How do you get away without a front plate?
 

Hi guys!

Looking around I see a lot of people not running front plates. How are you able to get away with it? I live in CA which is a front plate state, do cops really pull you over all the time if you don't have one?

Live in CA for 4 years, never had a front plate and never had a ticket.

Luck of the draw. Most of us do not "get away with it." Most of us have gotten tickets for it at some point or another. I went for several years with my Miatas running no plates with no issues (well, ONE ticket in one of my Miatas), but that has not been the case more recently and with my S.

Yes, they *do* pull you over for it, leastwise in the LA area they do. I've gotten fix it tickets near LAX, in Beverly Hills, and the Santa Monica mountains/canyons. I finally got tired of it and mounted my plate with one of those hide away brackets so I can slide it under when I get to a meet where I don't want the plate marring the look of the nose of the car. Ninety percent of the time, I have it fully displayed.

Also, parking enforcement can ticket you for no front plate too, so it isn't just a matter of getting pulled over for it. You risk it even when parked on a public street or public parking lot.

PS If a cop is looking for a reason to pull someone over while driving in the canyons, no front plate is an excellent one for them to use. The last two EOM Drives, we had two drivers ticketed for no plate.

Luck.

Two years of ownership and removing the front plate was something I did the first week of owning it. Daily drive it and I haven't gotten pulled over once, but there have been a couple of local owners I know who have gotten ticketed for it. https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/public/st...h_dontknow.gif

Cops are too busy thinking dam, thats a sexy car.

I talked to a parking police officer in my area, they do not enforce it and will use it against you if they want to pull you over. Friday night, it's 2am and they see you, you're going to get pulled over. Just an easy way to stop someone incase they think you're drinking. At least in my town.

Probably comes down to the cop, county and how busy they are with real problems.

I drive a lot, and I imagine as police you see this to. Sometimes you just get a vibe about a driver. The way they handle the corners, change lanes or the speed they're driving. I suspect this has a lot more to do with getting pulled over then the plate. Just a theory of course.

I parked for years in down town SF where people complain regularly about front plate tickets, never got one, ever. Years too.

This may not be true, but I wouldn't be surprised if car color comes in to play. On say a silver or white car a missing front plate wouldn't be as noticeable as say on a black or blue car.

I had no front plate for about 4 years.

But one day while I was parked, got issued a citation.

Honestly it's only a matter of time before someone will get you.

Luck of the draw. Best solution; don't give a cop a reason to pull you over for something else.

Most of the time when I hear stories about front license plate tickets they got pulled over for something else; speeding, driving around at 7Krpms with a fart can rice exhaust; or in my case, ashing a lit cigarette out of a convertible (:rolleyes:).

Most cops don't go out of their way to stop people who don't have a front license plate, but if they pull you over, and can't pin you for anything else, better believe they'll pull that out of their ass to meet their quota.