I am cruising, putting easy miles on my new motor when the DPS trooper I meet hooks a U and lights me up. When I saw him, I knew it was gonna happen ... 2 lane hiway, no traffic ...

I immediately pull over, right tires just off the pavement in some weeds. Gonna make it tough if he wants to look at the exhaust.

He walks up and sees me sitting, hands on the wheel and seat belt still on.

<not exact words, but close enough>

He says,
DPS trooper, sir, do you know why I've pulled you over?

I respond,
Well, I wasn't speeding, no traffic to follow too close to, I know my lights all work because I just replaced a couple of lamps and I had my seat belt on. It must be the front plate that you didn't see.

Him,
Yes, you must display a license plate on the front and rear of the car.

Me,
It's up there, just really low. (I have it attached to the air dam)

He walks about 15' in front of the car and says,
It needs to be visible.

Me,
Standing, 15' in front of the car it isn't visible, I understand. But sitting in your car 50' in front of me, it's perfectly visible.

Him,
But I can't read it.

Me,
Really? You should be able to read 4" tall letters from 50', sir. And you also said visible, not legible.

Him,
I'm just gonna issue you a warning, no violation citation.

Me,
Thanks. I've read very closely that statute with an attorney and it is so loosely written, it can be interpretted many ways.

Him,
It sure can

Me,
And I realize driving a car like this, I'm a target. And anything questionable will give you an excuse to pull me over.

Him,
That is true.

Me,
So when you profiled the car, did you expect an old man to be driving it?

Him,
<silent>

Me,
<silent> (I figured I had pressed my luck far enough)

He asked me a few more qustions about where I was headed and why I needed a roll cage in the car ...

I took the warning, said be carefull and have a nice day and then drove away.

Oh well ... it was 3 minutes out of my life and maybe it will cause him to think a little next time. That makes 4 times in a year. Does anyone else keep a file of the warnings received?

Now, the funny thing is, as I was sitting there and the trooper running my 28/29, an Eclipse w/ the typical coffee can out back came by and revved me and the trooper. I snickered.

I laughed out loud when I saw the Eclipse pulled over about 3 miles down the road. It was hard, but I resisted a rev back at him ....

So, in the grand scheme of things, everything worked out just fine!
:gruffy:

LMFAO you got balls

No balls ... just be nice and not cocky ...

Hmmm, interesting.
2 of my four cars do NOT have front plates (actually 3 at the moment!). Notice the avitar at right! I've only been pulled over once in 4+ years. The last was 2-3 years ago. Heck I even let my inspection stickers laps regularly (I'm lazy and the inspection guys don't know diddly). Maybe its a crackdown? Or maybe its just a dallas thing....

.... knocking on wood

I just keep mine out in the open. Its a 50 dollar ticket even when you are parked in San Francisco. next the 38 dollar parking tickets

Some story... as long as you're not rude and make a few good points I guess you'll be ok.

This happened when I did my first motor build/swap. I pick up a friend just as it is getting dark out and at the first light from his house I give it a short stab at the gas. It was just enough to get the tail end to squat a bit and I get the motor up to maybe 2500 rpm. I wasn't even the first car in line so I couldn't go balls out!! About a minute later (after going through a circle) this little ricey thing blows past us. My friend asked what it was and I just gave my typical POS/rice/import answer as usual. I didn't really care what it was since I wasn't about to race anyone on the street, even if I did it would only be to the top of first gear. In a thirdgen it isn't all that fast anyway.

So we're sitting at another light (a ways down the road/over a hill/past a cemetary/through another light/down the next hill... from where this other car past us) and a cop pulls up next to me.

Remember we're at a red light, shouting from his car to mine and back... no lights or sirens.

(if I may borrow your format)
Cop,
You know the guy in that honda?

Me,
(completley shocked he knew it was a honda, I knew this cop worked with my uncle (cop wouldn't know who I was related to), and I knew I didn't do anything wrong... so I decided not to be as nice as usual)
Who?

Cop,
That guy you were racing with.

Me,
You can't be serious!!

Cop,
I am serious!! You don't think I should give you a 12 point ticket for racing?

Me,
I have no idea what you are talking about!

Cop,
Asks where I'm from, where in that city, where I'm going, yada yada, be more careful, slow down, I'll keep my eye open for you. (By this time I'm thinking he's going to loose his voice soon!)

Me,
I answered everything breifly, with one of those 'go away and leave me alone attitudes'

Light turns green and I make my turn... I look at my friend and say 'so I guess it was some kind of honda!'

GO MITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm lucky, we don't have to have a front plate in Georgia.

Mitch, back in the day...



Crazy kids and their car gangs.

Ha! I like that. I got pulled over alot when I was in my 20's driving a red Camaro, and I wasn't violating any traffic laws. I got pulled over 3 times in a week once!

Some cops are truly cool though. In my late teens, I had a paper route. I ran stop signs, red lights, parked on hydrants, even driving against one way street. And I got caught lots of time on every one of those offenses, but as soon as they saw a young kid driving a rust bucket Camaro with loads papers on the back seat, they let me go.

Now I'm older and slightly wiser, I know how avoid attention from the officers of the law.

I must say I'm disappointed! What happened to the good ol' 'Don't mess with Texas'? Isn't he suppose to have the nightstick so far up your arse your tonsils should be tickled?

So how come I got arrested for failing to show up to emissions (because they mailed the warnings to a wrong address) in a totally 'civilian' altima in a very quiet little Chicago suburb?

Why don't put this little episode on 'mythbusters'?

man i hope i never hae to have a front plate. that would suck so bad, but you give me hope mitch, cause id put mine on the airdam as well.

i avoid attracting attention to myself by cruising at 65 in a 55 while everyone passes me. i don't care. im in no hurry and i spend way to much time on that road to rush.

7 warnings for speeding, no tickets. 3 of those were in the camaro SS...a 21 year old doing 15-20 over the limit.

I have no falking clue how I got out of them.

One was about 9 miles into the 1,000 mile trek from Lafayette to TWS for the G2 track day last summer. The great plan for speeding the whole way down was shattered really really early

I got pulled over 2 times in an hour last summer. One ticket for 79 in a 65 and a warning for pulling out of taco bell, across 3 lanes of traffic (it's a wide road) and getting sideways (taco bell was watering the lawn and the exit had a 4" deep puddle that I launched out of....right in front of a cop....oops). The second was a warning. I've had 28 tickets in my lifetime and can't count the warnings.

My worst one was 96 in a 55 in Maryland. The ticket was $505. That sucked, alot. I was driving an '87 Escort EXP (yup, you read that correctly). That cop was pissed. I was 41 over. Oof.

Ok, where did we get the extra emoticons???

You were there? I cannot put a face with the name with the car ... sorry ...

I started the grass fire in T13 ...

Mitch... I never thought you would go that far as choping your balls.
btw, having a bird, why not getting the clear Bird in the center and put the plate behind it ?
That's 1 thing I like about here... no front plates

Nice one RHS!!!!!! I spit all over the computer ( better than spitting coffee!!!!)

I am in my second childhood ( old guy ) And the first time out with the camaro this year pulled over twice in 2 days. First was " officer, sir how fast were you going? Me....well lets see, 1st 2nd and 3rd.....prolly 40 mph ......him, sir I think you were going a little faster than 40, do me a favor and slow down. Me ok sir, have a nice day

2nd.........pulled over for expired registration...........me I just had it inspected a couple of days ago!!!!

Cop: Sir.......your REGISTRATION is expired! Me......sorry, warning no ticket!

So far this year I am ok with the local police!

Gary

I am yet to get pulled over in the f-body, but a red Supra is a cop magnet of gigantic proportions. To get to my mechanic I gotta go through Wheaton, which is this little town, which is known for large number of churches and Wheaton College, which is HARDCORE christian, to the point where they finally abolished the ban on boy-girl dances (IN COLLEGE!) after 140yrs! Short version: very conservative/repressed little community.
Every single time I drive through there (speed limits are like 15mph in some places, which I obey, no matter how hard it is, as the Supra idles at about 35mph in 6th) I get pulled over. They never have a radar gun, they just check my licence/registration/insurance and try to annoy me. I even put the front plate on, so they'd have nothing to go on, but that is yet to stop them. I guess they have heathen detectors instead of speed guns, and of course a red Supra at midnight with a young guy with 3ft of mad hair, driving through their Constipationville, sets off every member of the GodSquad, 'scuse me, the police.
If they only knew the speed I was doing on the highway right before I got to their little town...

sorry, had to vent.

Mitch, you wanna make me move to texas, I hear the roads are nice, cops are sparse, and there's plenty of tech jobs in Austin. I don't know what's worse, hardcore fundies, or hicks with guns in one hand and bad beer in the other. hmm...the kingdom of Canadia starting to look good all of the sudden...

...NEVER put front license plates on my cars.....DON'T believe in them... ....they are all hung up in my garage as suveniers of all my cars I have owned...

....that said....I got a "fixit ticket" at the local train station while going to work.....ON MY TRUCK! ....no "fixit" anymore just a $175 payment to the Arnold Swartzennegger rebuild Kalifornia fund... ...

I sent a letter saying the truck was used when I bought it and no second plate was supplied.....they let me off.....

GOOD THING they didn't check to see I HAVE A PERSONAL PLATE ON IT....

I can, I was with you when you started that fire I mean, uh, taught me about putting both feet in

Good ride, good times

edit - the car was a red auto 01 back then. I go/went to school at Purdue with Louis, Anthony, etc... so I came down

I got pulled over 2 months ago on my way home from work in Paradise Valley. For those of you not familiar with Phoenix, Paradise Valley is the fascist little municipality that came up with the idea of photo radar. So I'm on the side of the road with absolutely no idea why I've been pulled over. The cop walks up to the car, takes a look at me and says, "Oh sorry I thought you were a kid and I was going to write you up for a load exhaust. Sorry about the misunderstanding have a nice day." I was like WTF? I was pissed but kept my mouth shut, no use in opening it and risk getting a ticket. So explain to me how is a Camaro SS with a stock exhaust, even if it is the SLP center mount option loud enough for a ticket and what does a driver's age got to do with anything?

The traffic stops don't get REALLY exciting until it's for suspected armed robbery.

It took them quite a while to decide that finding only a large deli cake (I was on my way to a picnic) instead of anything related to a holdup didn't really fit their theory.

Meanwhile, somebody in a car apparently similiar to mine got a LONG head start on their getaway

I was around 16~17 at the time.

I was also pulled over once specifically for obeying the speed limit. The cop seemed really baffled to find that I was not intoxicated or breaking the law in any way.

I try to block out some of my run-ins with the local authorities. (don't ask what i pay for insurance.)

I have a few very good storys though.

I was pulled over by the same officer 6 times, in 12 days. He wrote me six tickets, including: Speeding 46mph in a 45mph zone. 61 in a 55 (on I-84 through Portland, if you have ever driven this stretch of road, you will understand how stupid that ticket is. i was in the right hand lane, and a tripple trailor was flashing his headlights at me to speed-up.). Luckily the state of Oregon and Multnomah county agreed that this could constitute harrasment, so none of those tickets made it to my record. I beleive the officer is now driving a golf cart, checking parking meters.

My friend and I got pulled over in his Bright Yellow S4, regardless of the fact, that the registration, insurance ect, was all in his name. Which matched the liscense, they did not believe it possible that 2 19year could be in that car, for any reason other than it being stolen. After a trip to jail, and an impounded car, we finaly sorted things out, later that afternoon.

Amazingly enough, I have only been pulled over, and warned once for my front plate though.

Gotcha ...

I recall your immediate comment to my asking if you were OK was ...

"I was just waiting for us to turn over."

Mitch... I gave up fighting the "Law" a long time ago and just put my plate back on.

In an arrest me red Z-28, I was getting stopped all the time. I never got a real ticket...just warnings, but it is still a hassle.

BTW... I was there to witness the grass fire.

Mitch - tell the one about Officer Bacon!

I drive the same way, is the extra 5 mph really going to save you that much time? Plus 25 and a red Camaro is prime target for a ticket. I have the front plate on my Camaro, but not on my truck. The truck came from Michigen where I geuss they don't need them.

Some cops are cool some just like to pick on people to make them feel better. When I was 16 and very stupid I got stopped in my 79 Chevy Malibu, grey and red two tone paint with red interior (pimpen) . Was speeding in the car with no headlights, no taillights, exhaust fell off and was loud (best sounding 305 I ever had though with the 4v carb not the 2v ), cracked windshield, half put together Suzuki GS550 motorcycle in the trunk (remember when cars had trunks), and a disassembled 3 speed manual tranny on the passengers seat (on my way to the junk yard to get a new one). Cop was one of the "good ol' boys" and had a southern accent. He walked around the car and siad "Son I could fill my quota on you" then asked for my registration, which I had to use a screw driver to break into the glove box because it was stuck. Needless to say he let me off with just a speeding ticket, which I was very happy with.

I actually got a ticket for no front plate. I was on a 4 lane highway with next to no traffic. I see a cop following a small brown car very closely comming up the on ramp. I slow down and set the cruise at 73 (70 mph limit). I very slowly drive by the cop and the brown car. The cop pulls out and hits his lights and pulls me over. He actually asked me why I was speeding. I explained that I didn't know I was and had the cruise set at 70. He said he was doing 70 and that I passed him. I told him I knew he used his radar gun because the detector went off as I passed him and asked how fast I was going. He said somewhere between 73 and 75. I said the cruise control must need to be recalibrated. Not being a very technical person, the cop bought it. He then asked why I had no front plate? I said I do, it's right here and I pulled it out from under the passenger seat. He didn't like that. He asked why it wasn't on the front of the car. I told him I didn't get a bracket when I bought it so I never put it on. He gave me a $15 ticket and let me go. I figure I can afford a $15 ticket now and then, so I will not be installing the front plate.

Glenn and I were headed to Witchita Falls, about 2 hours from Ft. Worth, to trade some wheels/tires for a set of heads.

In the middle of nowhere, a trooper pulls me over, again for no front plate. Honest to God ... his name was Bacon ....

I go through basically the same scenario about it being up there, just low.

He interviews me and then Glenn about our little trip. So, I guess he's satisfied that we aren't some chop shop runner.

So, I take the oppurtunity to ask why a front plate is needed?

He responds that when folks drive up to convenience stores with the intent to rob it, w/o a front plate, surveillence cameras don't get the plate number.

We are standing in a ditch in the middle of BFE. I look up and down the hiway as if looking for a convenience store and he says ... "Don't go there." and we both kind of chuckle.

I ask him if he expected an old man to get out of the car and he said no.

I have found that most of the time, they are pretty cool ... if given an oppurtunity.

you forgot the part about him asking what you do for a living.

Sorry ... you must have thought that more memorable than I did.

Please remind ...

never mind....

I'm going to be very upset if I have to drill holes in the nose of my '97 TA! So far the cops in my locale just smile at me in the way that folks do to one another in cool cars. In Sacramento they are actively looking for ! front plate so I may rig something up on the dashboard. I have one of those kewl 9/11 Memorial plates with the American Flag in the background, it would be nice to display that, just not on the nose!

We don't have front plates in KY.

Yes, thank god for that. I think front plates are worthless anyways, I never understood why some states really require them. If a cop is coming at you, he has to turn around and get behind you to pull you over anyways, so whats the point?

Our great state also just got rid of the VET (Vehicle Emissions Testing) program last year also. Stated that it wasn't needed and that industry was the one's causing all of the pollution. Which in Louisville, is true. It wasnt too bad anyways, OBD2 cars weren't even ran through the sniffer, just the computer checked for codes and released on your way. Also, of 4 times testing my 2 LT1 F-bodies I had, not once did they ever know where the EGR was and passed me with "Inaccessible" for EGR.

Here in NYC, they have cameras on some intersections. If you run the red light, you guessed it, you get a free picture of your car. And they want a lot of money for that pretty picture...

Man oh man, that just brought back memories of my younger days...I'm still chuckling trying to visualize a Malibu full of parts.

And I used to have a red Camaro and a 79 Malibu...so I can relate!

The most surprising ticket I ever got was when I was driving a Mini to work in England on a 4 lane highway (A road). I had my driver's window down and my arm on the door. My left arm was doing the steering. I made a couple of lane changes and was about ready to get off at the next exit when a cop pulled me over. I had no idea why he would have stopped me but he soon explained that it was not legal to drive with one hand. I just naturally thought he was going to give me a warning, but I got a full fledged 20 UKL ticket. Things are obviously different in the UK. They drive so much more "properly" than us. As soon as he heard my American accent he gave me that lecture.

I was about 3 weeks away from moving back to the US and came REALLY close to just telling them to stick it with a letter to the local constabulary on the day I was going to leave, but thought better of it. The sad thing is that was about 8 years ago now and I have never been back. I would have loved mailing that letter . . .

How do they turn on the radio? Do English cars have the cupholders removed?

As for front plates; photo radar, stoplight cameras, providing a nice reflective target for laser guns, etc. That's all they're good for. I stopped running mine as soon as they told us here they couldn't afford to send us new tabs for them--but the plates were still required.


Edit: English!

just traded in the wifes car last night.....lease was up....

AND I JUST FINISHED TAKING OFF THE FRONT PLATE AND THROWING IT AWAY.....

....hope she can cry her way out of any problems....

I HATE FRONT PLATES....

I asked a police officer friend of mine in OH about front license plates the other day. He said the main reason was to make it easier to id cars that are in the opposing lane. At least, that's why he liked them.