license plate

bka0721 wrote:
Just like speeding, it goes great until you get caught. You will always hear stories about all those people that do it and never get caught, but you are never the lucky one. Do you feel lucky?

Very true. Nowadays, you're very likely to get shot dead for whatever reason for non-compliance by an officer dressed looking like he's a soldier or SWAT.

License plate. I really don't care. I'm sick and tired of worrying about EVERY little infraction that I might be "breaking". The major stuff is in order.

Equating a moving violation to a stupid fix-it ticket is just ridiculous. Yes, my plate stays on the truck. Go ahead, pull me over and harass me on other menial violations. I'll see you in court.

Happy "Independence" Day from the Police State:R

The only thing I don't get is a question for those who *don't* move their rear plate to the camper: Is the plate still visible with the camper on the truck? This makes a difference.

I've seen 8' campers where the camper ends at the tailgate, no need to move the plate there as it's clearly visible with camper on. I'm assuming that those of you who leave the plate on the truck have shorter campers.

In my case the camper overhang completely obstructs the plate and Lance even has the mount for it complete with lights. Why *wouldn't* you move the plate?

Now that said, way back 20 years ago on my *very first trip* with the new camper on the truck I had forgotten to move the plate. So I took the front plate off the truck and put it on the camper. Sure enough, on that very first trip, middle of the night I got pulled over by a local county sheriff who saw the rear plate with no registration stickers (it's a california thing, stickers are on the rear plate only). No big deal to move it and ever since then it's just part of the camper on/off truck routine.

-Joe

Worried about remembering the plate transfer back to the pick up? Make yourself a reminder sign and hang it on the rear view mirror. Now if you can't remember what the sign is for, you may just be SOL!
I used to do this to remember to retract the bat wing.

mine gets put on tc as bridge tolls are charged by lic plate and I dont need an evading ticket.. Secondly several bay area departments in the quest for revenue are ticketing for obstructed plates, and the ding you a second fee to correct the fixit citation too. It only takes a minute to swap the plate and avoid hassle so why the heck not

AK does not title or tag truck campers. I have not removed my truck tag up here even though it's obstructed, but it is pretty rural to say the least and you're lucky if you see one state trooper all weekend once you leave the ANC area.
Down in the L48 I would do it religiously though. I spent many years and a few hard lessons figuring out how not to attract attention from LEOs and it's kinda nice!
Not sure what I'll do when I move back to WA next month. Hoped I could title and tag the camper in AK as I refuse to give the state a couple grand because I paid cash for a used camper that they already collected on once!!
I have saved a couple permanent trailer/RV plates from different states I've lived in. One of them may work nicely and provide the appearance of complete compliance......

Jaxom wrote:

bka0721 wrote:
Just like speeding, it goes great until you get caught. You will always hear stories about all those people that do it and never get caught, but you are never the lucky one. Do you feel lucky?

Umm...please clarify. I guess I'm dense tonight.
Are you saying we need to move it or not. Others have said you don't put the plate on cargo.

This question has been asked before and not really answered to my satisfaction. What is "legal" not what can you get away with.

The plate on my truck is not even remotely visible because of the camper overhang. Plus I always have a cargo trailer behind the truck.

Here's what I did. I had an aluminum plate made.I did get a Tennessee trooper slow way down while he was passing me.

No, I don’t think you are dense but need to think outside the box a bit. Many people run stop signs, speed, driver without a driver’s license on their person and never get caught. Some people get pulled over all the time and wonder why the cops are picking on them. The latter I always share that their driving behavior is getting the attention of those sworn to enforce those regulations. When someone mentions a topic like this, seeing a license plate or not, I share the same thing I would tell people often; “Don’t bring attention to yourself, if you don’t need it. Especially when you are trying to get to the airport, or an appointment and then get pulled over because of not renewing, or displaying your license plate properly.”

While many here are expressing their opinions, and I welcome it and find some of them funny. The facts are, that is it illegal to not to display a license plate in the USA properly. Pretty much the statute reads; A valid registration Plate must be displayed, visible to the rear 200 feet, the farthest most portion of the vehicle, not less than 12 inches off the ground and parallel with the rear axle. Where required, a front registration plate must meet the same requirement at this location.

While many departments might not stress the license plate enforcement, but it is a good tool to have in the tool belt for enforcement of tax revenue, whether those operators should be on the roadway with you and your family, the proper person has possession of the vehicle and something that could apply to truck camper’s, whether a vehicle is defective.

More than 20% of the vehicles I pulled over for License Plate violations ended up with some type of enforcement action. Of all the single causal factors, I arrested more individuals off of this one type of violation, than any other, as a percentage. Just seems that bad guys are more prone not to take care of their plates, than speeders and those hanging around the school yards.

For me, I could really care less what each individual chooses and not chooses to do. For me watching people and the choices they make is entertaining. What would I do? Easy, keep the plate legal. I don’t want someone to pull me over and possibly meet an officer that has some attitude. Now that is a whole different topic all together.

Just don’t supplement getting a real plate and making your own out of Cardboard, like the Posse Comitatus and Aryan Nation people. They sure didn’t like getting arrested by me, especially when I laughed over their personally made driver’s licenses.

Oh yeah, your home made Tennessee plate redirecting to where the real plate is, Great Idea!

b

I'm assuming that States where you have to register the camper, they give you a plate specifically for the camper?

When I had my Lance TC I always moved the plate from the truck bumper to the Lance bumper. Once when I had just put the camper on the truck, and then put the truck on the street a sheriff deputy sit behind me and waited until I changed the plate.

I too am getting older and am getting forgetful so I started using a checklist. It sure does help me to remember what I forgot to do. JMO

Washington doesn't seem to care much about the truck plat being hidden, at least that's what seems to be the case when I go through state parks and stuff, and never see a truck plate moved to a camper.

I never moved my license plate from my truck to camper either, I was worried about forgetting to move it back. Then last summer I was stoped by a Texas state trooper and given a warning for obstructed license plate. Now I move it and just hope to remember.