Milspec

That's pure jackassery! Where in Texas are you? We're in Keller and have been pulled over for petty BS, but not that.
We got away with no front plate on our 2007 for 3 years, but our 2010 has a front plate now. We got some USMC vanity plates, so the front plate is somewhat justified, I guess.

Glad he didn't get ya.

ShaneM

OMFG- so some asshat drove their car into the ditch on the way back from school today and the highway patrol were directing traffic. the asshat cop that pulled me over starts pointing to the plate that i have stuck to the front windshield with little suction cup hooks and then to the bumper over and over. the other cop looks at him and starts laughing and i could se ehim moutign the words to the other cop, your giving that guy a hard time.

JIM5.0

Yep, every trooper is highly grilled by their mentors during their probationary period to watch for lic plate violations. I do not know a trooper who will NOT stop someone for a missing front lic plate, even if the driver is not speeding or doing anything else stupid.

JIM5.0

The other cop the trooper was talking to, was the other cop also DPS? Or was he some local yokel (like a sheriff's deputy of your city PD)?

That is pretty funny actually. I have seen guys with plates on their windows just like yours, and they never get any flack from the local police. Well, at least if the locals do not have some other suspicions (such as they think you might have drugs in your car or something, in which case, they will use the improperly displayed plate as the reason to initiate the stop).

ShaneM

yeah i'm not happy about it, i had the plate on the car just not on the bumper the second time around. the guy is obviously going to harass me about it every time i go out. He has been in the same area about the same time several times now over the last few weeks. As much as i hate the looks of the fing thing I just put the thing on the bumper. f'ing asshats...

ShaneM

another younger DPS officer. i think the guy was mad because i questioned him on the light covers when he pulled me over the first time so hes messing with me. i could see in his face he was mad that I said something. I had both my kids in the car so he just stood behind the car looking at the covers and the lights and said it was fine and then hit me with the plate covers and such. I had a guy tell me over the weekend that according to his brother, who was in whatever school dps officers go to, the statues just say you have to have a front facing plate on a car in texas. i think it really comes down to what the officer feels like making you do.

JIM5.0

I am not sure about clear plastic, but the way Texas law reads is the plate must not be obscured.
Clear plastic does not obscure the plate, unless when light hits it, it becomes hard to read.

A year or two back, there was a lobby to amend the Texas law that would allow lic plate frames to be put on the plates because they do not cover up key parts of the plate: the number and the state name.
I have no idea what ever happened to this law amendment.

JIM5.0

I believe you are right about how TRC is written; I have not read that particular state statute concerning Lic plate display though.

But if the TRC only says that a front Lic plate must be displayed, and does not specify how it must be displayed, then according to statute, putting it on the front windshield is within that law.

However, there is another thing thing to consider in addition to law (TRC): Regulation! Texas regulation takes the form of what is called the Texas Administrative Code. You may have to look up the administrative codes for either the DPS, TxDOT, or the new DMV to find out **HOW** the plates must be displayed. If the administrative code does indeed say you must have you played mounted and displayed on the forward-most and rearward-most parts of the vehicle, then putting it on the front windshield gives the cops the power to write you a ticket.

Also, if the administrative codes say plate must be completely exposed to air (i.e. cannot have glass, or your windshield in this case), that is possibly what the law guys are enforcing.

bluovalguy

I would dig into the texas laws and find out exactly what it says. Sometimes cops can misinterpret the law too. But IF HE IS RIGHT, he's not being an *******. He cut you a break and told you what is required by law and gave you a chance to fix it. If you dont, then expect to get a ticket for it.

Thats one of the downsides to Grabber blue, you stand out

This hippie state considers that brief moment when the light hits it as obstruction. Therefore you cant have the plastic covers. And if a cop ever drives by and sees that spray photo blocker stuff on your plate, you are guaranteed to get a ticket.

S197steve

I've been driving for almost 3 years without a front plate and have been pulled over twice for speeding... neither office had issues with not having a front plate on the car.

*Knocks on wood*