[GM Kid]

Okay, Arizona GTO owners and car enthusiasts in general: It's time to act.

As reported in the East Valley Tribune(http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=55856), Senator Marilyn Jarrett has proposed bringing front license plates back. She says it's to give law enforcement a greater chance of telling whether a car is stolen (the idea being that an officer out on the highway could read the plates of cars coming up behind him--or toward him if in the opposing lane--instead of having to wait for them to pass, thereby giving him an edge).

The enthusiast community in Arizona needs to let Sen. Jarrett know that under no circumstances do we want to have to drill holes in the front of our cars. It's no joke when I say that I, for one, would almost rather have my car stolen than defaced. Stylistically, most car fronts today simply will not accommodate a front plate without some huge, ugly bracket being affixed to the car.

There's another consideration, too: Money. Arizona will have to make twice as many plates if this law passes. Who pays that bill?

You can read all about Sen. Jarrett here: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=91 She's a pretty decent member of our State Legislature in every other respect, but she's dead wrong on this issue. From her comments in the article (about already having heard from Corvette and BMW people), I gather she regards auto enthusiasts as just a few crazies out on the fringe. She needs to know that our hobby attracts some of the best, most law-abiding, most responsible members of society. She needs to allow us to continue to beautify our state's highways--which does not involve uglifying the cars we care so much about.

Write to her!

 

[Howie]

Say it ain't so!!!

 

[GM Kid]

I really don't think it's gonna fly. In today's Tribune, the editors ripped the idea as basically pointless and needlessly expensive. Their main contention was that police officers themselves aren't asking for front plates, and if they don't care, why should we?

In truth, I get the feeling that Sen. Jarrett is merely passing along the wishes of the company that makes the license plate reader equipment, as front plates make it easier for their equipment to work as designed.

Still, write to your state senator!

 

[toolman]

If WV ever does it I will just have to keep paying the ticket, I will never drill holes in the front of my car. I think front plates look crappy anyway.

 

[Squidward]

I'm with Toolman, I'll pay a fine before I poke any holes in the front of my car, but how are they going to enforce it anyway? Will they send a second plate to everyone in the state that only has one now? How will they collect on that boondoggle? Or would they just issue two plates for every vehicle registered after a certain date? Either way, I ain't havin' it.

 

[GM Kid]

There's a huge difference between introducing a bill and actually getting it passed. State legislators can introduce bills asking for all sorts of nutball stuff. Geez, I once knew a guy in the state legislature (the father of a friend of mine) who wanted to annex the part of Mexico containing Rocky Point so that Arizona would have a beach!

I freaked when I first read this story, but the more I think about it, the less likely it seems the bill would ever pass. As I said in my last post, the same newspaper that ran the initial story had an editorial today blasting Sen. Jarrett's proposal. There was a funny cartoon, too: A drawing of a guy in a C6 Vette with a huge, clunky license plate held to the front of his car by chains.

The most important thing, though, is that we not just chat amongst ourselves--we Arizonans need to write to Sen. Jarrett. Her e-mail address is [email protected]. Be cordial, be tactful, but be firm. Write!

 

[anmracing]

I believe that AZ actually quit having the front plates sometime in the 1980, no one wants to bring it back. Ain't gonna' happen, it will cost the state too much to get all the cars without plates done first.

GM Kids right, everyone needs to make it known that we don't want this.

SEMA's website (EnjoytheDrive.com) dosen't even acknowledge the existence of this, so it has a ways to go if the senator is serious about this….

 

[Groucho]

Don't worry about it.

Kali has a long standing front-plate law. I choose to ignore it.

I've had my Holden for ~15 months, and have put 55,000 miles on it in that time. I've been pulled over three times. Never once has the lack of a front plate come up.