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2 plate states

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Posted by: cj3441

Hello all,

Does anyone know where I can find a list or website of the states that require 2 license plates? I know all the New England states are 2 plate. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.


Posted by: adroitcuffs

I don't know about a list but I can tell you that California requires two plates on most vehicles, one on motorcycles.

From the California Vehicle Code - http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm :
Display of License Plates

5200. (a) When two license plates are issued by the department for use upon a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear.
(b) When only one license plate is issued for use upon a vehicle, it shall be attached to the rear thereof , unless the license plate is issued for use upon a truck tractor, in which case the license plate shall be displayed in accordance with Section 4850.5.
Amended Sec. 27, Ch. 594, Stats. 2003. Effective January 1, 2004


Posted by: SGT_GRUNT_USMC

Nevada is a 2 plate state (exception: if the front bumper is not designed to have a plate attached, then they can't be cited for it.)


Posted by: Blue470

cj3441:

My first reply may actually help someone...go figure. Go to worldlicenseplates.com

On the left side scroll down to the United States of America and click on that. On the right side at the top look for the column for Miscellaneous and about 8 down in the orange shaded area you will see License Plate Requirements. Click on that and it brings up a nice color coded map of the country with a breakdown of the one and two plate states.

Interestingly enough Massachusetts is the only state in which you can have either one (green) or two(red).

19 have one and 30 have two, and MA is the oddball.


Posted by: 94c

Quote:
Originally Posted by cj3441
Hello all,

Does anyone know where I can find a list or website of the states that require 2 license plates? I know all the New England states are 2 plate. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Rhode Island requires 2 plates. You stop a car in Ma. with only one plate.
Can you even enforce that?


Posted by: kwflatbed

Searching around this is all I could find.


Two License Plates Required

Approximately 30 states requirethat automobiles have a license plate on both the front and back of the vehicle. Proponents of two license plates argue that it increases safety and helps law enforcement officials. For example, supporters have suggested that two license plates help photo radar enforcement, because the photo is taken from the front of the car.
Opponents, however, suggest that two-plate systems increase the likelihood of fraud because a vehicle owner might put the second tag on another unregistered vehicle, thus evading registration taxes and fees. Another concern is the expense of issuing twice as many plates and storage of the plates. The price of manufacturing a license plate varies from state to state, and sometimes the price differs for specialty plates or personalized plates versus regular plates. For example, Missouri manufactures its plates at an estimated cost of 84 cents per plate, while the estimated price in Connecticut ranges from $2.85 to $8.
As reported in The Fast Track to Vehicle Services Facts: 1999 Edition,a total of eight jurisdictions responded to the question of whether they currently were considering changing the number of license plates required on a vehicle. Almost all the responding jurisdictions that currently require two plates have considered cutting back to one, but efforts have almost always failed. For example, the debate over one versus two plates has been ongoing in California for several years. Currently, law enforcement officials in California and other supporters have prevailed in maintaining the two-plate requirement, but proponents of one plate continue to emphasize fiscal concerns. On the other hand, the Indiana legislature has considered changing its requirement from one plate to two, but the move has been defeated because the advantages of two plates have not been shown to outweigh the costs


Posted by: cj3441

Quote:
Originally Posted by 94c
Rhode Island requires 2 plates. You stop a car in Ma. with only one plate.
Can you even enforce that?
Yes. I know it has worked in court with stopping a car from CT with just one plate..... just something else in the bag of tricks.


Posted by: PBC FL Cop

Florida requires only one plate.


Posted by: TacOps

I don't you can really enforce it. It's just a pain in the ass when you want to run plates driving towards you, and they only have one plate in the back.


Posted by: Q5POS

Quote:
Originally Posted by cj3441
Yes. I know it has worked in court with stopping a car from CT with just one plate..... just something else in the bag of tricks.
You sure about that? How can you enforce another states law? I use to work with an officer that worked in RI and when got on in MA he would still pull cars over with RI tags that only had one plate. He was basing it on the fact that he knew RI laws and it required two plates to be displayed. Now I don't know if it ever held up in court, I never got back to him to find out. Thats why I'm asking, I'm not being sarcastic, I just want to make sure cause that would be great!!


Posted by: Irish Wampanoag

Well you enforce suspended, expired, revoke licenses from another state. If they are driving a MV in MA they have to be legal in their registered state and if we got the same laws its enforciable in MA.


Posted by: 209

Since the topic is about plates...I wanted to deviate a little bit. Does anyone know what a orange registration sticker with a large black "R" on VT plates stand for...I thought it might mean repair plate.


Posted by: 94c

Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish Wampanoag
Well you enforce suspended, expired, revoke licenses from another state. If they are driving a MV in MA they have to be legal in their registered state and if we got the same laws its enforciable in MA.
No you don't. If he is suspended in another state, then he is only unlicensed here.


Posted by: USMCMP5811

Quote:
Originally Posted by 94c
No you don't. If he is suspended in another state, then he is only unlicensed here.
Correct because s/he is not dually licensed so it's 90/10


Posted by: 209

Quote:
Originally Posted by Q5POS
You sure about that? How can you enforce another states law? I use to work with an officer that worked in RI and when got on in MA he would still pull cars over with RI tags that only had one plate. He was basing it on the fact that he knew RI laws and it required two plates to be displayed. Now I don't know if it ever held up in court, I never got back to him to find out. Thats why I'm asking, I'm not being sarcastic, I just want to make sure cause that would be great!!
It does work. I have used it many times. If it is part of the requirement for registering a car in the home state then you can enforce it. The law says failure to display 2 plates when issued. If you are issued 2 then you should display both. Just as in Mass., why would someone only have a rear red plate and not display the front plate...recent accident, rusty bolts, style,...or stolen, good stop all around. I also stop cars from other states that fail to display a registration sticker on their plates when required by their home state. For instance...the AAA book states that under VT state law their registry issues two plates with a green background and white letters covered with a clear reflective material and VALIDATED by a registration sticker indicating the month and year of expiration affixed to the bottom right corner of the plate. No sticker...maybe they forgot to put it on, maybe its unregistered (or under temp. reg. which is also unregistered in Mass.), plenty of reasonable suspicion for a stop. I haven't cited for failure to display a reg. sticker.


Posted by: SinePari

90-6 applies to all states. Always a good stop.


Posted by: 209

Originally Posted by Irish Wampanoag
Well you enforce suspended, expired, revoke licenses from another state. If they are driving a MV in MA they have to be legal in their registered state and if we got the same laws its enforciable in MA.


Along with what 94c said and as it has been discussed in other threads...an exception for out of state drivers is if their right to operated in Mass. is suspended, then it would be 90/23. Furthermore, active duty military members driving even if they are operating a military vehicle can be cited/arrested under 90/23 if their right to operate in Mass. is suspended. However they are only required to be licensed by the Military (not a State) when on active duty and operating military vehicles off base. I'll stop here before getting into international visitors operation on Mass. roadways.


Posted by: Irish Wampanoag

Quote:
Originally Posted by 94c
No you don't. If he is suspended in another state, then he is only unlicensed here.
My bad!!! yes I should have further explained.


Posted by: USMCMP5811

Quote:
Originally Posted by 209
maybe its unregistered (or under temp. reg. which is also unregistered in Mass.)


So 209, For instance, an individual from RI just buys a brand new vehicle and registers it in RI. Now RI issues paper Temp Tags untill their new tags comes in. Now say said subject crosses into MA, His/her vehicle is now unregistered?


Posted by: 94c

Quote:
Originally Posted by SinePari
90-6 applies to all states. Always a good stop.
what throws me off is the first sentence in 90-6.

Chapter 90: Section 6. Display of number plates; temporary number plates

Section 6. Every motor vehicle or trailer registered under this chapter when operated in or on any way in this commonwealth shall have its register number displayed conspicuously thereon by the number plates furnished by the registrar in accordance with section two or five or by temporary number plates authorized by the registrar as hereinafter provided, one number plate to be attached at the front and one at the rear of said motor vehicle, and one number plate to be attached at the rear of said trailer, but if the registrar issues but one number plate it shall be attached to the rear of the vehicle so that it shall always be plainly visible.

So if a vehicle is not registered under this chapter then how does section 6 apply? There has to be some reciprocity somewhere, no?

I lost a case like this in district ct. once. (and yes, I disagree with them all the time) I just wish I had something at the time to fire back at them.


Posted by: 209

Quote:
Originally Posted by USMCMP5811
So 209, For instance, an individual from RI just buys a brand new vehicle and registers it in RI. Now RI issues paper Temp Tags untill their new tags comes in. Now say said subject crosses into MA, His/her vehicle is now unregistered?
Correct. Temporary registration is only valid in mass if you have a permit from the Mass. RMV. Other than that unregistered. I usually dont bother with it too much myself...but there are dirtbags who make them up and those who have attitude problems.

Once I stopped someone that was living in Mass. and went to VT and register a vehicle and had temp. tags....kinda wierd but VT allows them to list their MA address on the temp reg. cert..

Heres a thread I posted on this topic before.

http://www.masscops.com/forums/showt...y+registration


Posted by: SinePari

The Scheft MV Law book clearly explains the case laws regarding 90-6. Basically, when you read MGL regarding Chapter 90 stuff, in absence of the words "applies to MA registered vehicles only" you can enforce our laws on out of state vehicles.

Things like window tint and inspection stickers are for MA vehicles only. Display of license plates...good to go all around.


Posted by: 94c

Quote:
Originally Posted by SinePari
The Scheft MV Law book clearly explains the case laws regarding 90-6. Basically, when you read MGL regarding Chapter 90 stuff, in absence of the words "applies to MA registered vehicles only" you can enforce our laws on out of state vehicles.

Things like window tint and inspection stickers are for MA vehicles only. Display of license plates...good to go all around.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the defense brought up, ("Section 6. Every motor vehicle or trailer registered under this chapter )

And since it wasn't registered under Chapter 90 the judge agreed.

That's not to say on a different day with a different judge the results could have been different.


Posted by: Macop

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