Front License Plate

[James Bond]

For years now I had thought that there was no front license plate requirement for Washington State. I have owned my current car for about 8 months now and never even bothered to put on my front plate.

I'm in the process of getting a new front bumper, and while ordering miscellaneous parts from the dealership, I asked the guy if they had a "front license plate delete" (the strip of trim in the front which doesn't include the license plate holder). The guy immediately told me how its illegal to not have a license plate in front and told me how I will get ticketed for sure...

I have been pulled over 3 times now for random things, but not a single cop ever mentioned that I needed the license plate up there.

I researched it, and it looks like it is a law indeed... but does anyone *ever* get ticketed for this?? Maybe I haven't just because its a BMW??

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: Tizyler
For years now I had thought that there was no front license plate requirement for Washington State. I have owned my current car for about 8 months now and never even bothered to put on my front plate.

I'm in the process of getting a new front bumper, and while ordering miscellaneous parts from the dealership, I asked the guy if they had a "front license plate delete" (the strip of trim in the front which doesn't include the license plate holder). The guy immediately told me how its illegal to not have a license plate in front and told me how I will get ticketed for sure...

I have been pulled over 3 times now for random things, but not a single cop ever mentioned that I needed the license plate up there.

I researched it, and it looks like it is a law indeed... but does anyone *ever* get ticketed for this?? Maybe I haven't just because its a BMW??

Your asking us what the probability would be for you to get cited for breaking the law. If it's a law I'm sure anytime down the road you can get in trouble for it. Example: It's illegal in most states to drive with a cracked windshield (where the crack is in driver's view). But a lot of people drive with a cracked windshied.

 

[Gillbot]

there's a front plate law in ohio, i've been stopped and not ticketed. Just because they have missed it so far doesn't mean you won't get it later. IIRC, there IS a front plate law in washington state. I believe when I lived in Spokane, our company trucks were required to have a front plate.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

RCW Code

Yes, I got a ticket for having a DE plate on the front of my VW, however, I had my WA plate in the dash placed in a manner that it was totally visible below the four feet limit. I took it too court and won. Brought pictures of a tape measure held from the ground up to four feet with the WA plate clearly visible. I win.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
RCW Code

Yes, I got a ticket for having a DE plate on the front of my VW, however, I had my WA plate in the dash placed in a manner that it was totally visible below the four feet limit. I took it too court and won. Brought pictures of a tape measure held from the ground up to four feet with the WA plate clearly visible. I win.

You're lucky. There's another section of the RCW that explicitly prohibits displaying any non-WA plate on the vehicle. If you'd been cited for that, you would not have won the case.

I have a friend who was ticketed for not having a front plate on their car here in WA.

I can't think of any reason why someone wouldn't want to mount a front plate though. Pure and unadulterated vanity. No practical reason to avoid it.

ZV

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
RCW Code

Yes, I got a ticket for having a DE plate on the front of my VW, however, I had my WA plate in the dash placed in a manner that it was totally visible below the four feet limit. I took it too court and won. Brought pictures of a tape measure held from the ground up to four feet with the WA plate clearly visible. I win.

I can't think of any reason why someone wouldn't want to mount a front plate though. Pure and unadulterated vanity. No practical reason to avoid it.

ZV

I think the main reason why people don't want to put it on is due to the holes that they create in their bumper.

 

[Wolfie]

According to Java signs

One Plate
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
New Mexico
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Pennstlvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
West Virginia
US Territories, Including; Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Guam

Two Plates
Alaska
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Washington DC
Wisconsin
Wyoming

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
I think the main reason why people don't want to put it on is due to the holes that they create in their bumper.

If the plate's there, how are you going to see the holes? That reason falls flat on its face. No-one is going to put the holes there for the mounting bracket and then not mount a plate.

ZV

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
I think the main reason why people don't want to put it on is due to the holes that they create in their bumper.

If the plate's there, how are you going to see the holes? That reason falls flat on its face. No-one is going to put the holes there for the mounting bracket and then not mount a plate.

ZV

What if you have holes drilled for a front plate, then move to a state that doesn't require a front plate? Then you have holes in your bumper, icky Or for rare cars that look really bad with a front plate (Cobra, Ferrari GTO, Countach, etc)?

For the most part, and in the practical world, any modern car should be totally fine with front and rear plates, so you're right on here.

I think we're headed for a world (15 years?) where plates are obsolete and no longer used at all. RFID+ tags, viewable/scannable from any angle and at much larger distances, all without that big ugly metal rectangle! Not to mention that your driving history, insurance info, registration, etc, will be accessible to authorities with no paperwork required.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
What if you have holes drilled for a front plate, then move to a state that doesn't require a front plate? Then you have holes in your bumper, icky

So rare that it's not worth worrying about. And still just vanity.

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Or for rare cars that look really bad with a front plate (Cobra, Ferrari GTO, Countach, etc)?

"Collector" vehicles are not required to have a front plate. So the Cobra and the Ferrari would not be required to have them. Even an older Countach wouldn't be required to have one.

Originally posted by: Arkaign
For the most part, and in the practical world, any modern car should be totally fine with front and rear plates, so you're right on here.

Yup, you're right that classics can always be an exception, but in 99.99% of cases, there's just no excuse.

Originally posted by: Arkaign
I think we're headed for a world (15 years?) where plates are obsolete and no longer used at all. RFID+ tags, viewable/scannable from any angle and at much larger distances, all without that big ugly metal rectangle! Not to mention that your driving history, insurance info, registration, etc, will be accessible to authorities with no paperwork required.

I don't agree, at least as far as registration and insurance information are concerned. They make too much money off of people who don't have that information with them in their cars to get rid of people's ability to forget it.

ZV

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
I think we're headed for a world (15 years?) where plates are obsolete and no longer used at all. RFID+ tags, viewable/scannable from any angle and at much larger distances, all without that big ugly metal rectangle! Not to mention that your driving history, insurance info, registration, etc, will be accessible to authorities with no paperwork required.

IIRC, one main reason to have plates on the front of the vehicle is for speed radars to have a nice retroreflective surface to bounce off of.

Also (here in central TX) the new toll roads scan plates to charge tolls.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
I think the main reason why people don't want to put it on is due to the holes that they create in their bumper.

If the plate's there, how are you going to see the holes? That reason falls flat on its face. No-one is going to put the holes there for the mounting bracket and then not mount a plate.

ZV

It's aesthetics. Question, if you had a brand new Corvette, would you want to drill two ugly holes in your bumper? Hell, I wouldn't. Anyway..you're probably going to rebut this since you like to argue so much. So have it.

 

[Wolfie]

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
I think the main reason why people don't want to put it on is due to the holes that they create in their bumper.

If the plate's there, how are you going to see the holes? That reason falls flat on its face. No-one is going to put the holes there for the mounting bracket and then not mount a plate.

ZV

It's aesthetics. Question, if you had a brand new Corvette, would you want to drill two ugly holes in your bumper? Hell, I wouldn't. Anyway..you're probably going to rebut this since you like to argue so much. So have it.

Actualy, you don't drill holes for the plate bracket. The holes are already there on the bottom of the bumper that you install the bracket too. At least 95% of the cars that I worked on already had the holes in the bumper for the bracket. Most of them are bolted from the bottom where you can't see the holes anyways.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

The way I see it, the law isn't that major. It's not like anything dangerous. In order for a cop to get you, they must be in front (to see it) and then pull around to pull you over which in that amount of time they may lose sight or forget which car did not have the front license plate.