The in basket: A reader whose name I’ve lost, if she ever
provided it, wrote on the Road Warrior blog at kitsapsun.com in
December to say, “My fiancee just got pulled over in our Camaro
here in Tacoma for not having a front license plate. (The officer)
issued us a $124 ticket, and also cited us $550 for no
insurance.”
“We have 15 days to try to fix it and they will change it to a
warning,” she said, “but I don’t know where we can get a new plate
in that amount of time.”
The in basket: A reader whose name I’ve lost, if she ever provided
it, wrote on the Road Warrior blog at kitsapsun.com in December to
say, “My fiancee just got pulled over in our Camaro here in Tacoma
for not having a front license plate. (The officer) issued us a
$124 ticket, and also cited us $550 for no
insurance.”
The front end of our car has no possible way to mount the plate
except if we buy a completely new grill and modify it, taking away
from the look of the car.
“Also,” she said, “when the car was sold to us, only the rear plate
came with it.
“It’s vehicular profiling, my fiancee is 21 years old driving a
Camaro. Come on!” she exclaimed.
“We have 15 days to try to fix it and they will change it to a
warning,” she said, “but I don’t know where we can get a new plate
in that amount of time.”
The out basket: It does seem kind of catch-as-catch-can as to when
tickets are issued for this infraction, judging from the large
number of vehicles I see without a front plate. I estimate 2-4
percent are violators..
I don’t know how the reader’s fiance came out in trying to escape
the $124 ticket, but I asked Brad Benfield of the state Department
of Licensing if it’s even possible to get a front plate that
matches one’s rear plate in only 15 days.
Probably not, Brad replied. Instead, a person in this fix should
just get two new plates, front and back, which can be done that
fast.
“Your reader would simply need to take the vehicle registration and
proper identification into a vehicle licensing office and request
new license plates,” Brad said. “Replacement plate fees of $24 plus
other service fees will be charged. New plates will be issued right
there at the counter.”
I used to get pulled over for this all the time when I was young. That and for having t-bars instead of bumpers.
There are ways to temporarily mount your license plate so you can pass inspection & get a ticket reversed. Or you can do what I did … grow up.
Oh my, Whoa is me. It has nothing to do with the age of the driver. It is illegal to operate a vehicle licensed in the State of Washington without a license plate on the front and rear (the are a couple of exceptions, but I doubt your Camaro qualifies), period.
That you think it does not look good on your car is subjective, the law requiring the installation of a front plate is not. Go to your local Chevrolet dealer, obtain the proper hardware to mount the front plate on the front bumper or air dam depending on the year and comply with the laws of this state, or move to some obscure southern state that does not require front plates.
Sounds like he was trying to get away with not having to get insurance. Too bad the cop did not impound the vehicle.
I have four cars that have the Washington Collector Vehicle plates on them. When these are issued from the DMV, it is one plate for the rear, no front plate is needed. Wonder if this was an older Camaro (car must be 30 years old ) that had collector plates?
After my wife and I bought our 1989 Camarro brand new, I noticed that it did not have a place to put our front license plate.
I inquired at Grey Chevrolet (where we had purchased the car) if a kit was available. They said yes. So, we purchased one. We still have our Camaro with the both front and read plates attached.