Text 30406, 182 rader
Skriven 2009-03-28 15:24:24 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
Kommentar till text 30376 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: Plates
==============
28 Mar 09 16:43, Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Roy Witt:
MvdV> [ front plate or no front plate ]
RW>>>> Sort of did, sort of didn't. It's left up to the local tax
RW>>>> office as to whether they want to issue one plate or two.
MvdV>>> That must be confusing. Not to know what the requirements are.
RW>> It's one of those things where you're supposed to know the
RW>> law...they can't help you if you don't know what to ask for.
MvdV> Yes, but what IS the law? if it is up to the wim of some civilk
MvdV> servenat at the local tax office?
Texas law is that the local tax office issues two plates.
Of the 50 states and Puerto Rico, only 31 states require two plates for
each vehicle, one for the front and one for the back. The remaining
jurisdictions only require a rear plate. The trend, however, may move to
one plate only because of the cost of manufacture.
RW>>>> If they made it an 'impound' offense, I might think about putting
RW>>>> the front plate on.
MvdV> Here it depends. Officially one are is not allowed to drive if one
MvdV> of the plates is missing. But if you have a credible story on how
MvdV> you just lost it and are on your way to get it fixed, the LEO may
MvdV> look the other way and let you get away with it.
Sure. That's at the descretion of the LEO. Way back, I put a set of
headers on my Corvette, in my garage. Rather than go thru the expense of
trailering it, or towing it, I drove it to the muffler shop to have the
exhaust hooked up to the headers. I didn't make any excessive noise (at
least to the best of my driving ability) and didn't go anywhere else
before the muffler shop. A cop was following me part of the way and
stopped behind me as I parked it in the muffler shop's lot. While I was
depositing the keys to the car in their drop box, he came up to me and
told me that if I hadn't turned in here and put the keys in the drop box,
he was going to cite me. When I explained what was going on, he changed
his mind and thanked me for not making a racket with the car.
(headers are aftermarket exhaust systems that allow the engine to make
more power)
RW>>>> But since they only issue a ticket, I can pay the fine or show up
RW>>>> at the court and show them the car with the plate on it,
MvdV> That won't fly in a Dutch court. The judge may commend you on
MvdV> having corrected the situation, but you will still have't pay the
MvdV> fine if it is on record that when the LEO challenged you, there was
MvdV> only one plate. Th only way to satisfy the court would be hard
MvdV> evidence or at least two witnesses to prove that the LEO was wrong
MvdV> and that you DID have a front plate when the LEO challanged you.
I can say it got lost, go to the tax collector and ask for a new set of
plates. That's complying with the law and will be dismissed out of hand.
The law also says that the front plae must be 'forward' facing, but it
doesn't say how it should be mounted, other than it has to be in a place
where it can be seen from the front. So, if I have to, I can mount it
under the front facia. I've seen this done on other Camaros and the driver
has access to a cable (on the same order as a choke cable) which can raise
and lower the plate in/out of view.
MvdV> Taken such a relatively small offence to court when you know you
MvdV> will lose, is not wise here. The fine imposed by the court will be
MvdV> substantially higher than what was imposed by the LEO. Better pay
MvdV> right away or be sure you can prove innocent.
The courts here don't seem to be as strict as they are where you live.
Although some cops I talk to say that they'll issue a ticket every time.
(of course they have to actually see the car on the road without the plate
on it) I don't drive these cars that often.
I've worked the system like this before and the court isn't as worried
about 'one plate' offenses as they are with major offenses. Most of the
time you can plead 'guilty with an explanation' and the explanation will
shorten your court time to a few minutes. They and I don't worry about
such minor matters.
RW>>>> then take it off again when I get home.
MvdV> If that is discovered it may be seen as contempt of court. Nort a
MvdV> smart move...
I doubt it. The only way it can be a contempt charge is if I were
'ordered' by the court to put a plate on the front of the car and I fail
to do that. Otherwise it's less of an offense than a misdemeanor.
MvdV>>> I wonder why you are making such an issue out of it.
RW>> Number one is that a front plate looks ugly to me.
MvdV> Ah, a matter of taste again. To me a car without a front plate
MvdV> looks... eh .. incomplete...
Yes sir. Too me, a car with something like a license plate on it that
wasn't intended to be there by the designer, are as ugly as they can be.
MvdV> Of course one seldom sees cars without a front plate here.
MvdV> Occasionally a plate is lost or stolen and then one may observe it.
MvdV> Also vehicles that never leave private property need no plates. at
MvdV> Schiphol Airport you can see cars that are not registered. They pay
MvdV> no road tax and do not have plates. They just carry a number issued
MvdV> by the port master. They may not leave the airport.
I have a race car that doesn't even have a title. No title, no plates. It
is trailered wherever I go.
MvdV>>> If you have the plate, why not just mount it? Nothing wrong
MvdV>>> with front plates.
RW>> All in the eye of the beholder.
MvdV> Indeed...
RW>> I think they detract from the looks of the car. The plate is there
RW>> for LEO to identify the car. If they can't wait until I pass by and
RW>> get a look at the back plate, oh well.
MvdV> What if you are reversing away from the LEO?
He'll probably look at the registration in the windshield, before he
bothers looking for the plate. That and the safety inspection sticker.
And frankly, I don't know how they can make them out, since I can't
even see the numbers on the sticker on a car coming at me at 30mph. I
guess the color is his first clue.
MvdV> Anywwy, here you would not get away with that kind of reasoning.
MvdV> Front and back plates give the LEO two chances. And if that is the
MvdV> law, that is the law.
Sort of an unnesessary law if there's nothing happening where he ignores
the car completely.
MvdV>>> Of course I am biased, you don't see cars without front plates
MvdV>>> here...
RW>> The only vehicle I own with a front plate is my pickup. It's mounted
RW>> in such a way that it doesn't detract from the looks of the vehicle
RW>> and it's not in the way when I need to check things under the hood.
RW>> On my 56 Chevy, if it had a plate on the front, I would be bumping
RW>> into it every time I open the hood.
MvdV> Odd. In most parts of the world both front and back plates are
MvdV> required for cars. TTBOMK the USA is one of the rare exceptions.
MvdV> One would expect even US car makers to provide for a place to mount
MvdV> the front plate, even if not all states require it.
They do provide places to put plates. On cars like my Camaro, they provide
the braket, but it's in the trunk. They'll mount it for you, if you so
desire. That requires drilling into the plastic and sheet metal screwing
it to the car. Sort of destructive to my way of looking at it.
MvdV> BTW, did you know that The Netherlands was the first country in the
MvdV> world requiring cars to be registered and carry plates?
No, I didn't. But research shows that they began issuing what they termed
as a 'driving permit' which was displayed like a license plate in 1898.
Conflicting information says that New York was the first to issue a
license plate in 1901, but the person issued the plate had to make his
own, since the state didn't actually make them. Alabama was the first
state that did issue plates and they were sheet metal coverd with
porcelan in 1903.
Something else interesting was that Arizona's plates were made out of
copper.
And, intersting enough, some provinces in Canada don't require front
plates either.
R\%/itt
--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000
* Origin: SATX Alamo Area Net * South * Texas, USA * (1:397/22)
|