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California ATOT: Do you need to have a front license plate?

E

Eeezee

Diamond Member
I moved from Arizona, where they only give you a license plate for the back. The DMV gave me two plates, and I noticed there are many cards that drive with a plate in the front...

I live on a campus, so there are also plenty of cars without a front plate (people who moved from out of state, brought their car, changed registration to CA and didn't put the front plate on). Does anyone know specifically if you need to have the front plate and what the penalty is?

I don't have a holder for front plates, and I don't want my car to have two big holes in the front if I move to another state and they don't give me a second plate.
 
yes you do need to.

quite a few ppl get away with it.. but the worst you get is a $10 correction ticket from the cop or a warning.

otherwise, you can do what those ricers do - put the front plate on top of the dash board right behind the windshield
 
Originally posted by: andylawcc
yes you do need to.

quite a few ppl get away with it.. but the worst you get is a $10 correction ticket from the cop or a warning.

otherwise, you can do what those ricers do - put the front plate on top of the dash board right behind the windshield
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Or on the side on the front bumper if the plate blocks the air to your intercooler. W00t!
 
I bought my current car in CA. It doesn't have a front plate. It doesn't even have a place I could PUT the front plate.

I never had anyone even ask about it. Never put a front plate on there. Drove for years without one.

I moved to CO and I still don't have a front plate and still nobody bothers me about it.
 
Yes, you do. One of my cars only had one when I bought it, and the other car's front plate I have in the trunk (keep taking it off when I wash it).

I need to get another for the first car, but am lazy.
 
Yes, I got a fix it ticket for it after driving without it for 5 years with my old car. But it's really cheap ticket, so I just got new plates but never bothered to put the new front one on.
The lady checked it off when I picked up the new plates but never checked if I put them on. The ticket was cheaper than the bracket for front plate.
 
Straight from the California DMV web site.

(B) The person understands that California law requires a license plate to be displayed from and securely fastened to the front of the motor vehicle and that the hardware necessary to securely fasten the front plate is available from the dealer.
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That particular passage is in regards to front plate brackets but you get the idea.

-KeithP
 
Yup you do, but I didn't put them on till last year (1998 Camry). Hah. 9 years and we never had an issue? My mom thought we never got front plates so she told me to be careful but a $10 ticket was nothing. It would be more costly to go out and buy a new set of plates and get it drilled.

Well guess what? Last year I parked my car outside for one day and they wrote me a ticket. Worst of all I never got that ticket stuck to my windshield and I didn't get notice till the stupid yellow slip came in the mail. To make it worse, I moved back home for my internship, so it was a PITA to deal with that and then mail it back in. Plus it was real close to the deadline. I paid the full fine and then I went exploring in my car. Unscrewed the back license plate and found that they put the 2 plates together on the back, so I went to get my car drilled in the front for $10.

9 years man, and the most anal parking city in the world (Berkeley) finally writes me a ticket for it. Can't believe the cops don't even care back at home.

I wonder if not having front plates can mess with red light cameras? They get your back but then there's so many loopholes about how they ahve to get your face, etc etc and how can they prove it's the car without front plates? I don't know... probably they can still nail you, but I'm curious as to whether front plates affects the red light camera deal.
 
Originally posted by: DLeRium
I wonder if not having front plates can mess with red light cameras? They get your back but then there's so many loopholes about how they ahve to get your face, etc etc and how can they prove it's the car without front plates? I don't know... probably they can still nail you, but I'm curious as to whether front plates affects the red light camera deal.
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IIRC, that's one of the reasons that they require them. Without front plates, they'd never be able to get you.

I know plenty of people that have driven without them for years and never been hassled (my father) and others who got fucked with immediately. YMMV.
 
If you have a classic car, they are easy on it. I never got a ticket with my old Mustang, but I wouldn't do that with my newer car.
 
Originally posted by: scott916
Originally posted by: DLeRium
I wonder if not having front plates can mess with red light cameras? They get your back but then there's so many loopholes about how they ahve to get your face, etc etc and how can they prove it's the car without front plates? I don't know... probably they can still nail you, but I'm curious as to whether front plates affects the red light camera deal.
Click to expand...

IIRC, that's one of the reasons that they require them. Without front plates, they'd never be able to get you.

I know plenty of people that have driven without them for years and never been hassled (my father) and others who got fucked with immediately. YMMV.
Click to expand...

here in az they take a pic front and back. problem solved, they have your face and the lic plate. if they just required front plates they could knock that down to just the front, but then id have to give up my jolly roger vanity plate on the front of my truck.
 
Yes. Although I drove a car for like 5 years in California without a front plate and never got pulled over for it. I wouldn't suggest it though.
 
Yes, it is the law that you need to have a front license plate. More than anything else, imo, this law was put in so that cameras can catch cars running red lights or speeding. However, this is one of those laws that are rarely enforced. I see a ton of cars everyday that do not have front plates. This violation in and of itself rarely gets you pulled over but if you get pulled over for something else, the cop will probably give you a fix it ticket in addition to whatever you were pulled over for in the first place.
 
Yes you are require by CA law to have front plate. I have gotten parking ticket and gotten pulled over for not having front plate. Now I am much older and wiser therefore I just put on the front plate on and not deal with it anymore.
 
Having no front plate makes it so the traffic light camera can't identify your car. That's what the big deal is.
 
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