Texas lawmaker wants pricey cars exempt from front plate rule
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:18 pm
In these troubled times that can cast doubt on the notion, let’s again checklist some of the things that already make America great (in addition to my oft-praised free chips and salsa at Tex-Mex joints):
We all are equal under the law. We all must pay our taxes. We all must wear pants (or an equivalent lower body covering).
And, in Texas, we all must have two license plates on our vehicles. One on the front bumper. One on the back bumper. It’s the law, one that reduces the potential for getaway cars backing away from crime scenes to avoid anyone getting the plate number.
But now a Canadian man wants to undo Texas’ two-plate law — but only for a designated class of Texans: those with higher-dollar cars.
Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, is pushing House Bill 673, which adds one category to the current list of vehicles exempt from the front-plate requirement. In addition to “a road tractor, a motorcycle, a trailer, (and) a semitrailer,” King wants to add “luxury passenger car” to section 504.943 of the Texas Transportation Code.
Why? Because a constituent with a fancy car asked him to. If you can’t do stuff for constituents with fancy cars, who can you do stuff for?
HB 673 defines luxury passenger car as one “that has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of at least $60,000 for a baseline model.” I’m not sure where that leaves luxury pickup trucks.
“You know,” King told me, “people who purchase cars like a Corvette, for instance, a Corvette doesn’t come with a front license plate bracket. And, you know, when people buy those cars, they don’t particularly want to drill a hole in their brand new car’s bumper.”
Yeah, and I don’t want to stick stickers on my windshield but it seems like a reasonable price to pay for living in the Greatest State in the Greatest Nation Ever.
What we have here is another reminder that life is not without its challenges, even for folks who drive Corvettes.
“From a revenue side,” King said, “our idea is you’re still going to pay for two tags. But on a car like that, you’re exempted where you could have one (only) on the rear. Most other states don’t even require a front license plate. Texas is unique in that.”
Texas is unique in many ways. For instance, we’re the only state shaped like Texas. But in requiring two plates, we’re only unique in our neck of the nation. None of our neighboring states requires front license plates. But we’re among 31 states that do.
King said the idea was brought to him by “one of my constituents and a supporter ... (who) has a number of cars, and he frankly doesn’t want to have to put a front license plate on.” (King’s staff said he won’t share the name of the constituent and supporter.)
“Why not exempt everybody?” I asked King. “Why just rich people?”
“Well,” King replied, “it’s not a rich people bill. Almost every car costs $60,000 anymore, particularly a sports car. And these are cars without traditional bumpers that have a (front) license plate bracket.”
You’d think for that price they could throw in a front bracket, kind of likes chips and salsa at Tex-Mex joints.
I asked King if there are any law enforcement implications in requiring a front plate.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “It’s just the way Texas does it. I don’t know of any reason to continue to have them. But I’m sure as more people vet my bill I’ll find out those reasons.”
Yes, we’ll all probably learn more when and if the Vette Bill is vetted.
Turns out there’s a bit of history here. It involves the Texas Legislature, so it’s a tad messy.
Up until 2012, it was clearly illegal to drive without two plates in Texas. In 2011, the Legislature rejiggered (technical term) the Transportation Code and, apparently unintentionally, stripped out the penalty for violating the two-plate law. So it remained illegal to drive without two plates, but there was no penalty.
Who knew? Lawyers, that’s who knew, including Benson Varghese of Fort Worth, who has written about it, noting the Legislature noted its error and, as of September 2013, reinstated the $200 fine for not having a front plate.
“Should you run out and get a front license plate if you don’t have one?” Varghese wrote. “While the legal answer is yes, the practical answer is it depends.
“In the last five years, I have been pulled over just once for not having a front license plate and I was sent on my way with a warning,” Varghese advises. “That being said, if I drove that vehicle into neighborhoods where there was a high crime rate or drove back in that car after having a drink or two in the evening, then I am begging to be pulled over. If you want to avoid giving the police a valid reason to pull you over at any time, then definitely get a front license plate.”
The Texas A&M University Transportation Institute in a 2012 study found upsides of front license plates, including that federal border enforcement officials said the lack of front plates “made a significant impact in their border processing.” And it was determined that the second plate “makes it easier to photograph those who run stop signs and red lights or don’t pay tolls or drive out of unattended pay garages and parking lots without paying.”
Steve Pustelnyk, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s community relations director, said front plates “provide a number of important benefits” in collecting tolls.
“Foremost, they give us a second point of reference to ensure we get at least one readable image to properly identify the vehicle,” he said. “They also provide, in most cases, two separate license plate images to reinforce the accuracy of the transaction.
“The front plate is also important in situations where a vehicle is towing a trailer. Trailers are often owned by a third party. In these situations, we use the front license plate to bill the owner of the vehicle. Without a front plate, it would be a more complicated process to track down and bill the owner of the vehicle towing a trailer. Bottom line, we could operate without front license plates but would have concerns about their elimination,” he said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety told me, “The department does not have anything to contribute to this story.”
At the Austin Police Department, Ely Reyes, assistant chief in the investigations bureau, said front plates are useful for law enforcement, including in the increased use of license plate-reading technology and when officers approach vehicles from the front.
“The ability to see the front license plate as (officers) are approaching a scene is helpful,” he said.
I’m guessing King’s HB 673 isn’t going anywhere. If it doesn’t, there’s always HB 688 by Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City.
It would protect the aesthetics of front bumpers by allowing front license plates to be displayed in the windshield.
https://www.statesman.com/news/20190125 ... plate-rule
We all are equal under the law. We all must pay our taxes. We all must wear pants (or an equivalent lower body covering).
And, in Texas, we all must have two license plates on our vehicles. One on the front bumper. One on the back bumper. It’s the law, one that reduces the potential for getaway cars backing away from crime scenes to avoid anyone getting the plate number.
But now a Canadian man wants to undo Texas’ two-plate law — but only for a designated class of Texans: those with higher-dollar cars.
Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, is pushing House Bill 673, which adds one category to the current list of vehicles exempt from the front-plate requirement. In addition to “a road tractor, a motorcycle, a trailer, (and) a semitrailer,” King wants to add “luxury passenger car” to section 504.943 of the Texas Transportation Code.
Why? Because a constituent with a fancy car asked him to. If you can’t do stuff for constituents with fancy cars, who can you do stuff for?
HB 673 defines luxury passenger car as one “that has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of at least $60,000 for a baseline model.” I’m not sure where that leaves luxury pickup trucks.
“You know,” King told me, “people who purchase cars like a Corvette, for instance, a Corvette doesn’t come with a front license plate bracket. And, you know, when people buy those cars, they don’t particularly want to drill a hole in their brand new car’s bumper.”
Yeah, and I don’t want to stick stickers on my windshield but it seems like a reasonable price to pay for living in the Greatest State in the Greatest Nation Ever.
What we have here is another reminder that life is not without its challenges, even for folks who drive Corvettes.
“From a revenue side,” King said, “our idea is you’re still going to pay for two tags. But on a car like that, you’re exempted where you could have one (only) on the rear. Most other states don’t even require a front license plate. Texas is unique in that.”
Texas is unique in many ways. For instance, we’re the only state shaped like Texas. But in requiring two plates, we’re only unique in our neck of the nation. None of our neighboring states requires front license plates. But we’re among 31 states that do.
King said the idea was brought to him by “one of my constituents and a supporter ... (who) has a number of cars, and he frankly doesn’t want to have to put a front license plate on.” (King’s staff said he won’t share the name of the constituent and supporter.)
“Why not exempt everybody?” I asked King. “Why just rich people?”
“Well,” King replied, “it’s not a rich people bill. Almost every car costs $60,000 anymore, particularly a sports car. And these are cars without traditional bumpers that have a (front) license plate bracket.”
You’d think for that price they could throw in a front bracket, kind of likes chips and salsa at Tex-Mex joints.
I asked King if there are any law enforcement implications in requiring a front plate.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “It’s just the way Texas does it. I don’t know of any reason to continue to have them. But I’m sure as more people vet my bill I’ll find out those reasons.”
Yes, we’ll all probably learn more when and if the Vette Bill is vetted.
Turns out there’s a bit of history here. It involves the Texas Legislature, so it’s a tad messy.
Up until 2012, it was clearly illegal to drive without two plates in Texas. In 2011, the Legislature rejiggered (technical term) the Transportation Code and, apparently unintentionally, stripped out the penalty for violating the two-plate law. So it remained illegal to drive without two plates, but there was no penalty.
Who knew? Lawyers, that’s who knew, including Benson Varghese of Fort Worth, who has written about it, noting the Legislature noted its error and, as of September 2013, reinstated the $200 fine for not having a front plate.
“Should you run out and get a front license plate if you don’t have one?” Varghese wrote. “While the legal answer is yes, the practical answer is it depends.
“In the last five years, I have been pulled over just once for not having a front license plate and I was sent on my way with a warning,” Varghese advises. “That being said, if I drove that vehicle into neighborhoods where there was a high crime rate or drove back in that car after having a drink or two in the evening, then I am begging to be pulled over. If you want to avoid giving the police a valid reason to pull you over at any time, then definitely get a front license plate.”
The Texas A&M University Transportation Institute in a 2012 study found upsides of front license plates, including that federal border enforcement officials said the lack of front plates “made a significant impact in their border processing.” And it was determined that the second plate “makes it easier to photograph those who run stop signs and red lights or don’t pay tolls or drive out of unattended pay garages and parking lots without paying.”
Steve Pustelnyk, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s community relations director, said front plates “provide a number of important benefits” in collecting tolls.
“Foremost, they give us a second point of reference to ensure we get at least one readable image to properly identify the vehicle,” he said. “They also provide, in most cases, two separate license plate images to reinforce the accuracy of the transaction.
“The front plate is also important in situations where a vehicle is towing a trailer. Trailers are often owned by a third party. In these situations, we use the front license plate to bill the owner of the vehicle. Without a front plate, it would be a more complicated process to track down and bill the owner of the vehicle towing a trailer. Bottom line, we could operate without front license plates but would have concerns about their elimination,” he said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety told me, “The department does not have anything to contribute to this story.”
At the Austin Police Department, Ely Reyes, assistant chief in the investigations bureau, said front plates are useful for law enforcement, including in the increased use of license plate-reading technology and when officers approach vehicles from the front.
“The ability to see the front license plate as (officers) are approaching a scene is helpful,” he said.
I’m guessing King’s HB 673 isn’t going anywhere. If it doesn’t, there’s always HB 688 by Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City.
It would protect the aesthetics of front bumpers by allowing front license plates to be displayed in the windshield.
https://www.statesman.com/news/20190125 ... plate-rule
