MEGAREDS

Mfendley posted an idea in the General Forum for a lower-profile front license plate bracket. The current Mazda front-plate solution is terrible, but perhaps the best that can be done? I thought maybe someone with some Photoshop skills could come up with something better that the current position. Dropped down lower, perhaps?

Another thought was a "lower-profile" plate. In Illinois and in most other States the legislature loves special plates that can be sold at a premium. Sportscar enthusiasts might like a solution which doesn't do as much damage to the lines of the car. Anyone... anyone...

By the way, check out the Acme License Plate Maker for ideas or just for kicks....

MEGAREDS

My lame attempt...

D MENAC 7

Here is a version I wouldn't do.

D MENAC 7

I've also thought of this one but I think it puts it too low and runs the risk of coming off.

D MENAC 7

I wonder if this is legal...

G8rboy

It's simple, really- Just say no to front plates!

MEGAREDS

Me too. Like it! Perhaps for use when the car is parked, and a door that rises when the car starts?

D MENAC 7

Here is where I would rather leave it.

D MENAC 7

ooops!

Nubo

New for 2004 - the MicroPlate!

Apologies for re-using the pic!

G8rboy

Problem solved! maybe 6 pt font though : )

seriously though- front license plates for identification is pure BS... how many times has a cop chased you from the front?? They're only used for a nice flat reflective surface for radar/laser... why give them the advantage?

D MENAC 7

I wouldn't say not putting one on is giving an advantage for the police to use for radar/laser so much much as this advantage is taken by the police and they have the final say so.

I haven't gotten my plates yet, and when I do, the rear will go on, the front will go in the frame and the frame will go in my back seat until after the first stop for not having it on to which my excuse will be that the lousy dealership didn't put iton right and it fell off. After that, it's on record so I guess I'll make it fugly.

I'll not put it on at first, that is, unless my wife tells me to. LOL

D MENAC 7

Hmmm, that gives me an idea...it could go on a rotating door built into the grille that rotates it out at the push of a button. Otherwise it's backwards behind the grille. This way if you are puled over, you hit the button and when the cop comes around front to look see, it's there and you just give the "What are you talking about Officer??" grin look and he scratches his head and mutters something about too much coffee, late night out and perhaps he needs to get his eyes checked as he goes back to his car and you drive off knowing you pulled one big one over on him.

OK, where are the moders when youu need them? I'd pay $100 bucks for a kit that would do this one, $150 for it installed.

Also, I did really think about setting it back a bit behind the grille and lighting it from the front with Hyper white LEDs or some other lighting such as cold cathode tube. I wonder about the legality of that idea.

There just isn't any real good place to put a plate on the front of this car. It really sucks.

MEGAREDS

LOL. Love it! BTW, the front plate is not there for cops to stop you... it's there so your photo can be taken as you pass through an intersection or toll booth...

G8rboy

Great- two more reasons not to put it on : )

I would imagine that most of those situations occur after you committed the infraction, so wouldn't most of the photo evidence be of your rear-end leaving?

DemonRX-8

I don't like that the low mount would cover up the front rotary emblem. I'm thinking of just a flush mount on the grille with a black bracket to cover as much of the top and bottom as I can get away with. I may work on this tomorrow if I can fabricate a bracket.

brothervoodoo

Agreed, just say "NO" to front plates... :p

mikeb

no plate for sure

I dont care for many tickets I get

My last car had no plate for four years and I probably had twenty fix it tickets

MEGAREDS

No, the system I've seen (and what is already used in some states) is to put the camera past the intersection so that the image is of the signal light, the driver's face and the plate. The tickets then can be sent automatically and the owner of the car gets to rebut the presumption of guilt after receiving the ticket and photo in the mail... yes, you read it right. So long as it's not a criminal offense but an administrative one, you get to rebut the presumption...comrade.

I, Claudius

Good point. I knew about the reflective-surface-for-radar reason for a front plate, but Megareds brings up another aspect that hadn't occurred to me - not to sound paranoid or anything, but a front plate makes it easier to identify motorists on camera from all angles. I don't know about your city, but Austin, TX has little cameras on stalks absolutely everywhere - every major roadway and intersection in the city has multiple cameras, and a lot of the secondary thoroughfares are covered as well (I see traffic cameras in the most unlikely places). I reckon there are perfectly good reasons for all those cameras, but I can't help but feel uneasy about the fact that whether on foot or in our cars, we're being surveilled almost constantly, especially considering the changing political climate in this country.

Shocka

ok mike that prob one the craziest things ive ever heard.. ur ready to fork ova the cash just to keep the plate off the car? even if u go and fix it the next day u have this much time on ur hands? if i get a fix it ticket thers probably no way id make it to a precinct in 24 hours.

MEGAREDS

I park in a municipal lot where I board a train to work. Every day a local cop drives around the lot looking at the cars to check for parking stickers... the cars without front plates get tickets (usually warning tickets, but that doesn't go on forever). Not using the front plate just isn't an option.

I'm not that upset about cameras everywhere. If I were looking for a place to steal a car or rape someone (or blow up a federal building), it sounds like Austin Texas would be a bad choice... the thing that I don't like are the automated toll booths that bill you after you pass through them. I'd rather see the State issue a debit card for cash that gets charged with each pass through, like many subway systems use. The current electronic toll system in place in Illinois literally tells the State where people were and when they were there, every time a car with an identifier passes through a toll. I suppose it sets up a nice alibi though, if you happen to be innocent...

D MENAC 7

I am working on a stealth front license plate that, if this works out, will be the next best thing to no front license plate but will only look good when you are parked with the engine off.

No, it isn't a rotating grille as I was fantasizing earlier on in the thread, but more of a black box that would be internally lit when driving and dark when parked. It would still be a big black rectangle but it would still look better than a big mostly white plate as you can see in our posts.

My only curiosity has to be with what are the exact legal specifications for display of the front plate. In other words, can it be enclosed in a box, so to speak, so long as it is viewable and can be read from the front. I think I can do this in a maximum of 2 inches including the frame and front cover.

MEGAREDS

I think the Illinois Motor Vehicle Code is pretty typical. It provides:

5/3-413. Display of registration plates, registration stickers and drive- away permits

(a) Registration plates issued for a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, trailer, semitrailer, truck-tractor, apportioned bus, or apportioned truck shall be attached thereto, one in the front and one in the rear. ...

(b) Every registration plate shall at all times be securely fastened in a horizontal position to the vehicle for which it is issued so as to prevent the plate from swinging and at a height of not less than 5 inches from the ground, measuring from the bottom of such plate, in a place and position to be clearly visible and shall be maintained in a condition to be clearly legible, free from any materials that would obstruct the visibility of the plate, including, but not limited to, glass covers and tinted plastic covers. Clear plastic covers are permissible as long as they remain clear and do not obstruct the visibility of the plates. Registration stickers issued as evidence of renewed annual registration shall be attached to registration plates as required by the Secretary of State, and be clearly visible at all times.

D MENAC 7

Ah ha, there went my stealth front license plate mod...maybe, maybe not. Front plates still suck no matter what.