I think it really depends on wher eyou live and work on whether or not to put the front license plate on. As other people have already said, it is required by law in CA. They didn;t used to be able to pull you over just for that offense, but as of a few years ago, they can now.

I put on a front plate because I used to work in Culver City. The cops there were known for pulling people over for no front plates, probably because they were one of the first cities to get a traffic light camera.

 

Yup... pretty much anywhere west of 110 freeway are quite strict about front plates...

 

And what about a second offense? Do they ding you more if you were previously cited? What's your excuse this time, dude?

I guess I can be grateful that the issue of red-light photos is still up in the air here, although I've driven in LA and San Francisco without front plates and haven't been caught yet.

cal

 

I ran with no plates for 2 years and now only run with the back plate. I suggest that you keep your dealer's new car stciker on the front windsheild. It reduces the chances of a cop spotting no plate in front and then stopping you since it looks like a new car! Good incentive to keep the car looking clean too! No front plate tickets yet in this car. Only had one in my previous 3 cars, all of which ran no front plates.

I run the risk, but I'd rather pay than put the plate on and ruin the lines of the car....ahhh, the price of vanity!

 

just got my front plate fix it ticket signed off this week

 

Someone said to me that if you go down to the DMV and show them that you have a high performance car, and that the license plate blocks the air flow to the motor they will give you a waver pass. So when the cop pulls you over you just show the pass to him/her and they will let you go. I dont know if this is true if it is they sure are keeping it a big secret. But I guess its worth a try?

 

A most excellent answer IMHO to the front plate delimma (and a simple/clean way to avoid $50+ dollar fines! ) would be to suggest doing what I did for my Spa. Check out the pics of my car here:

The Bruised Banana

What you see here was done completely by Coastal-Metals. I purchased one of their center grill inserts...but mailed them my front license plate (asking them to hold shipment until they received my plate). For $15 over the price of the grill, they ground down the "non-essential" portions of the license plate (little on the sides -- ~ 1/2" -- and a fair bit off the bottom -- ~ 1") to reduce the amount of airflow constriction to the engine and professionally installed & trimmed (with the same trim as the grill itself) the license plate to their grill. I'm pleased with the results and have received numerous compliments. Also, I've never had the car move past 3 bars...

Just a thought...

PS. The "My Go Kart" pic at the bottom of my posts is an older picture taken when I first got the car. The solution offered above (as seen in the link above) allowed me to remove the license plate from the bumper of my car & clean up its beautiful front end.

 

That plate mount idea is pretty good...but that bra, man.....no way I would wank up the front of my car with one of those flapping messes. Sorry, personal opinion.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by w1ngman
[B]
What you see here was done completely by Coastal-Metals.

 

If there are a lot of Porsches and Mercedes running around you're area without plates, you're in pretty safe territory for leaving your plates off too.