[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by DCG

Still not ideal, but this is definitely better regards to the front face of the car.

Definitely not!!

[TJ_NL]

Originally Posted by snareman

Europe question for you - a lot of people in the US won't put a front plate on their car even through their state law requires it (I didn't have one for 17 years until it finally became legal to not have one this year). Do people in Europe defy the laws and go front-plateless?

No they don't. It is the quickest way to get pulled over as every policy officer is going to see you don't have one. My front plate fell off once in a car wash, and I couldn't mount it again with some clips from BMW. So I had the front plate inside the car. I got pulled over within 24 hours (didn't get a ticket, as they believed my story).

You basically cannot drive a car if it does not have a license plate. I do not understand why in the USA it is ok to drive without plates (I've had rental cars without any plates - front or back - that came with a piece of paper behind the window because it was "new"). That doesn't happen in Europe. The license plate is the only way to identify a car (others can't read a piece of paper behind a window) when you get into an accident, or otherwise behave in a way that warrents people knowing who you are.
Even if you by a car in a different country and just want to drive it back to your own country (lets say I want to buy a BMW in Germany, to take it back to Netherlands and take care of all the paperwork and registration in Netherlands, I still need a 1 day license plate in Germany to drive it in Germany.

[snareman]

Originally Posted by TJ_NL

No they don't. It is the quickest way to get pulled over as every policy officer is going to see you don't have one. My front plate fell off once in a car wash, and I couldn't mount it again with some clips from BMW. So I had the front plate inside the car. I got pulled over within 24 hours (didn't get a ticket, as they believed my story).

You basically cannot drive a car if it does not have a license plate. I do not understand why in the USA it is ok to drive without plates (I've had rental cars without any plates - front or back - that came with a piece of paper behind the window because it was "new"). That doesn't happen in Europe. The license plate is the only way to identify a car (others can't read a piece of paper behind a window) when you get into an accident, or otherwise behave in a way that warrents people knowing who you are.
Even if you by a car in a different country and just want to drive it back to your own country (lets say I want to buy a BMW in Germany, to take it back to Netherlands and take care of all the paperwork and registration in Netherlands, I still need a 1 day license plate in Germany to drive it in Germany.

Yea, it seemed to me that everyone in Europe obeys plate laws. I figured it was the case. In the US there are 20 out of 50 states that don't require front plates. Thankfully mine just passed the law in July. You can get a fix it ticket for it here but generally most cops won't bother you about it. I got pulled over once at 2am because of it. It was really just an excuse for him to pull me over at that time of night. He more or less checked my stuff and sent me on my way.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by snareman

Yea, it seemed to me that everyone in Europe obeys plate laws. I figured it was the case. In the US there are 20 out of 50 states that don't require front plates. Thankfully mine just passed the law in July. You can get a fix it ticket for it here but generally most cops won't bother you about it. I got pulled over once at 2am because of it. It was really just an excuse for him to pull me over at that time of night. He more or less checked my stuff and sent me on my way.

That's more or less how we do it in CA as well. Much like tinted windows or objects hanging from the rear view mirror, it's a reason to check people out.

[frankiebones]

Originally Posted by TJ_NL

No they don't. It is the quickest way to get pulled over as every policy officer is going to see you don't have one. My front plate fell off once in a car wash, and I couldn't mount it again with some clips from BMW. So I had the front plate inside the car. I got pulled over within 24 hours (didn't get a ticket, as they believed my story).

You basically cannot drive a car if it does not have a license plate. I do not understand why in the USA it is ok to drive without plates (I've had rental cars without any plates - front or back - that came with a piece of paper behind the window because it was "new"). That doesn't happen in Europe. The license plate is the only way to identify a car (others can't read a piece of paper behind a window) when you get into an accident, or otherwise behave in a way that warrents people knowing who you are.
Even if you by a car in a different country and just want to drive it back to your own country (lets say I want to buy a BMW in Germany, to take it back to Netherlands and take care of all the paperwork and registration in Netherlands, I still need a 1 day license plate in Germany to drive it in Germany.

It depends on the situation. I live in the New York City area, which is very strict about tint laws, front license plates, etc.

I have illegal tints and have not had a front license plate in 5 years. I have been pulled over 2x in 5 years for that reason alone. Cops generally won't pull you over just for that (although like I said, it has happened 2x).

One thing cops will NOT generally tolerate is tinted windshields, which is more common that you think (every Infinity G37 owner with a fire extinguisher looking exhaust), but I have had cops comment on my CS and tell me they would not put a front plate on her either.