Front licence plate law....fail

[Imp]

We are required to have them in NJ & NY as well. Main reason is so the police LASER gun has a target to hit. Laser does not reflect that well off body paint.

I've done field studies with LIDAR guns, and the front is shit for getting a reading. Grills eat the laser and you can't get a reading. The angled hood is just as bad. It's either bumper (if it's actually flat) or license plate.

 

[kalrith]

Look on some Mazda forums. Someone might have made a bracket to hold the plate on. I remember someone doing that on a Mustang forum and selling it at cost to any forum members. Maybe someone's doing the same for the Mazda3.

 

[MJinZ]

THIS. It is NOT legal to have it there instead of on the bumper. You may not receive as much harassment for having it there instead of having nothing, but it's certainly not legal. It's also ugly, and could possibly be dangerous in an accident if you don't have it secured.

Death by license plate decapitation.

 

[Imported]

Zipties or double sided tape.

 

[ivan2]

your '10 has got such a big grill, just zip tie to it. I have to drill 2 holes on the bumper of the 09 myself after I bought it, still cries a little when i think of it.

 

[stag3]

Zip tie then just clip off when done.

thats what i've always done

 

[speedy2]

Uh.. lol

Who cares? It's state law. Deal with it. It's not like your car will look funny; everyone else has a front license plate too. You'll just stick out like a sore thumb without one. Nobody will think your car looks hot because it has no front license plate, they'll just think, "Wow, look at that idiot.. no front license plate.".

I think he cares. I was stationed in Cali and I hated that crap. I lived there 3 years and never put my front plate on. I also never got messed with until a week before I left. When I told the cop I was leaving for Florida in a week he said, "have a nice trip."

I don't care if you think it looks good or bad, I think it looks like crap.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I think he cares. I was stationed in Cali and I hated that crap. I lived there 3 years and never put my front plate on. I also never got messed with until a week before I left. When I told the cop I was leaving for Florida in a week he said, "have a nice trip."

I don't care if you think it looks good or bad, I think it looks like crap.

I bought a used Mustang many years ago from a dealership and it only had the rear plate so I made them order me a new set so that if I got pulled over I would at least have both plates. Sure enough, I got popped by CHP for not having a front plate a couple years later and installed it after that. Since then I just put the front plate on any new car I buy. Who gives a shit how it looks...I'd rather not give Police a REASON to pull me over.

 

[speedy2]

Who gives a shit how it looks.

I just answered that. Me, and the OP. lol.

 

[Zenmervolt]

I just answered that. Me, and the OP. lol.

Then don't bitch about getting stopped or ticketed for it.

If the OP is more worried about looks than about being practical that's fine, but he shouldn't whine like a little girl when he gets a ticket for it.

ZV

 

[scott916]

My dad has never had one on any of his cars in 25 years of driving in California. I seriously don't understand how he doesn't get fucked with.

Or just use the Adam Carolla method... Put a dealer paper plate on the back and keep your license plate in the trunk in case you get pulled over. You aren't required to have a front plate if you have the dealer plate in the back. :awe:

 

[reallyscrued]

I've never had one on any of my cars. Been pulled over once for it in Cali where they're jewish with anything for cars.

+1 for Virginia.

 

[IcePickFreak]

They have front plates here as well for 15+ years, although I never run them and only had one mention of it.

When I had my 99 WS6 I had put the plate on, but then found the front plate cover and put that on so it wasn't visible anyway. I got pulled over once when I was doing >5mph over once in that car and the cop was a dick right out the gate. When he mentioned I didn't have a front plate on the car I told him sure I did. He went and looked again and I told him it was under the cover he was looking at lol. Yeah I was young and dumb, but he didn't give me any infraction for it. He also happened to pull me over in front of a strip club and after he gave me a written warning for my speed a couple mph over the limit, I asked if he wanted to go in for a drink to relax a bit, but funny enough that question alone didn't seem to relax him.

These days they really don't care and are even talkin about getting rid of the front plates to save some money.

 

[Raduque]

Fucking front license plates. They ruin the front end of the car, and look stupid especially on a '10 Mazda 3. It looks like a sedan version of Tow-Mater from Cars, with one buck tooth.

I never had a front plate on my truck, but then I also had a West Virginia plate for some 4 years on it, too.

 

[440sixpack]

Uh, where did that list come from, 1935?

MA definitely requires front plate.

Unless, like me, you still use the old "green" plates, that were issued singly up until they were phased out in 1987 I believe. Since I was only given one plate and it's in good shape, i just need to use that one on the rear position and I'm good to go.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Unless, like me, you still use the old "green" plates, that were issued singly up until they were phased out in 1987 I believe. Since I was only given one plate and it's in good shape, i just need to use that one on the rear position and I'm good to go.

Wow. I'm surprised they let you keep the old plate. WA, PA, and OH (the only state's I've lived in) all require you to replace the plates after a certain amount of time, regardless of how good the old plate is.

 

[shortylickens]

I just got nailed yesterday for not having my front license plate installed on my new Mazda3. I absolutely hate front license plates on sedans, so I need to find a way to temporarily attach so that I can just pass inspection.

Any ideas?

I hate people like you.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

I hate people like you.

Because I think front license plates look like crap?

Didn't know someone could hate over such minuscule things....

 

[alkemyst]

How does a front plate look different on a sedan than other types?

 

[XZeroII]

Use the towhook hole.

You can bend over and just pay the ridiculous price from several sites or just go to a hardware store and make your own. It's offset but it beats drilling holes in your bumper.

OMG. Please tell me that is not your car. I cannot believe the people who buy the dumb grinning Mazdas. That is the ugliest front end ever.

 

[MJinZ]

OMG. Please tell me that is not your car. I cannot believe the people who buy the dumb grinning Mazdas. That is the ugliest front end ever.

Good for chick car.

 

[MotF Bane]

Wow. I'm surprised they let you keep the old plate. WA, PA, and OH (the only state's I've lived in) all require you to replace the plates after a certain amount of time, regardless of how good the old plate is.

You can keep them until they are judged to be worn out and illegible; you cannot transfer ownership of them, such as via inheritance.

 

[Doggiedog]

Get one of these

 

[RockinZ28]

Never once has a cop mentioned my front plates absence in 7 years I've had them off. Heck I even got a red light ticket with it off, so obviously not necessary.

I thought I finally got hit with it a few months ago when I got a parking ticket. The cop forgot to check the box for what code I violated, so I assumed it was for missing or improper plates as I couldn't see how I was breaking any other law.

Got the ticket in the mail along with the amended copy from the officer indicating my violation, turns out this POS city I had visited for the night, has a city wide law that you must have a permit to park on any street between 2-6am.

Signs are supposedly only posted at city entrances and were deemed sufficient according to my written challenge response. Talk about an underhanded way to take money from visitors. Did not care about my front plate though!

 

[Throckmorton]

Start thinking outside of the box. You can charge the same for one plate as you charge for two. There was no change for plate fees when we went to one plate here eons ago. It could also be sold in the great state of California as environmentally friendly. Less raw materials, labor, utilities, etc. to make one plate versus a set.

I'll let you figure out the solution to the cameras on your own.

The reason for a front license plate is to provide a retroreflector for laser guns