this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2024
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This is probably the correct answer. I drove around without a front license plate for over 4 years (my state requires front and back) since my car didn't come with screws for a front mount. It was one of those things I put on my to-do list but never got around to and eventually just kind of forgot about it.
Anyway, I live close to a couple of police stations (I live near a border to another city, so my city and the next city have PDs within a couple miles of each other) and never got pulled over. Hell, I have even went through several traffic stops over the years and none of them ever said a word to me. A few months ago I finally ran into a cop that actually gave a shit and pulled me over. He was obviously a new recruit, as he was very young and did everything very by-the-book. I got a warning and the next day I ordered a mount for my other plate, but I was just amazed I'd gone so many years without any cop caring. I figured it was because most cops just can't be bothered to care about small shit like that. Though, if I was a minority (I'm in the US), it'd probably be a different story.
If you were a minority you'd be pulled over every day, probably each way to and from work with that as the reason. Given expensive fix-it tickets each time. And most likely had your vehicle searched or impounded for multiple failures to comply. Not being hyperbolic, this has happened often. One guy it was 1 day, 3 tickets and then impound because he failed to fix the issue in a day.
When the rules are applied on a whim by whatever person with authority feels like, you live in tyranny. That isn't an orderly system. It is a failed nation.
Fix it tickets everywhere I live give you three days to a week from when it was written to get it fixed, you just show the next cop that pulls you over your dated ticket and tell them you ordered the part or have an appointment with a mechanic or whatever. I believe the first half of your comment but the second feels a lot like one bell end to the whole “three sides to every story” saying.
"Fix it tickets" are not a national thing. Some places do it, some places don't. It's just easier to say with a general meaning like Kleenex versus tissue paper.
Many places just issue you a ticket. End of story. Once the ticket is issued you are on notice that your vehicle is not considered legally roadworthy. You are legally supposed to park it and not drive on public roads until fixed. Tow it to the shop if you have to.
Obviously this is onerous and stupid. But it is the law. If you have a minor issue, 99% of the time the pig will let you go and get it fixed like you said. But they don't have to. "Officer discretion" is a fancy way of saying applying laws on a whim. Picking and choosing when to enforce laws and against whom.
In some countries it is much more clear cut. If you need to fix something the police escorts you to a staging area, like a big parking lot and that's where your car sits until it's fixed. Once fixed the popo there check it before you drive out. People in the lot changing bald tires, burned bulbs, fastening new side mirrors, etc.
I have a few issues with what you're saying. By getting a drivers license and operating a vehicle on public roadways, you're agreeing that you'll keep your vehicle in whatever operational condition the law dictates. A "fix-it" ticket is justified if your car doesn't meet these requirements. Officers applying this law unfairly is a whole other issue, but the concept is not "onerous and stupid."
Also, police need some level of "officer discretion." If you have a friend with a gaping wound in your passenger seat and you're doing 90mph to the hospital, do you really want a cop to write you a ticket and force you to wait for paramedics to arrive while your friend bleeds out?
If a pig is going to ticket you for an issue they're saying your vehicle is unsafe. By then letting you drive away, they are not protecting or serving your wellbeing at all. They just deemed your vehicle hazardous to you and other drivers and it requires a civil penalty plus fixing the hazard. If they let you drive away, all they've done is collected money for their domestic terrorist pension fund.
Either it's a hazard that warrants being pulled over and ticketed, or it isn't. And it almost always isn't a hazard. It's an excuse to shoot coloured people and do warrantless searches.
Discretion for application of the law at the pig level is rife with abuse. In the US, so much so that the laws mean nothing. Pretty much at any point in the day, anywhere you are, you are guilty of a law somewhere. This means if they wish to get you for something, they can. Their discretion. Just decide to apply the law.
As for your example, no for many reasons. If you're injured, an ambulance should be driving you with sirens. If your country is so broken as to be unaffordable to help their sick and weak, it is a broken country. Which it is. And let's say you are driving it. Police should expend zero energy pulling over speeding vehicles. It is a cash grab, it is not safety. If it was for safety, it would just send you a ticket.
For example in a civilized country where I primarily reside now after leaving the shithole that is the USA, police don't hide and ambush people. There are speed cameras every so often and when you go 15mph over the limit within 10 seconds, your phone notifies you that you have been fined for speeding with your picture. In the government app you can contest it, pay it, etc. If you continue speeding you just get more fines. There have been cases of people who did go fast as you suggest for personal reasons. No cop hindered them at any point in their journey. They got a bunch of tickets electronically. They contested due to an emergency, judge agreed, tickets dropped.
No safety issue with a loaded cop pulling you over in an emergency preventing you from helping your loved one. No interaction with police at all. The law is applied 100% of the time fairly to every person from the delivery driver to the "president". If there is a reason you believe discretion is needed, a judge will decide if that discretion is warranted.
I'm chancing it with my front plate right now too. Been over a year and nothing said yet. I do carry it in my car just in case. I think it's one of those addon charges, if they catch you for something else and want to just slam you with everything.
Carrying it in your car implies that you know its wrong, leave it in your house and if you get pulled over claim ignorance. "Oh shit. Its not on there? Guess I never knew."
Unless you ware already doing something illegal like possession or driving without a valid license they won't care. Usually
Or don't talk to the cops.
"Yes" "no" "my name and information are" "here's my license" "you do not have my permission to search" "have a nice day"
Not a word more. Anything else runs the risk of being incriminating whether you're doing anything wrong or not. Note that Miranda rights, when they're read, say "anything you say will be used against you..." Not might or could be, but will. So, don't talk. 5th amendment and all that.
Here's an excellent video on the topic if you have the time to watch.
Also, this all applies to the US I don't know about legal systems in other countries.
I figured I would just say "I've been meaning to screw it in but haven't gotten around to it, I'll do it right now officer just gotta go buy the mount" but good call I'll just leave it at home.
To really sell it, remove the back plate, too. That way it'll just look like you didn't have a screwdriver, at all. Maybe also bust out a tail light, so the cop will be like, "This guy clearly just doesn't have the necessary tools for at-home repairs! I'm sorry to bother you, here's a little something to help with these difficult times!"
Lul, that's my old car. Really I just need to buy the mount and screw the holes. I just like how it looks without it better. Lots of cars here don't have the front one so hopefully I'll be fine for now.
Some states don't require front plates, so they have to check front and back to notice.
Yep, I’m in a state where no front plates are required and anything you put up there does not count. I’ve seen people with one state on the front and current state on the back, and it’s fucking legal here.