I noticed at the meet that a lot of you guys don't have front plates. I'm hesitant to drill into my new bumper...but I'm also not looking for tickets. How often (if at all) do you guys get pulled over for no plate? Is it a fix it ticket or does it take points off your license? Are some parts of town worse than others?

My plates won't be in for a bit...so I have a bit of time to make a decision. What to do?

 

Fix it ticket. Most of us take our chances. The north Dallas area seems to be worst IMO.

 

I used to have my plate suction cupped to my windshield and I finally got tired of the rattling from time to time. I've been running without a front plate for about a year now and I have NEVER been pulled over for it. I live in Irving but my job has taken me to Frisco/Plano, Grapevine, Euless, and Downtown Ft. Worth this past year. I drive by the court house in Downtown Ft. Worth every day and see cops there. Never a single issue. As Pirana said above, North Dallas seems to be worse.

*edit: One more thing. SiliconTek posted in the "I Like My New..." thread with a fix he did for the front plate. It's in the OEM location but I think he said he used double sided tape and a few other things to get it on there. Might want to PM him and get the details.

 

I run with no front plate, and so far it was only an "excuse" to pull me over to see if I was drunk (I ranted about it in another post). I didn't get a ticket.

 

I did this after getting a ticket this week. No drilling and it is removable. I did this to get out of a ticket but in the end I like it and I am going to leave it on. I am tired of worrying about the dbag cops anyhow. As you can see there is a solid 1/8-1/4" clearance all around the mount, the only thing touching the car is 3 3/4" size 3M taped T-Nuts. Tested in excess of 150 and high temperatures as well.

 

That looks pretty slick. The one thing that prevents me from wanting a mount like that is the fact that I like my front end better sans plate *and* that in articles I've seen in the past, cops have said that front plates are their favorite "target" for radar and laser because of the size and reflective nature of the plate.

I read an article awhile ago that said the brighter-colored paint jobs on cars reflect more radar than the darker varieties and that even on the darker cars, cops just aim for the front plate to get the best reading on their radar.

The article went on to say that no front plate, plus a darker colored car, plus a decent detector (and maybe a jammer if legal) was the best way to minimize your chances of getting nailed.

 

I have laserveil diffuser and paint on my plate, not to worry. Bacon.

Oh and just in case you believe all of the hype, the headlight bowls are WAY more reflective than the plate and they are generally the first target when using a laser gun. The plate is hit or miss, headlights are guaranteed to be present.

 

Nice. I've considered that. In the end I figure a fix it ticket, while annoying, is too rare to worry about it. I never had a front plate on my previous car and never got pulled over for it.....I even got a speeding ticket in my previous car and he didn't mention my missing plate.

So far, the only time it's even been mentioned to me was during the stop the other night where he used it as an excuse to see if I was drunk or not.

 

Imagine this scenario...you had a beer or two and you are driving home, no where near intoxicated and a piece of **** baconator pulls you over for your front plate, smells your raunchy breath and you get a nice 4 hour lock-up plus impound due to you not running a plate. You may say, "I don't drink." but imagine the same scenario applied to any situation that you may be in. I finally decided to stop worrying about it. Not to mention some state and federal highways consider running without a plate a felony, officer's discretion.

I went almost 3 years without a plate, mounted one in the windshield for 6 months, and ran without for 2 years, and when I get stopped it was for a plate, not the 30mph I was potentially doing over the speed limit. When passing a cop, the worry about getting pulled over because I am actively breaking the law 24/7 is gone. I speed 70% of the time, but without a plate it is 100% all the time. I like my odds better now!

 

I've been hit plenty of times with no front plate. Headlights are super reflective like Jose said. Some how I've never had a cop say anything about not having front plates even while pulled over for speeding. I drive by cops in my town every single day and they wave and never hassle me about it.

 

Actually, I *do* say I don't drink. Because, well, I don't.

And you're right, it's just one more excuse they can use to get you. But since I got out of the service, I've been pulled over 11 or 12 times (sometimes for multiple violations) and this last time, last Friday night was the only time my plate has ever been mentioned. Of course, I've only been running without a plate since about '09, but 1/4 to 1/2 of my stops have been in that time frame and they said nothing.

Honestly I don't worry about it because although it does give them one more excuse...if I'm getting pulled over I've probably given them more than enough reason to do so. And it's just one more $45 charge for my lawyer. No big deal.

As far as their pullover excuse leading to other things....hell, I'm a golden boy in nearly every other aspect of the road, the lack of a plate is my one "rebellion."

 

Just depends on the cop. If he dont like you he can ticket you. If he likes your ride and your polite he might give you a warning.

I use one of the extra GoPro brackets to temporarily mount mine. I druve a lot thru the airport service road and they use the no license plate excuse to check for drunk and uninsured drivers.

 

Thanks for all the replies! How much is the charge for a fix it ticket here?

I also think it looks much better without a plate...but SiliconTek, I'm totally stealing your idea! I really, really don't want another excuse to get pulled over. Where'd you get the hardware stuff for it?

 

Nothing. A fix it ticket is just that. You have to "fix" the cause for the citation and then it gets dismissed. That's one of the reasons I'm not swapping bumpers or plugging my holes on the front end. The holes are barely noticeable and if I ever got a fix it ticket, I can just put the plate on, show the judge, then take it right back off, no harm no foul. Though I would like to find some stoppers or something I can shove in the holes to make them even less noticeable. But I don't know where to find any.

 

There's no fine? Awesome. I still think I'm going to go with SiliconTek's idea. But I'm spectacular at putting things off...so I don't know how that will go.

I also have really bad luck. And you guys have me so paranoid about lasers and the like now. I'm going to be driving like a grandma.