USE ONLY ONE PLATE ON MOTOR VEHICLES

I believe that it is time that Illinois adopts the use of one plate on motor vehicles.

I believe a bill was introduced a few years ago and sent to the Department of Transportation, but tabled or lost due to the pandemic. It will take public support to reintroduce this and pass it into law.

The cost savings to the state is estimated in the million dollar range, and perhaps that money could be used on bridge work or elsewhere.

I have spoke to some police friends, though they don’t favor it. Like my one buddy says, “we want to get you coming and going.” While the front of the vehicle catches the eye, it is always the rear plate that is picked up by the cameras, whether on the tollway, the intersections or traffic stops. This only makes economic sense.

I have even tried my own experiment in reading a front plate while driving. Though I may catch some numbers, it is more the color and car make that I can focus on instead of the numbers. Many vehicles may have a sports teams or college logos on the front bumper, which can also be used as identification.

New cars are going to be driven home with a front bracket installed by the dealer. The only exception is the guy buying a new Porsche 911 and told the dealer he’d refuse to accept the vehicle with holes in the bumper. Anyone else is getting ticketed because they happen to own an older, outdated car on which the bracket broke and is no longer manufactured, or the car needed a new bumper due to accident, etc.

I would add that enforcement of this law, like many others, disproportionately and unnecessarily targets the underprivileged, youth and minorities, while also being hostile to car collectors and people moving to Illinois from states without a front plate law.

When my son moved back here from Alabama, he got about $300 in tickets in like one month. His yellow Dodge Neon was limited production and purchased in Alabama and never issued a front plate. We couldn’t find a replacement front bracket for a limited-run car out of production. It was parked on the street all the time. Essentially, he got a ticket every day until we zip-tied the front plate to his bumper. He even tried to display it in the front window, which didn’t stop the tickets.

The only imaginable counterpoint is that the ticket revenue more than covers the extra production cost of a second plate. I would argue that we would want people in this state to be able to spend that money in other ways, as we all know that benefits the economy more than just shifting the burden of the state’s debt to the people who can least afford it.

Three hundred dollars is a lot of money to a family today.