Front Plate in Washington
 

I thought this might deserve a post of its own. After reading through the law on the Washington State website, I came across this:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16.240

"The vehicle license number plates shall be attached conspicuously at
the front and rear of each vehicle for which the same are issued and
in such a manner that they can be plainly seen and read at all times:
PROVIDED, That if only one license number plate is legally issued for
any vehicle such plate shall be conspicuously attached to the rear of
such vehicle. Each vehicle license number plate shall be placed or
hung in a horizontal position at a distance of not less than one foot
nor more than four feet from the ground and shall be kept clean so as
to be plainly seen and read at all times: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That in
cases where the body construction of the vehicle is such that
compliance with this section is impossible, permission to deviate
therefrom may be granted by the state patrol."

So, I figured, what the hey, I am not having my front plate installed, so I might as well try to be legal about it. I sent off an email last night. I just got a response back, and am actually surprised it didn't take a week:

"To request an exemption from attaching a front license plate to your
vehicle, a letter, articulating why you feel you should be exempt from
the law (a picture of the front of the vehicle is also helpful) should
be sent to:

WSP/ESR UNIT
PO BOX 42614
OLYMPIA WA 98504-2614

The information will be reviewed and a letter with the decision will be
sent to you.

In the letter please also provide make/model/year of vehicle and an
address the letter should be sent to.

Thank you for your inquiry."

Love the language in that letter, its like "what makes you think you are so specail to be above the law." :lol:

So now I need to write a letter to them and figure out the best way to word it. I was thinking something about the design history of the car, the obvious missing place to actually mount the plate, the enthusiastic community, the amount of the can and not wanting to deface it by drilling holes into the bumper etc. Also, since I do not have my car yet, I would love to get permission to use someones photo of their un-plated front bumper, and maybe the back as well.

I am fighting the law and I wonder who will win?:lol: :lol:

Good luck with that Andy!

Have you seen the "No Holes" License Plate Bracket (LPB)? I might go this route. Its expensive at $56 shipped, so I haven't ordered it yet.

Yeah, that is an idea and I may go for that after I get my first ticket for no front plate.:lol:

Damn the man. "He" always wins. Good luck though and let us know how it goes. I hate my front plate.

I just had my MA tell me that "Oregon DMV requires that all cars have front and rear liscence plate brackets. And to comply they had to drill the holes in the froint bumper"...:sad:
That was news to me. I know you are required to display both plates (if issued). And that they must be on the front and rear of the vehicle in plan site.

Any thought?

I was surprised that NW MINI would not put the front plate if requested, since it is a law. Do you know the exact wording of the Oregon Law? You may have something similar to this. I had no idea that they would even allow me to try to get an exception. I thought they would say, too bad, so sad. They still may, but not like I am going to put the thing on anyway.

Oregon law states the registration plates must be displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle, with no covering of any kind. Nothing about the mounting hardware. You still must display all plates issued by the DMV. No mention of getting an exemption.
I do feel better. My MA emailed me and said the service department would hold off mounting the plates and issue me a temporary permit and let the state send them to me. Guess my dealer keeps the plates in stock. :)

Now where is that pesky MINI at anyway.
OL says at VDC, ASKMINI just today went from awaiting transport to enroute. I'm going with th OL........

You can use my MINI. I'm not running a front plate in Ohio. And I also have pictures of the back before I added the plate.

Front:

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3233/10016663lj.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/1849/10016672ag.jpg

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/8660/10016655mc.jpg

Rear:

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/2162/10016649bx.jpg

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6837/10016614qo.jpg

-Cody (sorry about the timestamp - It's supposed to be 05-09-06...lol)

Does anyone know off hand what the thread size is for the tow hook?:roll:

I think I can make one.......

My MA handed me the bracket and said, "Look, I know in Wisconsin you have to have a front plate. But I have this thing with drilling holes into your beautiful car. So heres the deal... I'll give you the bracket, and if your conscience bothers you, you drill the holes.... but knowing you I HIGHLY doubt that will happen. Here you go!"

Months of ownership: 15
Tickets for no plate: 0

Thanks for the Photos! I will work on the letter today at work and then tonight I will print out the pics. I will post a draft of the letter once I am done to see if anyone has any suggetions.

Here is the letter so far. Just had a chance to sit down and type it up. Feedback please!! :thumbsup:

To Whom It May Concern

I am writing to request an exemption to RCW 46.16.240. In this law online (found here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.16.240 ) it states:

"The vehicle license number plates shall be attached conspicuously at
the front and rear of each vehicle for which the same are issued and
in such a manner that they can be plainly seen and read at all times:
PROVIDED, That if only one license number plate is legally issued for
any vehicle such plate shall be conspicuously attached to the rear of
such vehicle. Each vehicle license number plate shall be placed or
hung in a horizontal position at a distance of not less than one foot
nor more than four feet from the ground and shall be kept clean so as
to be plainly seen and read at all times: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That in
cases where the body construction of the vehicle is such that
compliance with this section is impossible, permission to deviate
therefrom may be granted by the state patrol."

The car that I will be receiving has no proper place to attach a front plate on the front of the vehicle without drilling holes into the bumper that would cost money to replace in the event that I decide to either a) show the car, b)move to a state, such as Arizona or Nevada which do not require a front plate, (Nevada does not require a front plate if there is no place on the front bumper to attach the plate to) or c) sell the car in the future to someone who wants to show the car or lives in another state that does not require the front plate. T

The car in question is a 2006 MINI Cooper S. A car rich in track racing and motoring history. The new MINI, which debuted in the United States in 2002, has been an amazing success, and because of its popularity, the value of the car has not been diminished over time. You can currently buy a new MINI for about two-thousand to three-thousand more than buying the car used. I would hate to, if I decide to sell the car in the future, hate to do cosmetic or bumper replacement, because of the drilled holes on the front of the vehicle, to be able to sell the car to another car enthusiast.

I have included pictures of the front of the car so that you can see that there is no other way to attach the front plate without drilling holes in the body of the car.


Ok, I realize a lot of this letter is bullsh*t, but what are ya gonna do? :lol:

First: Love the BS!

Second: I have a feeling that you are either going to get someone who glances and doesn't care and approves. Or you are going to get someone who reads... laughs... and says no.

Because TECHNICALLY there is a place to mount on the MINI. If you look on the front there are two little indented nippley things to mark it off.

However, kudos to you for taking the time to write it. Best of luck to you!:thumbsup:

If you are still open to suggestions on this one I would editing the second and third paragraphs to something along the lines of...

The car that I will be receiving has no proper place to attach a front plate on the vehicle without drilling holes into the bumper. If I do this it will require me to replace the bumper in the event that I decide to show the car, move to a state, such as Arizona or Nevada which do not require a front plate, or sell the car to someone who does wants to show the car or lives in a state that does not require the front plate.

The car that I will be receiving is a 2006 MINI Cooper S. This car has a rich history in the motoring industry as well as in track racing. The new MINI, which debuted in the United States in 2002, has been an amazing success, and because of its popularity, the value of the car has not been diminished over time. This car a wonderful investment, as you can currently buy a new MINI for only two-thousand to three-thousand dollars more than buying a used version of the car. If I decide to sell the car in the future, I would hate to have to do cosmetic repair or bumper replacement, because of the holes drilled on the front of the vehicle that would be required in order to install a front license plate.

Also you may want to consider restating what you want at the end of the letter just to make the point clear, in case they actually read it.
Hope this helps.

That is awesome littlesilver!! Thanks for helping me out with your first post!!!:thumbsup:

Hey Shankrabbit, my MA, probably the same as yours in IL, said pretty much the same thing. I'm going to try to get away with this as long as possible, but as you know the WI State Patrol boys go by the book, word for word. So I hope to find some language in the WI books, such as in the first post above form WA, that we WI MINI owners can use to hedge this if needed. I am encouraged by your 15 month track record that I can prolong the agony of the possibility of having to attach a front plate as long as I can. Normally they don't write a ticket if you comply within 3 or 7 days to correct the problem, such as a burned out headlight or noisy muffler, or this case, attach the dang front plate.

Dood i've ran my wife's mini cooper s for 1 year and never even been pulled over. I also went years on my integra and STI and never had a problem and if you get caught it's a non-moving violation and cost 75.00 well worth the risk. ;-)

-joe

Yeah, I know, but I would like to be "lawful":lol: but like I said, even if it doesn't go through I will still not put the plate on.

Here is something. My partner is convinced that we could get pulled over in California for not having a front plate and be ticketed for it even though the car will be registered in Washington. What do you guys think about that?

I have the no holes plate holder from gominigo.com and I like the way it looks. I live in a place that the MAN likes to give tickets so I figured I would just put it on. The owner before me had the plate holder screwed through the bumper :mad: I think that this is the best way if you must run a plate.

I'm in Washington and still have my temporary license at the moment, but I requested that the dealer (Mini of Murray) not drill holes to mount the front plate. They gave me the holder just in case I need it. I going without as long as I can.

I think your letter is great, Andy.

I'm in Washington, too, and haven't yet received my car. (I'm picking it up this Tuesday from the train-depot.) I requested no drill holes be made for the front plates, and just yesterday ordered the gominigo.com No Holes License Holder. I had no idea that exemptions were allowed. Keep us posted on the outcome of the letter.

I got my MINI from NW MINI and drove around WA for a month before shipping it to Korea. I got stopped twice in that month so I got a front plate bracket installed on my Aero Kit (ouch) while in WA. Good thing I did as front plates are a requirement in Korea. Driving without one here is quite a fine.

http://static.flickr.com/29/51499291_94fcabc0fe_m.jpg

I feel for all of you living in "front plate states" :nod::nod::nod:

I cannot imagine having to ruin the look of a perfectly clean MINI front bumper for no reason other than to satisfy the tax man. . . .

I live in an area where theyare required, when I was in FL I ran a euro plate as LF didn't require front plates nobody was the wiser; now that I'm back in IL I had to put my front plate back on so as not to get slapped with a fine, so after looking at it for about a day and half I decided that the euro plate had to go back on, the US spec plates just look out of place (and partially block airflow over the radiator, not much but feel free to add it to the arguement about the design of the car inhibiting installation). So I did a similar thing and began digging through the veihcle code, I found my requirements for mounting, thought outside (or inside) the box a little bit and found a way to mout the plate legally though it doesn't hamper the apperance of the car, require holes nor is it where first expected to be veiwed, so I get extra scruitny from those who are more observant but I have the letter of the vehicle code on my side, and the LEOs know that.

Just so you know, I have been running my 1988 Honda Civic in So. California with no front plate since it was new (18 years). I have had 3 tickets for this over that time. These tickets were all given along with something else like a parking violation, I have never been pulled over and cited solely for the missing front plate. About 6 months ago I was pulled over for having a tail light out, the cop said "I also noticed you have no front license plate, you're going to need to fix that" I said "sure, OK" and he didn't ticket me for it.
My Mini is scheduled for delivery in 2-3 months and I'm worried the dealership is going to drill the holes in the front bumper no matter what I ask them to do.