A cop pulls you over, complaining that you don’t have a license plate in front of you. How do you explain that there is no way to attach it to your particular car model?
What’s the best way to deal with a cop who wants to fine you because your license plate is hard to read?
In 1973, a Texas state trooper stopped me in my ’64 1/2 Mustang and said the license plate belonged to another car. I said “Nonsense! This is the set they gave me, at the tax office.” He said the car was clean, but the license plate was not. I told him that I own this car, the state issued the card. I didn’t wash their card, but he was welcome. He is invited to enter the card number (PRB-53, BTW, I have a great memory), along with my VIN and will see they match. I hate to be his next stop; I don’t have a ticket, but bet they do.
It might not be the BEST way to deal with him, but I’m 20 years old and think he should be doing something more important than trying to harass me.
I get a lot of silly comments, from people who claim that I waded in the mud in that Mustang, and cars that are full of mud and can’t be read. Again, they’re perfectly readable, just unwashed. One even suggested that I had asked the question the wrong way and claimed a UCLA degree.
You don’t…because the officer doesn’t really care. He is enforcing the law, the language is written similar to… “When operating on public roads, all vehicles must display license plates in front and behind so that they can be clearly seen…
On the other hand, many cops won’t quote you if you’re polite and explain that your car doesn’t have a front license plate holder or a hole for the number plate to mount. I know because I’ve driven a number of such vehicles over the years in Virginia, where there’s a stupid ‘required front license plate’ law.
There are brackets that can be fitted to display the front card without drilling into the existing bodywork, and I tried two different types. However, they may not work on some older vehicles, in which case you need to hope for the best.
