A Really Dumb New Texas Law

Here's one straight from the YGTBSM department (that's "You gotta' be [kidding] me". > :P

Seems Texas has passed a new law involving license plate frames. There seems to be a bit of a problem in its interpretation (read the article in the link). But for sure, if any part of the frame touches lettering, there'll be a trooper with book in hand looking to have you make a donation of up to $200 to the state treasury.

The state legislature has to hold special sessions to compensate for not having enough time to pass important bills, like redistricting, education funding, etc... but they can devote their time passing pointless crap like this... That law has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard of, and a complete waste of time -- of course that's just my opinion.

So what happens to us out-of-staters when we drive through?

Yo, Texas_Camper -- you hear anything about this? ???

Ed

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/909...al_plates.html

I really don't think we have to worry too much about this new law considering the number of cars and trucks, yes even the big 18 wheelers, that run around this state with no plates at all!

The cops can't even seem to stop the big trucks from running red lights, if they can't see that one could not expect them to see a plate or part of one.

Oops, did I just say that? :-X

[B_and_D]

In my humble opinion, we spend way too much tax money passing all these stupid laws and ignoring the important things. Somebody in the assembly/senate gets a hair one morning and decides to pass a bill.

Kalifornia, well, don't go there, don't even speak about that zoo of an election/recall thing.

Ok, you can if you want, it's kind of a circus. It's a lot of fun when you go to seminars and the lecturers are from out of state, and start cracking jokes about the recall election. They laugh a lot and we just kind of look at them funny....then they stop....

Kalifornia is not what it used to be....

B and D:

You know what happens at the circus -- they send in the clowns.

[B_and_D]

Looks like the circus (and the clowns) have been put on hold for 6 months.

I think that I used those punchcards the last time I voted at the polling place, didn't think that they presented a problem.

As to that Tx law, well, every almost every dern license plate holder I've looked at in the last week is illegal (including ours).

More bovine you know what. Maybe mad cow disease is spreading faster than we thought?

Time to be the bad guy on this one. While I think that too much time is wasted in passing bills in state congresses (Like some of the gun laws), I understand the reasoning behind the bill.

From a cops standpoint, it is getting more difficult to read the license plates when an officer is forced to stop a vehicle. In the good old days, it was easy to tell what state a vehicle was from just by looking at the plate. Take Colorado for example, I believe that we now have 25 - 30 different plates (Including Greyhound Owners specialized plates). From a Law Enforcement point of view, if I stop a vehicle, I want my dispatcher to be able to do three things. First, run the plate to see if the vehicle comes back as a stolen vehicle; second, advise me if there is an associated hit of a wanted felon (possibly considered armed and dangerous); and third, have a license plate that other Law Enforcement officers can find if I am now found on the side of the road shot. With my closest back up being 30 - 45 minutes away, I need to have this info available just in case.

While the fine seems rediculous, please understand a cops view point on being able to readily to call in the correct license state. Just gander at the different license plates out there and see for yourself if you can identify the plate state just by looking at it. Some are easy, some are impossible.

Thanks for letting me put in my $.02.

ColoradoCop 8)

Please don't poke fun at our State of California. Our situation may be funny to those living outside of our state, but, it's tragic to us. That's why over 1.3 million of us signed petitions to recall our governor. We actually need to recall not only our governor but also most of our liberal state legislators - "liberal" in the sense that they're very liberal with state taxpayers' money. Taxes of all kinds are high, it's getting near impossible to run a business in California (every day small and large businesses are fleeing our state), but our legislators continue to give away and give away benefits to one group or another in order to curry favor and thereby remain in power. California's budget deficit of $38 billion is said to be more than the total of the annual budgets of most of the 50 states! In spite of this, in anticipation of the governor being recalled, our legislators have been quickly passing a flurry of bills designed to accomplish their agenda - before he's recalled. They're being passed so quickly that no one is allowed time to review or rebut them. The most ridiculous bill recently passed and signed was the one giving ILLEGAL aliens the right to obtain California drivers' licenses.

Forgive me for blowing off steam but our state is a beautiful one. But, like a beautiful woman who's been prostituted by her pimp, she's been damaged to the point where the only ones remaining who will want her are those living on the dole. I see no hope for our state as long as it remains in the hands of liberal legislators. It will have to crash and burn before - if - like a phoenix it can rise again from the ashes. I have a new, small business that's beginning to thrive. I informed my wife that soon we'll have to move it out of California in order for it to survive the onerous taxes, anti-business laws, and overbearing legislation that has become our state's legacy.

Sorry for going so far off topic.

CCop, I understand your concern having family member in the profession but Texas has a lot of Mexico traffic and a lot just plain loser traffic. Most of these folks do not even have plates or insurance (required by state law) yet you can see them on the street any day or night of the week any time you happen to venture out. Wouldn't it be more helpful to get these folks' cars off the road before worring weather a plate may have part of a letter or number covered?

It's not that I'm really against it, it just seems to be much lower on the list than lots of other things.


LL, I know it is bad out there but it is getting the same everywhere. Wife teaches pottery a little, just for the fun of it. Last year she earned a little over $900. After all the taxes were paid she got to keep less than $400. Guess who works under the table now?

Can't answer for the TX cops, but do agree that there are more important things to look at than the license plate frame situation.
The reason your insurance rates are up is due to the number of uninsured vehicles on the road. Colorado has a law that allows me to take a drivers license on the spot if I discover that a vehicle is being operated uninsured (Financial Responsibilty Act). I also have the right to have the vehicle impounded for the same reason. My thoughts on this are, if I have to have insurance, so do they >.
Of course, as a cop, I love seeing a Mexico, AZ, California vehicle tag that I can stop. Find numerous carriers of illegal narcotics from those areas.

ColoradoCop 8)

[Bill]

[quote author=Larry_Loo link=board=18;threadid=1310;start=msg9182#msg9182 date=1063723005]
Please don't poke fun at our State of California. Our situation may be funny to those living outside of our state, but, it's tragic to us. <snip the remainder>
[/quote]Larry -

Thanks for saying it, and saying it well. Sad to say, though, that aside from your post, I never seem to run across a Californian who is concerned, or willing to admit that anything is wrong, or to complain about what is so obvious to the rest of us. And this leads me to think "Hell, it they don't care, why should I? I'm just gonna sit back and watch the circus!" I owe you, and many Californians, an apology for that rather cavalier attitude.

Yes, California is beautiful. We spent a month in our TM last year avoiding the cities, and doing the south-to-north route through Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Sequoia, King's Canyon, wine country, gold-panning country, redwood country, Lassen, Redwoods/Crescent City. Every day left me with my mouth hanging open in awe. (The price of gas was awe-inspiring, too, but that's another story.) A month is nowhere nerar enough time to take in the beauty and grandeur of California.

I hope you guys can take charge and rescue your beautiful state. I admit, I don't know why anyone would want to be governor. Not only will he face the current challenges, but the cutback in Colorado River water must be starting to hurt the Imperial Valley, and the upcoming shortage of natural gas through the Arizona pipeline will be hard to deal with as well.

Nearly every state - certainly including Maine, where I live - is facing challenges from many directions. Some can be laid (in my opinion) to over-liberalism and giveaways, but there are certainly many others. Common sense HAS TO prevail, or we are doomed - how could anyone think otherwise? Good luck.

Bill