Motoring Discussion > USA - no front number plates Miscellaneous
Thread Author: BobbyG Replies: 19

 USA - no front number plates - BobbyG
How can a country the size of USA make the decision at some time in the past that there is no need for front number plates, yet we (as well as other countries) say that they are needed.

Were we more advanced because we knew at some point in the future they would be used for camera technology?
 USA - no front number plates - No FM2R
>>How can a country the size of USA make the decision

It didn't.


Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming all require front license plates.

To save you counting, that is more than half.
 USA - no front number plates - BobbyG
Didn't realise that although in LA there seemed to be more cars with front plates but of course, their plates seem to be able to say whatever they want!

So it makes the question even more relevant because I assume you don't need to fit a front number plate to your car when in those states?
 USA - no front number plates - No FM2R
Sorry Bobby, I think you misread - those states DO require a front number plate.

Since I lived in California and Texas I always had two plates, so I don;t know what happens when you visit another State if you have one plate.
 USA - no front number plates - zookeeper
i seem to remember that in states where only the rear plate is required the vehicle must be parked accordingly as to present it to any patrolling squad car ( vehicle nose in to the kerb)
 USA - no front number plates - henry k
>> i seem to remember that in states where only the rear plate is required the
>> vehicle must be parked accordingly as to present it to any patrolling squad car ( vehicle nose in to the kerb)
>>
I recall seeing a notice at one such parking area ( probably in Florida) stating that cars had to be parked nose in.
 USA - no front number plates - Tigger
>> I recall seeing a notice at one such parking area ( probably in Florida) stating
>> that cars had to be parked nose in.
>>
>>
The local St John Ambulance have that - nothing to do with reading the number plates, but more so the exhaust fumes aren't belched into their open windows.
 USA - no front number plates - rtj70
>> their plates seem to be able to say whatever they want!

The plate effectively belongs to the person and not the car. Sell the car and you can transfer the plate to your new car. My brother has a start-wars related one - he builds R2-D2 robots etc. for fun.
 USA - no front number plates - L'escargot
>> How can a country the size of USA make the decision at some time in
>> the past that there is no need for front number plates, yet we (as well
>> as other countries) say that they are needed.

Motorcycles in the UK no longer have front number plates. What's sauce for the goose motorcycles should be sauce for the gander cars.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Wed 24 Jul 13 at 07:24
 USA - no front number plates - Cliff Pope

>>
>> Motorcycles in the UK no longer have front number plates. What's sauce for the goose
>> motorcycles should be sauce for the gander cars.
>>

But even when they did, the were mounted fore-and-aft, not facing forwards.

As I recall, they were double sided, with a slight curve to match the front mudguard, a lethal knife-blade ready to slice pedestrians in an accident.
 USA - no front number plates - L'escargot
>> But even when they did, the were mounted fore-and-aft, not facing forwards.

Yep. I saw one at the weekend on a Douglas Dragonfly.
 USA - no front number plates - Robin O'Reliant
>>
>> Motorcycles in the UK no longer have front number plates. What's sauce for the goose motorcycles should be sauce for the gander cars.
>>

1975 that requirement stopped, I can still remember stepping out the front garden the night before and unscrewing the cheese cutter from the front mudguard of my CB175. Should have kept the plate as a memento. XLL 23N where are you now?
 USA - no front number plates - Ted

Still got the pedestrian slicer on the Velo. Nowhere to put a plate on modern bikes.
Just got a pass on my Honda today with no advisories........tax it next week then whoopee !

Ted
 USA - no front number plates - crocks
My Lambretta had two on the front. One either side of the wide mudguard.
It didn't try to kill pedestrians, just the rider.
 USA - no front number plates - TeeCee
Last time I hired a car in the states it had no plates at all!
Just a bit of paper as a "dealer tag" sellotaped inside the rear window.
 USA - no front number plates - Bill Payer
It took me a moment to realise why many cars in Florida looked so much better than they do here. Makes you realise how incredibly ugly our number plates slapped on their front are!
 USA - no front number plates - Zero
>> It took me a moment to realise why many cars in Florida looked so much
>> better than they do here. Makes you realise how incredibly ugly our number plates slapped
>> on their front are!

Huh? yanks build and buy ugly cars! then they stick dead bugs all over them.
 USA - no front number plates - L'escargot
>> It took me a moment to realise why many cars in Florida looked so much
>> better than they do here. Makes you realise how incredibly ugly our number plates slapped
>> on their front are!
>>

Personalised number plates aren't ugly. They add a bit of visual interest to the car.
 USA - no front number plates - SteelSpark
>> Were we more advanced because we knew at some point in the future they would
>> be used for camera technology?

I'd be interested to know what the rationale for only having a rear plate is.

The sole purpose of number plates would seem to be to identify a car quickly, without the need for close inspection.

Having only a rear plate that could quite easily be obscured from quick inspection (whether intentionally or not), would seem to be a poor choice.

It has to be more than aesthetics, doesn't it?
 USA - no front number plates - Manatee
I was actually asked to turn the car round after reversing into a parking space outside a restaurant, in South Carolina I think.
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