South San Francisco PD

[Grayian]

Just a heads up. South San Francisco Police are pulling over for no front plate. Got me around midnight yesterday. Probably was a DUI sweep or something, but that was the excuse they used to pull me over.

They gave me a warning which was good at least. Guess I'll drill the front after all.

[cplabaunza]

Put your dealer plates back on and they'll leave you alone or you could drill the holes...options...I run dealer plates and only been pulled over when I had my Vette once, just a front plate fix it ticket, but LEO encounters are less frequent :happy0180:

[86WRX]

Set up those front tow spot license plate, be safe! I think popo will give you hell no matter what.

[hushypushy]

What..?

You got a warning--not even a ticket--and you're still going to install the plate??

I mean yeah, if you don't want to be harassed, then run the plate. It's the law around here. But this car looks horrible with a front plate; I felt so much better after I removed mine.

In the past I've usually gone without a front plate, and with 14 cars I've only been pulled over once. I put the plate back on, got the ticket signed off, paid the 15 bucks, and immediately took the plate off again

[Grayian]

The crazy part was I was turning right on neighborhood streets, he went past my front, I turned, he immediately did a u-turn and lit me up. I doubt dealer plates would've saved me.

I think he gave me a warning because I aced his field sobriety and he liked the car when he first walked up. Chatted me up for a sec about it.

That's the dilemma. Be harassed/give them an excuse to pull you over or uglify it. I ran with dealer plates for about 5 months but got tired of looking like a noob.

No right answer just thought I'd put the word out.

[JackSmiley]

Dang! I've gone through the DUI checkpoints with like 7 cops and never gave a shit about me not having the front plates. Just put your front plates on your windshield rather than drilling holes. Or ziptie your plate to the bumper grille.

[hushypushy]

Haha I'm secretly hoping the "coolness" of the car works for me too if I get pulled over. Until 86's pop up everywhere and gain a bad reputation...

I used to be into Hondas and it was WAY worse. Eventually I was running a front plate just so they wouldn't have any excuse. One time I got pulled over for driving a Honda on a Thursday night...no joke, I was just cruising at the speed limit (which in itself is a rare event for me) in San Jose in my CRX. I got pulled over, and the cop just wanted to see my license and registration (didn't bother with insurance). He didn't scold or warn me, he just took a look at my info and then told me to have a nice day.

Originally Posted by JackSmiley

Dang! I've gone through the DUI checkpoints with like 7 cops and never gave a shit about me not having the front plates. Just put your front plates on your windshield rather than drilling holes. Or ziptie your plate to the bumper grille.

Plate in the windshield is technically illegal. It's not explicitly outlawed, but it doesn't fit the letter of the law:

Positioning of Plates

5201. License plates shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle for which they are issued so as to prevent the plates from swinging, shall be mounted in a position so as to be clearly visible, and so that the characters are upright and display from left to right, and shall be maintained in a condition so as to be clearly legible. The rear license plate shall be mounted not less than 12 inches nor more than 60 inches from the ground, and the front license plate shall be mounted not more than 60 inches from the ground,

I guess zipties are technically legal, as long as the plate is secured. Making a zip-tied plate look clean and not ghetto-rigged, though, that is the challenge...

[PMok]

yeah sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time is "probable cause" for them. Nice car in a crappy neighborhood, or a crappy car in a nice neighborhood, the color of your skin, driving at night... that's profiling for you.

[asia_minor]

don't have a front plate, deal with the consequences. pretty straight forward to me.

[Travis]

I just got a front plate ticket while parked in at a metered spot in SF even though I still had time on my meter. $114 ticket too, so annoying. Only $10 if you send it in with proof of correction. I sent in proof of correction but they claim they never got it. They are just using this for pure profit.

I have gotten two front plate tickets so far in my FRS and here is the solution. Rather than ruining your beautiful paint, use zip ties and zip tie into the front grill so that the bottom rests on the front lip. I use blue painters tape so that the sharp edge of the plate wont scuff the paint. I get it signed off and instantly remove the plate, problem solved. I refuse to drill my bumper

[BigFatFlip]

Just put my front plate on in preparation for the norcal meet, too many times I've seen cops crash a meet to hand out fix-it tickets during my wrx days.

[PMok]

Originally Posted by BigFatFlip

Just put my front plate on in preparation for the norcal meet, too many times I've seen cops crash a meet to hand out fix-it tickets during my wrx days.

damn, now you got me all paranoid haha. good thing i bought a GrimmSpeed front mount just in case.

[SC David]

I stopped caring about the bucktooth look years ago. Got about 10 no-front-plate tickets in my BMWs before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't worth the hassle. A couple of days after getting my plates for the FR-S, I briefly considered filling the dealer drilled front bumper holes with painted plugs, but decided against it and stuck 'em on. Later that week, I had to run to an ATM real quick and considered not paying my meter as usual, but just decided to put in a nickel for good measure. As I'm walking away from the ATM not one minute later a DPT officer sneaks around the corner in their three wheeler, checking meters, AND stopping at the front of each car to check for plates.

Never in my life have I felt so responsible.

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by PMok

damn, now you got me all paranoid haha. good thing i bought a GrimmSpeed front mount just in case.

Yup,same here. Make sure you put some anti-seize on that before installing. Test fitted mine and wanted to see how easily it would come off and had a little trouble unscrewing it