The plate obviously needs replacement, as do many licenses plates in Illinois. This one, though, was issued by the State of New Mexico, according to the barely-readable bottom line on the plate, "New Mexico USA".
New Mexico apparently had to add USA to its plates, because so many people thought New Mexico was south of the border.
Would an alert police officer, deputy or trooper stop this vehicle and examine the registration papers? Is the "SEP" sticker for 2011 or 2012? Can't tell, because the license plate frame obscures it.
It would be a good car for a bank robber; right? Just imagine the questions from the cops about the license plate.
The purpose of a license plate is to identify a vehicle. Letters and numbers should be clear, and the bracket should not obscure them, the state of issue or the renewal tag. In my opinion, letters and numbers should be against a plain background. Illinois legislators don't agree; you've noticed the proliferation of specialty plates. The same number can even be issued on different classes of vehicles. Maybe even on different specialty plates. Dumb...
I lived in New Mexico in 1989 and in 1991 and, as I recall, it is a single-plate state. The vehicle pictured above did not have a front plate. Illinois is a two-plate state, and both plates are required to be mounted. An alert cop will stop a vehicle with no front plate; it's a legal traffic stop. They often find problems that way, such as unlicensed drivers, drivers with suspended licenses and wanted persons.
Too many owners are allowed to "skate" on this requirement, when they skip mounting the front plate because it doesn't look "nice" on the front of their Beemer or Corvette or (fill in the blank). If a cop wants to give such a driver a break, he should at least issue a Warning with a 5-day compliance requirement and then check the vehicle for compliance.
7 comments:
TMB was behind a driver this morning while making my early morning liqour run. The SUV had a vanity IL plate and the plate frame didn't obscure any part of it. I could not recognize the plate nor the name of the state. Pretty ridiculous to me... but more revenue for the state.
BTW- someone asked me once about my early liqour runs... my reply as always is when you drink as much as I do, I gotta start early! DOH!
TMB, next time you get stopped, just tell the cop, "I had to drive. I was in no condition to walk."
Hey!! My Bemmer doesn't have a front plate on it! Man, am I bad person. I personally feel that a rear plate is all an officer needs since that is where he is running your plate. Good luck reading the front one when you are passing by. I guess they need it for the cameras or tolls, but I feel those are all a scam and surely are not helping roads or schools or safety.
Thanks, Mark. I hope more will comment.
I knew a former Chicago PD cop who was a deputy sheriff in Colorado, and I was amazed one night during a class that he could read license plates during a video training. Even under poor lighting conditions, he could read and recite front license plate numbers, when no one else in the class could.
Going to in progress crimes (robbery/burglary or even alarms) I always carried a small cassette recorder. As vehicles came toward me leaving the area of the occurrence even a mile or more away, I recited the plate numbers into the tape recorder “JUST INCASE.” Several times due to my record of license plates of the vehicles leaving the area it turned out to be the offenders fleeing the scene and arrests were made. Even at night I could read the plates as the approached me. Often officers are heard to say on the radio “COPY THESE PLATES” and call out plates of cars leaving an area. Pretty hard to do with no front plate.
I support front and rear plates on vehicles.
Thanks for your comment, CC.
I too support front license plates. Sometimes, plates have been left behind after a hit-and-run. Sure makes it easy to find the car!
For me, though, it's a case of "the law is the law". Lack of a front plate is a good reason for a traffic stop.
A 5-day Warning would be okay with me and require the driver to return within five days with proof of application for the second (or replacement) plates, if he claims the plate was lost. Most likely, he never put it on and has it at home. If he claims it was lost, accept the copy of the application as temporary relief and require him to return with the plate ON the car to avoid a ticket.
I stopped a driver in Colorado one day. There was no front plate, and the rear plate was displayed in the back window. The VIN was one digit off from the registration, and the driver was talking too fast.
Turned out he owned five Panteras and was floating the one passenger-car plate among the five cars to avoid the large property tax bill on the other four cars.
Colorado charged $30 for a license plate, regardless of the value of the car, and the property tax was based on the car (make, model, value) - about $300 per.
I remember the call from the D.A. before court, asking how sure I was about the ticket. "Darned sure," I told him. The driver must have paid, because I was never subpoenaed to appear in the case.
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