More tales of tickets for not having a front license plate

Q

I’m sure you’ll appreciate the humor, even if my story doesn’t end up in paper about not having a front license plate.

We had a Neighborhood Watch Group meeting. Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies attended and told us that if we went out of town on vacation, to let them know and they would drive by and check on our house in our absence.

I did let them know, and when we got back, here is what I found on the windshield of my car: A fix-it ticket for a missing front plate.

— Don Bushee,

El Sobrante

A Don never called them again when out of town.

Q The CHP was monitoring an unincorporated area off Highway 101 in Marin County at a T intersection. He got me for a rolling stop (warning only) and a fix-it ticket for no front plate.

— Bob Harrison,

Tiburon

A And…

Q I was driving north on Interstate 280 in a dump truck.

When I was just passing El Monte at 55-57 mph, I saw a CHP cruiser going south, then saw dirt and dust getting kicked up. The CHP came through the median, pulled me over and wrote me a fix-it ticket for no front plate.

— H. Zimlich

A The stories roll on …

Q I was ticketed in a Campbell parking lot for not having a front license plate.

The plate had been taken off by a well-meaning neighbor who saw it barely hanging by one screw.

Bumper repair was needed before the plate could be reattached.

The ticket said I could fix the problem and the citation would be reduced, but first I had to pick up a form at the police department located at City Hall.

While walking through the parking lots reserved for police and City Hall staff on my way to take care of the citation, I noticed that fully onethird of the cars in both lots had no front license plates.

Just to make sure, I came back another day to check.

Same situation.

I asked to see the city manager about getting a license plate citation when a sizable portion of police and cars belonging to city staff had no front plates.

They apparently weren’t subject to the same rules as everyone else.

He got furious with me. Police and city staffers should be held to the same standards as the public.

I learned later that police had a person go through local parking lots to cite all cars without front license plates.

A

I agree that all should be held to the same standard. And most of these tickets are written in parking lots.