No Front Plate ticket...Texas Peeps read

[Richiec77]

Damn it. Finally got one for real today. I've been warned a couple times just going on base in the CTS-V since there's no damn way I'm drilling holes in the front bumper of the Caddy. SAPD now enforces security at the gates for all military Installations in San Antonio per the BRAC (Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission..BRAC...duno?)

Anyways. It's been cool since the cops there had no problem with me sticking the plate in the windshield. In fact there's 3 that have said it's legal.....until now.

I was going to FASTENAL which is south of Sam Houston. Shitty part of town. Cops pulled me over because of "no front plate" BS trick as they found my car to be "Suspicious" (aka a nice car in a ghetto part of town). Pointed to the plate which they said isn't legal as it's not the front of the vehicle. We went back and forth a couple points, they kept trying to get me to let them inspect the inside of the vehicle....etc. (Some of you may have gone thru this horseshit in the past.)

He didn't give me a warning this time but an actual ticket as I know he was pissed with me since he found my story to be "suspicious". Just a dick move on his part.

Anyways. I have the ticket now. Doing research this appears to be GOOD against me. There was 502.404 and 502.409 information. And then the court case in Austin in 2004 that showed it was OK for the windshield area.

http://law.onecle.com/texas/transpor...02.409.00.html
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/vi/misc/faq/faq_item.htm
http://www.3rdcoa.courts.state.tx.us...pinionId=12576


NOW I have found where the law was defined and the cop is right: The foremost front of the vehicle is where it needs to be displayed. Since the cops here didn't seem to know this I only see this as being a matter of time until all cops in the state are informed to enforce this new interpretation of the law.

This was the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the highest court in the state. Sept, 2010 is when the case went before them.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09...-decision.html


So yeah. This is going to suck in the near to far future for us.

[will69camaro]

That law has been changed for a while. I also got a ticket in SA about it. I've had 2 tickets for front plate, and MULTIPLE warnings. Most cops (unless feeling moody) will use it as an excuse to pull you over. It's just something you have to deal with if you dont want a front plate.

Even with 2 tickets for it, my car will never have a front plate drilled to the bumper. In my experience, it's better to not have it in the dash either. Just leave it in the trunk or at home and plead ignorance.

William

[Nine Ball]

Blah blah blah. Pay the $50 or $75 ticket and move on. I consider this an appearance mod cost. Wasting more than an hour of your time trying to fight it costs more than the ticket. Taking a day off of work to sit in court to fight it could pay for several tickets.

Oh, and quit slinging rock in the 'hood.

[Sluggish]

Didn't they just "accidentally" pass something that wouldn't allow a fine for no front plate. It would still be illegal to not have but there would be no fine to back it up. That could be bs (probably is) considering I saw it in the Texas section. Anyway supposedly taking affect on the first of next year.

[smokinHawk]

i got some bracket at auto zone to mount my plate on the grill so i didnt have to drill holes in the front.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...ntifier=761575

[Pro Stock John]

Not sure if it would work with your 'V, but for the TBSS I use very long black zipties for the upper bolt holes and they run through the lower mesh part of the facade. I then used a number of double-sided felt pads that are use for furniture and affixed them to back of the plate. I mounted the plate in the center but it can be offset as well. I had gotten a ticket for !plate and River North cops are dicks.

[Brains]

I've been pulled over a couple times for no front plate, never ticketed though. Once in the GTO it was obvious he used it as the justification for a look-see. That one was easy though, the car had just been repaired, told him the dealer had the bracket on order from Australia. He bit, or didn't care, and sent me on my way. The other time the cop just wanted to check out the car He could hear the Formula burbling its way down the road, so he used it as an excuse. Pretty obvious he could care less, when he pulled up NEXT to my car, rolled down the window, and started asking about the car. We chatted for 20 minutes or so and that was that. Turns out he was a frequent bracket racer out in Sealy (WAY before the Hennessey days)

I honestly don't think most cops care about the front plate law though, but you'll occasionally find that one guy.

[Richiec77]

Originally Posted by Nine Ball

Blah blah blah. Pay the $50 or $75 ticket and move on. I consider this an appearance mod cost. Wasting more than an hour of your time trying to fight it costs more than the ticket. Taking a day off of work to sit in court to fight it could pay for several tickets.

Oh, and quit slinging rock in the 'hood.

YEAH.....It's a $160 fine here plus Administration fee. So $170.00 fine in San Antonio right now. Total Bullshit.

[kerryt1]

BMW crowd uses something that threads into the towhook boss, looks like D3 makes a CTS-V setup. Looks stupid, is expensive, and is easy to steal, but prevents drilling holes I guess. I probably still wouldn't display.

http://www.d3cadillac.com/products/c...mount-tow-hook

I still can't figure out why Texas wants 2 plates, when every state bordering it thinks it's not necessary. I guess you can sell twice as many plates that way.

[Pro Stock John]

That's pretty cool Kerry.