The CHP is asking civilians to turn in your neighbor. If your new neighbor has out of state plates on their vehicles the CHP wants you to turn them in. Also, just after noon today on the 55 between the 91 and 22 - 3 CHP had 3 seperate vehicles pulled over. CaChing thats the sound of increased tax revenue.

The "cheaters" program http://www.chp.ca.gov/prog/cheaters.cgi for reporting out of state plates has been around for a couple years now. I believe the law states that you have 20 days to register your vehicle after establishing residency in California.

Gotta get rid of that deficit somehow. The local cops where I live have really hit the parking enforcement hard. I already got a ticket for parking 3-5 AM last week (overnight parking is not allowed in my city) and I got two separate fix-it-tickets for no front license plate that got stolen from me while I was in class.

Front License plates are not required by law in California

Well is it county law or something? They've always given me fix-it-tickets for it, along with a couple of my friends.

California has a two plate law.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5200.htm
Display of License Plates
5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.
(b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004

They are enforcing it more in the LA area because of the red light camera's and the significant income they generate.
Here's an interesting blog I found talking about it. http://blogs.edmunds.com/karl/2006/0...f-revenue.html

So what does rough mean by what he said?

In this situation I'm referring to my car, and I'm pretty sure my car came with front plates so that means I have to display a front plate correct?

Very few vehicles are only issued one plate, your car needs two.

Nice State, you have 20 days to move in get your car smogged and inspected while trying to maintain a 8-5 new job.

Right?

Well California's pretty much the benchmark for emission laws so I guess they're trying to follow up on the entire front.

"benchmark" is not the word I would use.

LOL, I suppose not. Only the Nuremburg laws rival California smog laws!

Yep our tax money and legislators at work for us

Ive been stopped a few times, followed many cops, probably to closely, and never has a cop said anything about my license plate , Only one came with my car, I guess if you got 2 your Sol :/
I live here in the central valley, could be just a city enforcing it. I work with a few guys from the tulare county sherrifs dept, Ill ask one of them

About 10 years ago CHP gave me a no front plate ticket just south of you in Earlimart.

Just because you've never been issued a citation for it doesn't mean the law doesn't exist..just means it wasn't enforced or you got lucky. Guaranteed your car was issued two plates and the PO didn't give the other plate to you when they sold it. Ignorance of the law is never an excuse.

Exactly. You may not have gotten the car with both plates because it was previously owned but your car needs two plates. Regardless of whether the PO had two or not.

Some places just don't enforce these laws, and be glad you live where you live.

Isn't there a law saying if you have the front plate in your car and can show it to the officer when he tries to write you up for no front plate then they can't write you a ticket for it, or was that another old wives tale I heard..

That's a good question Tpx, I was wondering the same thing the other day, because I notice some people have theirs on their dashboard.

The ticket that I get for it states "No front license plate displayed" so I'm assuming that you might be able to get around it if you have it on your dash, but if you pull it out of your car I believe you'll still get the ticket because you aren't "displaying" the license plate.

But the actual tickets I've gotten were found on my car the next morning, I've never been pulled over for not having a front license plate on the car, only found the ticket on my car the next morning.

The GTA I just bought never had the front plate installed or was it given to me, bought new in CA. So if I get stopped Im looking at a trip the house of welfare to work rejects to get new plates.

Driving my sons GTA thru South Dakota, CA car, I got a warning ticket from a SD HP for no front plate. Cameras, $hit nothing but cornfields for hundreds of miles.

I'm pretty sure it's a wives tale. They want the plate mounted not just with the car.
If you did pull out the plate and showed them that you had it they'd
1. Ask you to attach it right there
or
2. Give you the ticket and tell you to bring it in when it's attached and they'd sign off on the fix.

i just got a ticket last night for that. i told him its on my dash and he told me it needs to be bolted on in the front. unless he was just trying to pick on me since it happened at midnight, my car was full and he thought i stole the car cause i look 15 and once he found out that the car was reg to me and he gave me a fix it ticket for the license...

ohhhh this was in north long beach by the way....

He was probably giving you a hard time because it was so late, you look young, and you were driving a camaro.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure they can give out both correctable and non-correctable tickets for no front license plate. So at least he gave you a correctable one.

yea i get those tickets all the dam time...i just hate looking at the car with front plates...it just doesnt go...(in my opinion)..i get a ticket... zip tie the plates to the grille, go to the station, pay the 20 bucks or the freebee, get home take em off...ive done it 4 times already......i kinda take the lonely streets now! i live in pomona, Ca. cops are REAL COCK SUCKERS HERE!

yea i feel the same exact way

You Camaro owners are lucky though.

While front plates do suck, your front end has a location that a plate fits.Us 'bird owners have a pointed front end & the factory mount is simply screwed directly into the nose of our cars!

Ratchet here on TGO built this James Bond 007 front plate mount...
http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/sh...cat/500/page/1

(flip switch as you pull over) "But Officer Sir, you must be mistaken. Look again. I DO have a front plate."

I've been pulled over by the LAPD for no front plate and got a ticket years ago. Although, our cars, like Corvettes look better without them. Btw, my buddies with Vette's got totally pissed off when they had to put on their front plates.

dang having a car in cali is almost like the government owns it

my ex moved back out there, luckly her truck is registered in her greandparents name and they live here, so she still has her AL plates


good luck out there guys

I have a friend with a old street rod and it has a section with the plate and tail lights that when the key is off it hides up under the trunk and drop down when the key is back on.

LOL that's hilarious! The officer'll be like "Wtf?!"

with the current economics crisis in this state you can bet the law enforcment is brushing up on the vehicle code book and enforcing existing laws we have gotten away with for a long time. its only gonna get worse.

I got a good one. Well on the way back from Pasadena, not in my car, my friend Lisa and I made a stop at a Kragen auto parts store in Bell, CA. Well turns out, there was this real evil femal cop (would like to call her something worse, but don't want to get banned.)

Well, turns out this cop was cruising the parking lot and everytime someone parked into a stall, she would block the vehicle, run the plates, and if there was something wrong with registration or unpaid parking tickets, she would call the tow and that would be it. Turns out my female companion was screwed. Got car towed and cop said "the State needs money." Well it cost me $300 bucks for the tow since I had to go to Kragen for some vacuum hoses for my Camaro. Oh well.

Cops = nothing but gun toting revenue agents.

The need to change the "To protect and serve" to "To tax and fine"

The dashboard deal will not fly because of c.v.c. 5201:

5201. License plates shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle for which they are issued so as to prevent the plates from swinging, shall be mounted in a position so as to be clearly visible, and shall be maintained in a condition so as to be clearly legible. The rear license plate shall be mounted not less than 12 inches nor more than 60 inches from the ground, and the front license plate shall be mounted not more than 60 inches from the ground.

5201Positioning of Plates

Display of License Plates

5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.
(b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004.




Im not sure if there is any new provisions of this law, so correct me if im wrong.

60 inches is five feet, so you could technically beat that and say your dash is less than 60 inches off the ground, which it probably is, unless you're driving a hummer, but in that case it's not technically "fastened to the vehicle"

And it just depends, you'll sometimes get cops that try to give you a hard time, and other times you'll get a cop that'll let you off. It just depends, not all cops are as "bad" as the reputation they have.

I'll velcro it to my dash and I KNOW my dash is only about 4 feet off the ground max lol.

Solved. haha

Wrong about what? Not having a front plate? You have a car, you HAVE to have a front plate by state law. I guarantee you it was issued two plates.

I have turned in two cars, a Hyundai and a Toyota, at my old place that had out of state plates for more than a year.

It doesnt matter how many plates came with the car when *you* bought it. It was issued two plates by the DMV when it was sold as brand new. If you dont have two plates, you're supposed to turn in your plate and get new ones.

I love how you guys are mad at the cops for catching you doing something wrong, as if its their fault you're breaking the law.

I love how they are trying to find some way around it. Either mount it and don't worry about it, or don't mount it and hope you don't get caught.

I've turned a couple people in that had out of state plates for more than six months. I've also turned a couple people in for excessively smoking vehicles.

Maybe they get blamed for just "doing their job" because of all the times they SHOULD be "doing their job" on a non-revenue enhancing item but apparently refuse to because there's no money in it. The day they actually become useful in that sense to me, I'll have a different opinion. Until then, they are just glorified tax collectors and worthless to boot.

I agree, any way you look at it, if you hadn't been doing something illegal in the first place then they would have no reason to punish you, regardless of the severity of the punishment if they had a reason to, don't give them a chance to ticket you.

They're just doing their jobs.

Don't hate the cops here. Especially since they make up the majority of my immediate family members. But...there are those cops that do like to pull people over for the heck of it. Before I had tinted my rear window and replaced the 14" wheels, I got pulled over left and right for any little thing. 1. I don't dress or look like someone up to no good, 2. My car is does not look like an IROC or a high performance street rocket. So it's all up to the man or manish woman with the badge and gun if they want to pull you over and they will use the excuse of reasonable doubt that you have something wrong with your car even if it doesnt.

There are a lot of things the cops could be doing to make our cities safer, but the real money is in vehicle code violations so that is their main concern. More tickets more money for the city. And its the whole system from the Governor on down including mayors and police chiefs. The beat cops are on the bottom of the $hit roll but they never have a problem giving warnings instead of tickets when salary contract negoations stall.

Right about the warnings.

Don't forget, if you cover the license plate with a cover (clear cover in my case), you take a chance on getting a ticket for that too. All these little codes just aid the cops in getting "probable cause" for the stop. Just depends on your attitude and the cops where it goes from there.

^
Exactly. I come from a long line of cops and I respect them, and it all comes down to your attitude with them.

If you act like an *** during the whole situation they'll be more inclined to give you a ticket or a hard time.

I guess my car is "suspicious" and I've been pulled over for no other reason besides that and I've been sat on the curb numerous times as they search my car, but I just have a good attitude about it and it's fine, I know I have nothing illegal in my car so everything's good, they explain that they pulled me over because my car looked suspicious and I just agreed, they were only doing their jobs. I'd pull me over too.

so why cant they do the same to "persons highly suspected of selling controlled substances".

I was under the impression that they do.