wall of my garage, come to think of it.)Originally Posted by Mark Wedel
It's just a 'fix-it ticket' in any case.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
I'm vaguely surprised that the VIN-reader isn't already a thing. The toll-road "transponder" on my car is a sticker about the same size as the VIN plate. I assume it has an RFID or some such embedded, but the widget that reads it is 20' up when I drive through...wasn't sure RFID worked at that distance. Having manufacturers add an RFID tag to the dash would be trivially simple: I suspect some of them do it already to track cars on the assembly line and in transit.
Red-light and speed camera images have always been good enough to recognize the driver, just not in real time.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
Yeah, but the days of a "fix-it" ticket being free are long gone, in the past all you had to do was correct the problem & get a cop to sign off on it & send it in, now you get to pay too. BTW, if the month sticker on the lic plate is missing or faded/unreadable can result in a ticket too.
Member
Maryland has a toll collecting system that relies on camera read tags. One bridge just 40 miles south of me on Rt 40 near Havr De Grace is a whopping $12 toll for a stinking 60 year old third of a mile long bridge. My next door neighbor crossed it many times in his travels and would smear some mud or grease on his tag before leaving home. Claimed that it saved him a couple hundred dollars a year in Maryland tolls.
The Maryland system operates on EZ pass, but Maryland residents can get a pass for free and just load a deposit on it., But if you are licensed in PA you need to pay a flat fee for the pass ($50 I think) and then load a deposit on it. I crossed the bridge once with out realizing how stupid expensive it is, so now I cross at the next crossing 10 miles up stream which is free (Rt 1, Conowingo Dam).
Maryland has started a new thing where non-pass holders can permit an auto draw to their credit card or bank accounts which saves about 50% off the tolls. We cross the Bay Bridge a couple times a year, so Mrs signed up for the credit card charge.
Maryland has also recently started computer camera speeding tickets. Drove through Maryland in early October and so far no tickets in the mail, or I might start smearing mud when I travel south.
Contributor
I went for almost a year during COVID with incorrect registration stickers. I was not pulled over or ticketed during that year. I renewed my registration online and the state never sent me the stickers. I called the state and they sent out new stickers. I went to put them on the car and they were identical to what was on the car! I thought I made a mistake and didn't put them on. They had sent me expired stickers, instead of the ones for the new year. Someone pointed out the problem to me about a month before I had to renew again. I just renewed a little early and put the new stickers on.
Contributor
I think expired stickers is enforced to about the same level as missing front plates - if you are doing something else suspicious, it is reason enough for a police officer to pull you over, but it is unlikely you would get pulled over just because of that.
The bigger danger of expired tags is that it is not legal to park on public streets without up to date registration. Conceivably, a car could be towed in such a circumstance (as writing a ticket that puts a hold on registration until paid may not do much if the person isn't paying for registration in the first place)
Contributor
It's a little different here in BC, your sticker is tied to your mandatory liability insurance. No sticker, no insurance. However, I know from experience that it isn't well inforced. A few years ago I was in the lineup for the ferry and a truck driver walked by and asked me if I knew my sticker was expired and I had no insurance. I received my renewal notice weeks before my tag expired and kept putting off renewing until I finally forgot altogether. Adding to the drama, it was a holiday weekend and most ICBC (the government insurance company) agents were closed. We searched online and found one that was open and renewed so no harm done, in fact I saved 3 months worth of insurance premiums.Not sure I'd recommend saving money that way.
[OP]
Contributor
When an officer of the law is having a bad day, they may have a desire to spread the misery.I think expired stickers is enforced to about the same level as missing front plates - if you are doing something else suspicious, it is reason enough for a police officer to pull you over, but it is unlikely you would get pulled over just because of that.
I've gone months forgetting to put my new sticker in place without being stopped. In some states not having a front plate is enough to get pulled over. Often plates are stolen by someone who intends to commit a crime.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
I can see someone stealing both plates to put on a 'getaway car', but here the front one alone won't help them much: the stickers are back-plate only.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
Months ago, I needed a renewal on my car but kept forgetting to go in. The tabs expired on May 31st, which was a Friday. The next day, Saturday, June 1st, we decided to clean the garage, and so I moved my car out of the driveway and parked it on the street across from my house. Note that we live at the end of a dead-end street. While we were cleaning, a police car comes by, parks behind my car for about 10 minutes, then gets out, slaps a ticket on my windshield, gets back in and drives off. All while 3 of us are just standing there staring at him. I was a little miffed that he wouldn't at least say something to me about it.
Contributor
Maybe the logic is,
Steal a front plate since it is less likely to be noticed as gone and reported as stolen and stick it on the back with a little dirt so it's not obvious that the sticker is missing. A car with no rear plate is more likely to be noticed by the police than one with a dirty rear plate that is missing a sticker and a plate that is stolen is less likely to be linked to you if spotted by a witness than one that is registered to you. That's what I would do if I was a crook but I am not a crook, mmm who else said that?
Contributor
That's why it's illegal, you get issued two plates, you should have both, whether you think you'd get a ticket or not. It's also illegal to obscure the registration sticker.Maybe the logic is,
Steal a front plate since it is less likely to be noticed as gone and reported as stolen and stick it on the back with a little dirt so it's not obvious that the sticker is missing. A car with no rear plate is more likely to be noticed by the police than one with a dirty rear plate that is missing a sticker and a plate that is stolen is less likely to be linked to you if spotted by a witness than one that is registered to you. That's what I would do if I was a crook but I am not a crook, mmm who else said that?
[OP]
Contributor
How was he to know it was your car?All while 3 of us are just standing there staring at him. I was a little miffed that he wouldn't at least say something to me about it.
A law enforcement officer's job is to enforce the law, not to engage socially with people staring at them. He may have spent the time in the car checking to make sure the car hadn't been reported stolen. In some jurisdictions he may have been waiting to see if a tow truck was able to come and get it.
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 11-10-2023 at 4:42 PM.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
So why did you stand there staring at a police officer while he wrote you a ticket you didn't think you deserved? I would have walked over introduced myself as the owner of the car and explain why it was parked on the street with expired plates and offered to move it back into the driveway. If he refused to let me, then I would be miffed. Given the location on a dead end street, I suspect you have a neighbour with a grudge who reported the car.
Member
PA stopped using annual stickers on tags about 4 or 5 years ago. We have to show valid insurance cards and valid registration to pass safety inspection every year. And police do seem to take great delight in pulling over vehicles with expired inspection stickers. Depending on your attitude, they may add on all the other stuff, like expired tags, etc. Heck, I even got a ticket in Florida because my PA inspection sticker was expired. I had to go to Dade County Fla court and show the PA statute that extended the sticker for people who were stationed or schooling out of state.
Something like 20% of Pa drivers have no insurance for their vehicle. The fact that they need to get insurance for the safety inspection is the only time many of that 20% have insurance. Many would also not fix their brakes or replace bald tires except for the safety inspection rules.
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