Posted on 01/12/2012 8:00:53 PM PST by Orange1998
DALLAS - Vehicles in Texas must display both front and back license plates. It’s been a state law since 1934. But lawmakers in rewriting the state transportation code recently made what could be a serious omission.
“Absolutely it is a potentially very big problem,” said Robert Gregg, a criminal defense and personal injury attorney. “The issue is not whether it is a fine. That’s where we start. The issue is whether or not it’s a crime.”
The old law read, “A person commits an offense if the person operates… a passenger car or commercial motor vehicle that does not display two license plates at the front and rear of the vehicle.”
In the new bill passed into law on the last day of the session that language was accidentally struck from the measure.
“Problem is they didn’t move it over to the new section, therefore it’s not a crime,” Gregg said.
And if the offense is no crime, law enforcement officials may no longer be able to pull people over for it.
“It is fairly common. Unfortunately in this state people don’t really adhere to the two plate rule like they should. They put a lot of their school logos or their favorite football or baseball team and it is against the law. It is a crime,” said Sgt. Don Pertiz with the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.
Pertiz said the law is often used as a tool to stop criminals on the streets.
“You’d be surprised how many offenses we uncover that start with no front license plate,” he said.
Trying to rectify the wrong, El Paso lawmaker Joe Pickett, who wrote the bill, has asked the attorney general for an opinion on whether it is a Class C misdemeanor not to display two license plates on a motor vehicle.
“Most times they don’t give you a ticket for this so the issue of not having a fine is not really it. The issue is they’ve taken out that it’s an offense. It’s not an offense. They can’t use it to pull somebody over, which they use it every day all day long,” Gregg said.
Pertiz said officers will likely continue to issue tickets based on the original law and let the courts worry about it.
They used to go on the rear license plates, but some people figured out how to peal them off intact and steal them so they could put them on their own cars. Even if caught they only could be charged with a misdemeanor. The sticker that goes on the inside of the windshield has the license plate number printed on it. Not only would it be suspicious to have a sticker that doesn't match the license plate for most cars it would be required to break into the car to steal the sticker. That's breaking and entering which is a felony.
And most of them lawmakers are attorneys.
I believe that this Attorney General, Greg Abbott, will say that if there’s no law, there’s no way to break the law.
I think the law changed breaking and entering vehicle to misdemeanor.
Its a stupid law to begin with and cops admit it is just used as an excuse to stop (hassle) people.
And it really says something that they KNOW it is now not a crime, but they will still stop and ticket people anyway and make them go to court.
Let’s see now, One in the front and 1 in the back. (So far so good).
(Here is where it gets difficult). One plus 1 = one 1. That WAS easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, is it all about the $$$$, or is there some real criminality involved?
Do you really want me to answer that Paladin :). We all know the truth, its about the money.
Say it ain't so Joe.
Well, our part time legislature here in Texas doesn’t meet again for another year - so the only option (other than not worrying about it) is to call a special session.
Now, knowing our governor, don’t be surprised if he calls that special session and adds Sanctuary City legislation to it...just as he did last June...then to just have his lackies in the state legislature ‘forget’ to bring it up until it was too late (just as last June).
...and people wonder why I have a problem with my governor. If you LOVE Illegals, just make your case, don’t be two-faced about it.
Perry is a terrible GOV right you are. He doles out the promises during election and then goes back to the same ole cronyism after election.
“Perry is a terrible GOV right you are. He doles out the promises during election and then goes back to the same ole cronyism after election.”
Someone agrees!!! The Perry Girls try to make me think that I’m the ONLY Texas Republican that has a problem with him (standard Alinsky tactic).
I guess not...LOL.
Interesting info. I did not know that. It helps make sense then.
After it happened to me I started using a razor blade to score the license plate stickers so they couldn't be removed in one piece.
What people don’t realize is that if it already isn’t happening it will soon that you won’t need a license plate, your vehicle will have a transponder instead, just like aircraft and an ident squak.
Trooper aims a signal at you and the code is flashed on his screen, no more iced over plates or plate swapping.
Look for this when pay per mile taxation starts.
And all those broken hand drivers not using Blinkers.
“Its a stupid law to begin with and cops admit it is just used as an excuse to stop (hassle) people.”
Here in Northern California our Chief of Police told me that stopping someone for not having a front plate is known as the”chicken$hit stop.” You only use it when you want to mess with the driver. The legislature has tried to go to one plate because the second one costs the state a bundle, but the “cop lobby” always manages to defeat it.
And he'll be surprised how many people will go free!
Everything the cops find after a stop automatically becomes an illegal seizure because the 'probable cause' excuse they use no longer exists.
effective Feb 1 they must print license plates in braille so that the visually impaired can locate their cars, ( must be labeled frnt & back ) dont want any lawsuits like Redbox got slammed with.
I am convinced that to get in the legislature these people have half their brains sucked out through their ear!
Mass has gone back and forth from two plates to one plate (I still have the green onesie plate) back to two plates. They have plates so cheaply made the paint fades (wonder who’s cousin got that contract), motorcycle plates where the holes in the plate didn’t align with the bracket on any ‘cycle ever made, inspection stickers that fall off the windshield, and on and on...
But the Mass-holes on Beacon hill and in the RMV’s crowning achievement of abject stupidity was: To save money (big bucks - not) was to issue only one plate-sticker. They said not to worry about the old, expired sticker on the front plate, just put the new sticker on the rear plate and drive. That didn’t work out for one of the sysadmins I worked with — he drove to NYS and when he went through the last tollbooth on the ‘pike, the first thing the NY state trooper saw was the EXPIRED front-plate sticker. He spent an hour trying to convince that trooper that, yes, Mass really issued only one sticker now.
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