California Front License Plate

[SDM44]

I call BS! Please provide proof. I've been to all of these places. They capture your rear plates and actually have it printed on your parking ticket to prevent fraud. Electronic toll cameras also grab rear plates only. I have not ran a front plate for 2 plus decades and have not been denied entrance to anywhere.

Maybe not in the Bay Area where you're at, but in So Cal when driving into LAX the police out front have and will ticket you for not front plate if entering in to pick somebody up or to drop them off.... same with front window tint. This may not happen all the time, but they've announced it in the past and it still happens. Same with parking in the LAX terminal parking garages, or in any of the Metro train parking lots, where parking enforcement will go around and ticket you for no front plate.

Most of the time you will get lucky and not get caught, so it's never a problem until it finally becomes a problem.

 

[Kevy Baby]

They wont pull you over for it.

My wife actually got pulled over JUST for no front license plate. And due to a procedural mistake by someone (not my wife), she actually had to go to court in San Diego (about 75 miles away) for it. The judge saw what the ticket was for and asked why a ticket was even written for this, much less why she had to appear in court. Waived her fees for the inconvenience.

But I wouldn't expect that normally.

 

[adhoc]

I call BS! Please provide proof. I've been to all of these places. They capture your rear plates and actually have it printed on your parking ticket to prevent fraud. Electronic toll cameras also grab rear plates only. I have not ran a front plate for 2 plus decades and have not been denied entrance to anywhere.

DHS has put up entry restrictions at both SAN & LAX during heightened status.
many here have reported on site work restrictions requiring front plate compliance.
my city’s fix it ticket costs $15/after violation is removed by making trek to station,
waiting for available officer and pate mount verification, you will get written in city!

call BS all you want, right up until some LEO reads you vehicle requirements,
it’s your time, money and exposure. report back how understanding the officer was?

having a plate/wrap/removable display IS THE TICKET, not to mention not
establishing an invitation for any conversation a LEO choses?

the wrap (white plate on white car) is absolutely the least objectionable,
and I spent 30 tears without a front plate, now it’s just doesn’t work!

 

[skatefriday]

I'm in CA and leave the front plate off. They wont pull you over for it. They will add it on if they pull you over for something else though. They will also ticket you if you are at a meter. Its only $25 so I just pay them when I get them. In the last decade I've maybe gotten 3 of them.

The one risk here is if you pull out of a bar's parking lot, and are obeying all road rules and not otherwise appearing drunk, they can use the no license plate violation to pull you over and then do a sobriety test on you.

That said I have a 2009 Porsche, sole owner, that's never had a license plate on the front and I've never been pulled over. Then again, I also don't typically drive that one to bars.

 

[skatefriday]

That said I have a 2009 Porsche, sole owner, that's never had a license plate on the front and I've never been pulled over.

Oh wait, this is a bit of a lie. I was pulled over two weeks after buying the car. Lidar on southbound Hwy 99 south of Bakersfield. I was only doing 91.

 

[Kevy Baby]

Oh wait, this is a bit of a lie. I was pulled over two weeks after buying the car. Lidar on southbound Hwy 99 south of Bakersfield. I was only doing 91.

On that highway, that's "flow of traffic."

 

[Jenremoved]

I’ve driven without a front plate in the Bay Area for fifteen years now and have never gotten a ticket for it driving or parked. That being said, I’m also not in a demographic that police are looking to pull over and my cars typically looked stock.

When I was a defense attorney it became very clear that the “one crime at a time” rule should always be followed. So, if you’re one to push it when it comes to DUIs or other offenses, I’d recommend rolling with a front plate. Otherwise, unless your jurisdiction is really known for cracking down on it, you’ll be fine without one.

 

[Luudcrs]

Maybe not in the Bay Area where you're at, but in So Cal when driving into LAX the police out front have and will ticket you for not front plate if entering in to pick somebody up or to drop them off.... same with front window tint. This may not happen all the time, but they've announced it in the past and it still happens. Same with parking in the LAX terminal parking garages, or in any of the Metro train parking lots, where parking enforcement will go around and ticket you for no front plate.

Most of the time you will get lucky and not get caught, so it's never a problem until it finally becomes a problem.

DHS has put up entry restrictions at both SAN & LAX during heightened status.
many here have reported on site work restrictions requiring front plate compliance.
my city’s fix it ticket costs $15/after violation is removed by making trek to station,
waiting for available officer and pate mount verification, you will get written in city!

call BS all you want, right up until some LEO reads you vehicle requirements,
it’s your time, money and exposure. report back how understanding the officer was?

having a plate/wrap/removable display IS THE TICKET, not to mention not
establishing an invitation for any conversation a LEO choses?

the wrap (white plate on white car) is absolutely the least objectionable,
and I spent 30 tears without a front plate, now it’s just doesn’t work!

Thanks for the info. I'll try to remember it if I'm ever down at those airports.

But let me clarify...I'm not arguing that no plates will or will not get you a ticket. I'm calling BS on the "areas now restricted to entry
if no front plate displayed." Okay, they're sitting at the entrances and citing drivers for no front plates. After the citation, are they actually denying you entrance into the garage/lot to pick up your traveler? If they are, then I take my BS call back and apologize. A citation is the risk I take every time I drive or park without front plates, but I've never ever been restricted to drive or park anywhere without it, at least up here in the Bay Area or anywhere else I've been to. That's a risk I've been willing and continue to take.

 

[adhoc]

Thanks for the info. I'll try to remember it if I'm ever down at those airports.

But let me clarify...I'm not arguing that no plates will or will not get you a ticket. I'm calling BS on the "areas now restricted to entry
if no front plate displayed." Okay, they're sitting at the entrances and citing drivers for no front plates. After the citation, are they actually denying you entrance into the garage/lot to pick up your traveler? If they are, then I take my BS call back and apologize. A citation is the risk I take every time I drive or park without front plates, but I've never ever been restricted to drive or park anywhere without it, at least up here in the Bay Area or anywhere else I've been to. That's a risk I've been willing and continue to take.

I have no idea regarding access to bay area access, I do overlap with airport DHS.
I take public trans to/from both SAN & LAX, I have been given heightened alerts from
my friends on that side, and have had same conversations you pose here, "I've never
been..." and they advised when deployed in entry areas assessing entry, and no front
plate was addressed as a means to stop and limit access. as you recall some airports
restrict ride share services to off airport. others here have reported being denied acdess
to work related parking entry without front plate.

I too ran for 30+ years no front plate, and did so for 1st year on P3D ownership, just
got to be more time involved in not complying v refusing to conform, the pendulum
direction is clear and not reversing soon.

I share the same with LEO's at the local coffee shop, and there's always a push back
by another car guy, I'm just glad I don't have to go down to the police station, display
the plate, and still get to pay a $15 admin fee v license plate wrap.

call BS or don't call BS, YMMV!

 

[Wennfred]

 

[mattack4000]

I don't get the purpose of these vinyl sticker. You might as well have a license plate

 

[Wennfred]

I don't get the purpose of these vinyl sticker. You might as well have a license plate

Reduce extra un-wanted weight, won’t disturb air flow or aero dynamics and it prevents tickets. But mainly it looks pretty cool.

Fred

 

[RayK]

Reduce extra un-wanted weight, ... <snip>

If that were truly your main consideration, then I'd propose that you go on a diet, lose 5 pounds, and that would be better for you.

 

[adhoc]

But mainly it looks pretty cool.

best way to comply and not ruin the lines of the car!
white on white (asdisplayed earlier in thread)
all but disappears!

 

[Spalding]

Don’t have a model 3 but thought i’d bring up the license plate wrap!

Tested by the California Highway Patrol of Sacramento

I've seen these decal license plates - they're the perfect solution for a Model 3. If I had it to do over again, I'd do this.

 

[rotus8]

I was up for a plate wrap but the company said that they can't do it for me. I have California yellow on blue plates, the seventh car for them. It may be because they are not retro-reflective.

 

[yourotherleft]

Wish I knew about this plate wrap. I got stopped by Milpitas Cop for not having front plate last summer. It's a fix-it tix. Cost me $25 for administrative fee. More hassle than anything.

 

[Luudcrs]

I was up for a plate wrap but the company said that they can't do it for me. I have California yellow on blue plates, the seventh car for them. It may be because they are not retro-reflective.

Those classic blue ones are my favorite. Really hoping they'll offer that again soon.

So the vinyl/decal ones have reflective properties too just like real plates? From all the photos I've seen they don't look it.

 

[BluestarE3]

I was up for a plate wrap but the company said that they can't do it for me. I have California yellow on blue plates, the seventh car for them. It may be because they are not retro-reflective.

I contacted them last year about getting them to do a personalized ("vanity") plate with the Environmental design background. They asked me to send them a photo of that particular design (not sure why they couldn't just go to the CA DMV site), which I did, but never heard back from them. I've since gone with the Snapplate frame.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Meter maids in San Francisco often write no front plate tickets when parked.