djantlive

i run the plate if there is a mount for it. it's less hassle.

on cars that don't have a mount / hole, i don't run the plate. it's a fix it ticket and I use zip ties to temporary mount the plates and get it signed off. $25 per incidence.

certain cities are notorious for citing. SF proper and CHP love to cite and pull people over for this. same with tinted front window etc. it's all about revenue generation.

sda

I've gotten an average of one ticket every other month for the past year for no front plate. It's a pain in the rear and rather costly here in San Francisco at $100 per incident!! Indeed they are fixit tickets but they are of course a pain to deal with. I've just factored them into the budget.

And I do have a tow hook mount for a license plate frame....I just can't bear to put it on because it changes the front end so much.

gary1101

Just bought my first P-car two weeks ago. Just got stopped for no front plate. Just ordered this plate holder for it.

http://www.skenedesign.com/FPBracket/index.shtml

cwrm4

I used to live in one of the more urban areas of Houston (Montrose), and a cop would stand on the corner near my house and give people tickets for no front license plate/expired reg/inspection when they stopped for the light.

One day traffic was pretty light. I had my Triumph TR6 parked in my driveway, nose out, with no front license plate. He walked over a gave me a ticket for no front plate! When I protested, he told me "I've seen you driving it like that."

To me, not having the front plate is just an excuse to get pulled over. Except I never did put one on the TR6, as I figured the resulting airflow restriction would push the radiator over the edge...

DMoore

I live in SoCal and haven't had a front plate on any car for at least 15 years. In that time I've gotten one ticket (from a parking enforcement officer) in downtown Riverside at the court house. I've also been stopped once by a CHP officer (near Pearsonville on US-395) who let me off with a warning.

A previous poster drew a distinction between a state law and local regulations. That's news to me - and I work in a court house and deal with traffic tickets every single day. I've never seen a local code violation, just California Vehicle Code citations. Here, I think it's about a $200 fine (which we always reduce) but if fixed and signed off it's the $25 fix-a-ticket fee. There's no limit on fix-a-tickets; as long as it's been signed off, it's good. If I started getting tickets for this, I'd go with the tow hook mounted plate for purposes of getting the ticket signed off.

Other posters are right; the primary impetus behind enforcement is red-light tickets. Many cities are discontinuing their use and maybe that will reduce the level of enforcement.

DMoore
'11 Carrera GTS
'10 Panamera 4S

Tcc1999

I wish I still had the ticket but upon reflection I think you are correct. In Berkeley, I believe it was cited not as a missing front plate but under a local ordinance, something like improper license plate display with a comment at the bottom, "No front license plate". At any rate, it was a $28 ticket (+$2 convenience fee if paying on-line) which was nothing compared to the pain of drilling holes in my bumper. I wonder if infractions for local ordinances go into the city coffers while State infractions go to the Beast (that would be the hungry California spending beast that can't ever be satisfied)

Arctic Wolf

Who issued you the ticket? CHP? Meter maid? Jerry Brown?

CORSASCHNELL

28 years in California and no front plate and never any tickets, lots of speeding tickets though. It is a mandatory item and when you buy a new car they make you sign something that Dealer told you it is required and you acknowledged it.

I see some Euro cars with European front plates though around here(Euro delivery cars). They probably get more attention and good excuse for getting ticketed.

alanm

3 years without a front plate in the Bay area and not a problem yet, knock on wood.

Tsilnner

I have lived all of my life in CA, no front plates on any of my cars and no tickets-even when receiving radar tickets from an officer who could see the lack of a front plate. I believe that a good attitude goes a long way when you get a moving violation ticket and have no front plate.
Well, that recently changed when I recently received a ticket ($117) in San Francisco from a meter "maid" and my girlfriend was just cited by camera/ mail for the same when she parked in the SF City-owned Mascone Center garage.
As others have said, CA needs the money. We just paid the tickets.The cost is low by Porsche standards...
If you are in a city that tickets, just do not park in metered areas when the meters are in force.
Perhaps we should post a list of cities that issue the tickets. In CA, SF and Palo Alto are on the list, along with LAX and SFO city-owned short-term airport parking.

dasams

Which bracket is that? It looks better than the tow hook solution. dave

Macster

Shoot they'd never come close to making enough money just citing for missing license plates.

OTOH, the state could have a budget surplus if the CHP, county and local police would just enforce the traffic laws.

Minok

Well that ticket could well be easily voided, since your car was NOT on the public road... does the law require that it have plates if its registered or just on the roadway?

neanicu

Meter maid???!!!
Initially I thought the first that mentioned this term was making fun,now I see all you West Coast guys are using it...
LOL...it's hilarious!!!
What in the World is a meter maid???!!! I mean I understand what they do,but can't imagine how they look...actually I'm imagining something but it's not a parking enforcer...
Sorry for the stupid question,I'm in Ny.

ADias