so, let me get it straight.
we do need the put a license plate in the front or the car in CA ... right?
that's what i heard from a lot of friends of mine.

but man, i would hate to put a license plate on the smooth front line of my s2k ...

 

legally, yes you do.
practically, most of us do without (and periodically get a fixit ticket).

 

Many of our California brethren have opted to run plateless, consequences be dammed. You might do a search on this. There have been a number of good suggestions for avoiding tickets for this offense. Texas also requires a front plate, but I've run naked for several months now, including a traffic stop resulting in a speeding ticket with no mention of the missing front plate.

 

My "fix-it" ticket for not having a front plate was $75 & a moving violation.

This glorious event occurred in the Signal Hill area of Long Beach. I was not speeding or driving reckless. I was okay with the $, but a mark on my driving record? I had to go to Long Beach court and fight it. The judge agreed that it was too harsh, and I only paid a $15 court fee (no marks on my record). Missed half a day of work, though.

I think this is just bad luck, though. I talked with an officer at the CHP office, and he says the officer that wrote me up is kind of a dick & doesn't like foreign cars. There truly are good cops & bad cops.

 

Yes, its a must in California. You can always try what others are doing and have a broken bracket in your trunk that you can show the officer if you're pulled over. Its a gamble, but its your choice. I don't have my front license on so I'm risking it as well

Jaykkub

 

Yes, required by law. The nice thing about laws is that you have a choice of whether you want to obey them or not. There is a price to be paid for doing your own thing and as long as you acept that then no problem. It might cost you a ticket once a year so if paying a $75 fine once or twice a year is better than having a stipid ugly front plate for a whole year then ignore it like 80-90% of others have done.

Naked a loving it since Jan 2000. No tickets, yet...* fingers crossed *

 

Went through a license and registration checkpoint in Costa Mesa yesterday. The cop was so busy talking to the person next to him he waved me thru without looking at the front of the car. There were 4 motorcycle cops lined up just waiting to write a ticket and me with no front plate.....lucky day.

 

hum ... interesting ...
it's 6 for 6 now for no front license plate ..
maybe i should post a poll about front license plate .. can you guys go do the poll too?

well, i don't have one. cause my license plate hasn't arrive yet.
but call me cheap if you want, cause i do want to keep that $75 in my pocket (or buy something nice for my s2k ) instead of giving it out for free to the DMV ...

 

I've also gone through three local license and Reg check stops without any front-plate-hassle. To be honest I'm suprised. I expect them to ticket me one of these days.

 

I've never had a plate on the front of any of my vehicles. Got one ticket about 12 years ago in Palm Springs during spring break. Yes it's the law in California, but not really enforced unless there just looking for a reason to pull you over.