Posted on 10/27/2011 7:44:06 PM PDT by Daffynition
The multitude of mysteries revealed following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' death now includes one that puzzled car enthusiasts for years: How did Jobs get away with driving without a license plate? It was common knowledge that Jobs would park his Mercedes SL55 AMG in a handicapped spot at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, with nothing to identify his vehicle other than the tiny barcode that usually rests behind the rear license plate. According to Walter Isaacson's new biography, Jobs wanted to avoid having a plate for privacy reasons; and yet when having a license-less silver Mercedes became a kind of trademark, Jobs kept motoring without one "because I don't." [snip] You'll have to read at the link to find the answer. ;)
(Excerpt) Read more at autos.yahoo.com ...
So he was constantly driving a new car, nice new car smell from the plasticizers floating in the air - kind of thing that could give a guy cancer... hey wait a minute...
Hebrews 9:27
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
Live as he will, after which we are all equal.
Just another fact that proves how private of a person he was.
I don’t buy it.
*The best way to remain anonymous would be to keep the plates on. And this, in the end, is the great paradox of the mystery. Not displaying plates made Steve Jobs’ car just as conspicuous and identifiable as a man who, say, always wore jeans, a black turtleneck and New Balance sneakers.*
In these parts, you get temporary paper plates, until the metal ones arrive.
If I was Jobs I would have driven some POS beater pickup truck! Make sure it’s mechanically fine but looks like it has been to hell and back.
I sang his praises, previously. For me, this puts a couple of chinks in his armor. Well, ya can’t take it with ya.
Pretty inventive. Since the registration fee is $46 it wouldn’t rank high in the annals of tax evasion. The big tax, like the sales & use tax, would have been paid to the dealer upon receipt of the vehicle so there wasn’t any evasion of the sales tax. Also, by leasing a new vehicle every 6 months he was basically paying two times the sales tax on the car every year.
Sounds to me like he was pretty heavily subsidizing the California DMV, not cheating them out of anything.
>> They guy did what everyone wishes he could do: he lived like he pleased.
Agreed.>>
Ah yes, but he supported politicians who don’t think we should live the life WE please - and that’s the rub.
>> They guy did what everyone wishes he could do: he lived like he pleased.
Agreed.>>
Ah yes, but he supported politicians who don’t think we should live the life WE please - and that’s the rub.
Bottom line: In California, the cops figure if you have no license plate you are probably an illegal alien and therefore a protected class. So why bother?
What were his last words? “Let ‘em eat license plates!”?
....”because I don’t.” ~S. Jobs
You don’t have property taxes in Cali?
According to Gizmodo:
“I don’t care who you are-Lindsay Lohan or Governor Schwarzenegger-you have to display a plate or risk being pulled over or cited,” says state DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza.
This was the line echoed by CHP officers, traffic lawyers and DMV officials again and again. Not only did a legal precedent prove elusive, no one was even able to drum up a theoretical case where a public citizen-regardless or stature, office, or bank account size-could get away with non-display of plates.
“It simply wouldn’t happen,” says Mendoza of such an allowance.
Fine. But looking at nuances state law, traffic enforcement, and a few public records, the case of Steve Jobs’ perpetually missing plates becomes less mysterious.
***
First, it should be noted that it actually is legal is the state of California to drive without a license plate-for 90 days. Car dealerships generally have up to 30 days to file the necessary registration paperwork with the DMV when anyone buys a new or used car. Once received, those plates can take another 4-6 weeks to arrive at a person’s doorstep. Yes, in the interim you must display a temporary registration tag in front driver’s-side window, but it still grants you a degree of wiggle room.
Most local traffic enforcement officers admitted to being less than Bronsonian about singling out a car with no plates, using it more as an excuse to pull someone over if something else seemed suspicious.
“Normally, an officer will not pull over a car that looks new to check the registration,” notes Deputy Gregory Talyor of the Santa Clara Sherrif’s Office.
“Frankly, we have better things to do with our time,” says Cupertino Officer Sandra Powell.
Here’s the other thing: Even if you do get nabbed by the popo for failing to display your plates, the consequences are downright wimpy.
While the fine can go up to $65 (assuming everything else is in order and you don’t want to correct the infraction), in most cases, the worst you’ll get what’s known as a fix-it ticket. That’s essentially a $10 slap on the wrist if you can later prove that you’ve remedied the offense.
Jobs was notorious for this: he would park in a handicap spot right in front of the building. At some point, I think someone called the police, but they refused to tow the car.
Jobs could have parked the car in the building lobby if he wanted to. But, CA state (and federal?) law prohibited him from parking in a designated handicap zone.
“If I was Jobs I would have driven some POS beater pickup truck!”
Isn’t that what Sam Walton drove?
If I never see another article about Steve Jobs it’ll be too soon.
It's also parked crooked. I can't stand people who are too inconsiderate to park their car straight.
Until CA fixes this loophole........and I’ll venture there will be others to copycat Jobs’ PL8 H8TR.
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