I know this isn't the right forum for this, but I know there are a bunch of you who drive pick-ups on this forum.

I received this from a buddy of mine today and just wanted to see if anyone else has
heard of this??

If true, I am absolutely livid with our merry band of fools in the State Legislature.
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A new law was passed on September 1st that it is illegal to have a bracket around your license plate. Brackets such as; dealership, sports team, college alumni. No brackets are allowed of any sort! If a police officer pulls you over for having a bracket around your license plate it is a $200 fine. Yes $200...thanks for the notice! Marvin Zindler had a special report on this last night. People are being pulled over and given tickets that had no idea about this new law.


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Mike
www.WhiskerKitty.com

I agree, Mike. Our state legislature is a joke. I believe the reason (if it is true) is because the bracket hides/cuts-off some of the letters/numbers on the plate and it is difficult for our state and local finest to read the plate from a distance to call it in.

Mike, Is that in Texas or oklahoma? And no matter where it is if it's true it's the most rediculous law ever passed.

It must be Texas. I caught the tail end of a story on this on a Dallas channel a week ago. It's just another source of revenue.

DannyB

Like the saying goes "Don't steal ! The government hates competition." This just gives the fine men in blue someting else to harass the working class about on their way to & from the doughnut shop. Heaven forbid they protect someones property.

This is no joke or rumor, my boss's husband is a retired cop...... about a week ago my boss noticed that i have a license plate cover, the next day her husband was telling her about a new law that was passed effective Sept. 1, no covers, neons, etc....., If I can find the print out of it I will post the site stating the new law, if u have one on I would take it off, this just gives them a reason to pull u over

Yes this is true about the license plate covers. I am currently employed as a Texas Peace Officer. (6 years now) There were numerous other traffic laws that went into effect as of Sept. 1. However, you must realize we practice descretionary law. Which means I make the decision to issue a citation or not. I make the decision to arrest or not. Also you need to know there are only two violations we can not arrest for, they are speeding (unless we can prove reckless driving) and open container. So think about it, you could be arrested on just about any traffic violation. When you think in terms like that, the Police may not be all bad when we issue a citation. Consider the alternative. I don't stop people and issue a citation just because the law says I can. Most Police Officers will not stop you under this License Plate law unless the State portion of the plate can not be read. It is very important that we be able to read the state, this is how we run the plate to determine stolen or not.

Now as for as fines, most Municipal court Judges will not fine you if you prove to the court the violation has been corrected. I don't know about the courts in Dallas. I'm an Officer in Belton, Tx. Don't get this wrong, a Judge can fine you for the violation but most don't. I don't want to make this post to long becauseI kind of get carried away when speaking of this particular profession.

[This message has been edited by Expressman (edited 09-14-2003).]

The new law you are referring to is senate bill 439, written and sponsored by 2 Houston Republicans (the party that wants to get government out of our lives!). I can e-mail you the exact bill that became law, or you can go to Texas Legislature Online and look up laws effective 9-1-03. The more you know about politicians and politics, the more you wanna go fishin' to blow off some steam.

No wonder I retired after 26 1/2 yrs as a deputy sheriff, trying to enforce assinine laws was becoming a real chore. Boy, talking about a chicken s--t ticket. What is really scary, is the fact that this particular violation is going to be used as the grounds for possible cause in numerous stops until the legislature gets tired of hearing complaints how the law is being abused.

OK, let me get this straight. We're now pulling drivers over with illegal license plate brackets while cigarette smokers continue chunking lit cigarette butts out of their vehicles (littering) and burning down (arson) the state of Texas acre by acre?

One question, though, Mr. Legislator:

What about the people who don't wash their vehicles but once every 6-months and the grime on their license plate prevents anyone from seeing the state/numbers or their plate is so dis-figured from too many run-ins with their boat trailer tongue during hook-ups? Let's amend the law to include those folks as well....what a joke this state "lefthislature" has been under Tricky Ricky.....


[This message has been edited by Plugger (edited 09-14-2003).]

Expressman...you PD or SO?? Depending on which you are, depends on whether you'd write a ticket it for this...so I've heard.

Guys there are numerous traffic laws that help us take criminals off the street. Most of our arrests come from traffic stops. This is just like preventive maintenance on your boats. These minor laws gives us the tools to see who is behind the wheel at 2:30 am and what they are doing. Law abiding citizens have nothing to worry about. Like I said just because it is law, doesn't mean you get cited for it. I personally like the idea of our Officers out there while we are sleeping taking these guys off the streets before they commit the crime. (But thats just my opinion and everyone has one)And believe me they will commit a crime, we deal with the same offenders time and time again, some extremely violent.

Now to the post about dirty license plates. Texas Transportation code 502.409 states a person commits an offense if the person attaches or displays on a motor vehicle a number plate insignia that: has letters, numbers, or other identification that because of blurring matter are not plainly visible at all times during daylight. So the answer is they don't have to amend the law, it has been in place for quite a while.You can't have dirty plates that can't be read.

Again, guys there are thousands of traffic laws on the books that most people don't know about and very rarely get stopped for.

Genaral information. This year Texas also went to a point system. Most are not aware of this. 6 points on your license, (within a 36 month period)depending on violations, you will pay a $250 surcharge yearly for 3 years just to keep your license.
If you don't pay, DPS suspends your license. There are other charges that require more money per year such as DWI is $1000 per year or more depending on what your alcohol level is. So there are many new things, some good, some I won't comment on. Anyway guys, hit the internet and become aware of all the new laws.I don't have the link at the moment but will post it later.

[This message has been edited by Expressman (edited 09-14-2003).]

Expressman, please don't misunderstand anything I posted....Law Enforcement is not the creators of such laws. My beef is with a bunch of idiots in our State Legislature that keep fielding this ka,ka.

If the goal is to get America to a point that a police officer can stop you for so much as walking out of your house and sticking the key in the ignition, reckon why they don't simply pass an Amendment designed to have those road blocks known as the fourth and fifth Amendments of the US Constitution removed?

Especially when all these new fines and revenue generators you mention, don't apply to most illegal aliens and anyone else who can show themselves to be indigent according to our county attorney up here. Only to the folks who work for a living, and can show a visible source of income.

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Mike
www.WhiskerKitty.com

Here's the link:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/t...ON=5&TYPE=B

It was not a new bill, just an amendment. I don't see where it says you can not have a bracket as long as it does not obscure any of the information on the license plate. There is really nothing new there, just new language, but it will be a hot topic for a couple of years then it will fade to the background like 10,000 other laws do that are still on the books. (Can you still be arrested in Texas for spitting on a sidewalk? You can in Missouri! Most likely no one has been arrested for it for over 100 years but the law is still on the books.)

Kevin

(Oh yeah! I am taking the brackets off of my P/U and my wife's car (Jeff Gordon #24, no big loss) until it all dies down just to be safe.)


[This message has been edited by ksutton (edited 09-15-2003).]

KSutton - I am with you on this one. After reviewing the law, no where in it does it mention prohibiting the usage of the license brackets. You are in violation only if your license plate is obscured in any way that prevents it being read during daylight hours by LE officers. It refers more to the plastic coloring(found with some brackets) and reflective material that folks apply to the license plates for decoration. I verified this through my old departments training academy; the brackets are not illegal, it is the colored plastic film that comes with some brackets that cover the actual face of the plate that is illegal.