Why do people do this?

[pkbites]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X 96 X
X 98 X
X 00 X
X X
X 95 X
X 99 X
X 01 X
X X
X 97 X
X 02 X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Why do some people put the "year" stickers all over their rear license plates? Are you idiots? Can't you read the instructions on the little envelope the sticker comes in? The new sticker is to be placed over the last years sticker, not all over the God damn plate so the license is unreadable. I've notice Wisconsin drivers do this more than anyone. Are you drunk or just stupid?

[pkbites]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
88

87


90 91


98

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[pkbites]

Grrrrr! I can't get my image to look the way I want it!
But you get the picture!

[Largo62]

Wisconsin, eh? Must be all that cheese. Gets 'em constipated in the head as well as the other end.

[kambuckta]

Maybe there's a method to the apparent madness....if you cover your license plate (numberplate here in Oz) with stickers then you can't be identified by a speed-camera.

Just a thought.

[PhiloVance]

Originally posted by pkbites
Grrrrr! I can't get my image to look the way I want it!
But you get the picture!

Oh I get the picture all right and I think kambuckta has the answer.

[pkbites]

Originally posted by PhiloVance
Oh I get the picture all right and I think kambuckta has the answer.

kambuckta
Member

Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Wherever there's no kids
Posts: 453
Maybe there's a method to the apparent madness....if you cover your license plate (numberplate here in Oz) with stickers then you can't be identified by a speed-camera.


Sorry, butKambuckta does not have the answer. First, rear license plates are not the target of photo speed radar cameras, the front plates are.
Second, speed cameras are illegal in Wisconsin, and everyone here knows this.

I've had some dumb clucks tell me the reason they did this because they didn't want to cover up the previous year(s) stickers so the police knew that they had a valid plate back then too.

Grrrrrr! A cop doesn't care if the plate was valid 9 years ago! He only cares if your valid now! And he only cares if he can read your plate, and not a bunch of little colored stickers! People in this state are, as Bugs Bunny would say, maroons!

Anyway, this is a favorite pet peeve of mine, so it probably bugs me waaaaaaaaaaay more than it should.

[The Big Cheese]

I've wondered it too, for about 3 seconds. Maybe too much Old Milwaukee on a friday night? Maybe they're just bragging about actually registering all those years, as if the '74 Dodge with plastic in place of a window isn't evidence enough that they've(or someone) has had that car operating that long....

Who knows.

[Slainte]

I have seen this too, though not often. When I see such a plate, I slow day a bit & stay back from said driver. I figure if they can't even get the sticker where it's supposed to be, how can I trust them to operate a car safely?

[monstro]

I have parking stickers on my car from three years ago that I refuse to remove because 1) they are proof that I'm not a newbie at my school and 2) they make my window colorful. Maybe people in Wisconsin are sorta like me?

[Slainte]

*down* arrghhh!

[Cerowyn]

Originally posted by pkbites
First, rear license plates are not the target of photo speed radar cameras, the front plates are.

At the risk of getting pedantic in the Pit, this seems counter-intuitive. Many U.S. states (and perhaps a Canadian province or two) don't require front plates on cars. I'm pretty certain that photo-radar works on the rear plate. It was legal here in Ontario for a little while, and I got nailed doing 118 km/h in a 100 zone; the bright blue-white flash was from behind me.

[tomndebb]

I usually see them set like this:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X                                         02  X
X                                         01  X
X                                         00  X
X                                         99  X
X                                         98  X
X                                         97  X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I always figured the semi-literate purchaser read the directions "Place over previous year's sticker." as meaning to place it over (above) the previous year's sticker.


(It looks OK in preview, now let's see what vB REALLY does with it.)

[belladonna]

Here in Ohio the cameras at the red lights definitely target the rear plate--some intersections have frontal camera's too, but they're the exception.

[FairyChatMom]

Floridians are bad about decorating their tags that way. But the new stickers are combination month/year and they're supposedly enforcing the placement. Plus, I think they're all yellow now, so the decorating instinct is suppressed, in theory.

[Another Primate]

Wow, strange to see this post --
I live in Oregon, and yesterday, for the first time ever that I recall, I noticed a plate with the more recent tag above the old tag.
The weird thing -- and maybe the reason I noticed it -- they had a personalized license plate, which costs $60 per year here... and their tag turned the last letter (E) into an 'F'.
Why would someone spend an extra $50 per year for plates, then obscure their personalization?

[aseymayo]

In Indiana we see a lot of people putting the new year sticker over the month sticker, so instead of

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X  Oct                       02  X
X

you get

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X  02                        01  X
X

We thought it was merely stupidity but since my husband has noticed this done by people he knows and cares for, he has a new theory - it's rebellion!

[meathead]

Originally posted by Cerowyn
At the risk of getting pedantic in the Pit, this seems counter-intuitive. Many U.S. states (and perhaps a Canadian province or two) don't require front plates on cars. I'm pretty certain that photo-radar works on the rear plate. It was legal here in Ontario for a little while, and I got nailed doing 118 km/h in a 100 zone; the bright blue-white flash was from behind me.

Well, for Pennsylvania, we have never required front plates (and personally, I doubt we ever will), so that would be a problem.

[meathead]

Photo-radar on front plates that is.

[kittenblue]

Originally posted by belladonna
Here in Ohio the cameras at the red lights definitely target the rear plate--some intersections have frontal camera's too, but they're the exception.

We have cameras at the stoplights??????oh shit!!!!Nobody told me??!!!!Where are they!!!??????


Honest. I haven't seen any, and I drive in a downtown area every day. I'd really like to know where to look out for them.


I seem to remember a newspaper article, a few years after Ohio started using plate stickers, explaining to people that when they said, "place it over the old sticker", they meant covering it completely up, not above it. I rarely see anyone doing it around here anymore. My mom cuts out and saves all those articles...I'm sure she still has it somewhere....in case one of us forgets how to do it.

[Castaldi of the Mazzharat]

We have tons of cameras in Virginia.

The worst plates I've ever seen exist in South Carolina. There, you have to pay personal property tax to re-register your license plate (here, you need to do it to get a city sticker).

Most states have a 30 day tag once they get a new car. It has the date purchased, and you're only allowed to keep it 30 days. In South Carolina, all you need is a little sign that says "Tag Applied For!"

I know some people can vouch for me on this one. I've seen tons of them, even written out on cardboard with a sharpie pen. No date, so you can use it forever!

[Astroboy14]

Originally posted by pkbites
Are you drunk or just stupid?

Who, me?

Um... both, I guess...

[Cat Whisperer]

In Alberta (that's in Canada for you Murkins), we have no front plates, we get our photo speeding tickets from behind (which sounds vaguely dirty, but anyhoo), and I believe it is a fineable offense to not place your month and year tags correctly. They are there for a reason, you know. Oh yeah, and our tags come from the registry place with a little diagram showing you where to place them. The people that are still getting it wrong here really have no excuse beyond drunk or stupid.

[Nightsong]

To SteveK42:

Yup, I can vouch for ya! Hellfire, a lot of the time they don't even bother with the little sign! One day, I decided to pay attention and count how many cars I saw without a tag/plate/sign: one day netting me 12 cars (Columiba area). How much do you want to bet that they probably didn't have insurance either?

I haven't seen the tags-o-plenty here in Tennessee, but I have seen plenty of expired temporary tags.... including one on a police car.

___
<< Car go beep-beep! >>

[Doc Nickel]

Buddy of mine thought he'd be the funny one and put his fresh year sticker on upside-down.

Within a week a cop pulled him over (probably for something else) and gave him a ticket for an improperly applied tag. He had to go back to the DMV and RE-reregister the car, for another $50.

'Course, he wanted to wear his Mickey Mouse ears when they took his license photo too. They have no sense of humor at the DMV.

[Mangetout]

You have to put stickers on your number plates?

How quaint.


:: d&r ::

[PosterChild]

This really is one of the best topics for a rant, ever! I've never actually seen it done, but can't imagine how any of y'all let these drivers go without driving them off the road. Damn, just the thought of the incredible chutzpah of these folks really chaps my hide. I could go on, but the OP really does a good job.






PC

[InternetLegend]

Originally posted by pkbites
Are you idiots? Can't you read the instructions on the little envelope the sticker comes in? ...Are you drunk or just stupid?

A lot of New Mexicans do this, too, and the answers to your questions are, respectively, yes, no, probably, and yes.

[deborak]

Here in Texas, we have the license renewal stickers on the windshield (they go above the inspection sticker). It's the same problem though - I'll see someone with three or four on their car. But since each year is a different color, it's oh-so colorful...like rainbows on glass...

Me, I'm so anal that after I scrape off last year's with a rusty razor blade and my fingernails, I have to position the new one EXACTLY in the glue/gunk outline of the old one.

[singular1]

slight cautionary hijack-
I found out the hard way that there's a racket that preys on people that correctly place their new sticker on the old one.

I was driving along in New Orleans and suddenly the flashing blue lights came on. I asked what the problem was, and the cop said my plates were expired. I was pretty sure I'd taken care of it, but I immediately felt guilty, since I suck at keeping my paperwork up to date and couldn't prove it. Well, he called in the plates, which were out-of-state, and found out I had paid for the sticker. He told me that people just steal stickers that are piled on top of each other, since they'll come off undamaged.
So now, on his advice, I remove the old sticker and carve a big X into the new one with a single-edged blade after I apply it so it can't be ripped off (pardon the pun......)

[yosemite]

I can't recall ever seeing this. If I've seen it, it's been so rare, it never occurred to me that it was a viable trend.

And I'm rather the license plate watcher. I am interested in what state each car is from, so I do look. How strange that I've never noticed this.

[Cartooniverse]

Hardly my dear. No, how strange that you look at license plates whilst operating a motor vehicle.

Makes me think of that movie, PlateSpotting.

Cartooniverse

[Wikkit]

Originally posted by pkbites :

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X                           96  X
X    98                         X
X                   00          X
X                               X
X                         95    X
X           99                  X
X                   01          X
X                               X
X   97                          X
X              02               X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As tomndebb pointed out, the code tag will make fixed width text. O'course, you didn't use fixed width text, so I had to go and edit it...

[pkbites]

Originally posted by Wikkit
Originally posted by pkbites :

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X                           96  X
X    98                         X
X                   00          X
X                               X
X                         95    X
X           99                  X
X                   01          X
X                               X
X   97                          X
X              02               X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As tomndebb pointed out, the code tag will make fixed width text. O'course, you didn't use fixed width text, so I had to go and edit it...

That's EXACTLY what I wanted! Thanks, Wikkit!

[Gatopescado]

Originally posted by singular1
slight cautionary hijack-
I found out the hard way that there's a racket that preys on people that correctly place their new sticker on the old one.

I was driving along in New Orleans and suddenly the flashing blue lights came on. I asked what the problem was, and the cop said my plates were expired. I was pretty sure I'd taken care of it, but I immediately felt guilty, since I suck at keeping my paperwork up to date and couldn't prove it. Well, he called in the plates, which were out-of-state, and found out I had paid for the sticker. He told me that people just steal stickers that are piled on top of each other, since they'll come off undamaged.
So now, on his advice, I remove the old sticker and carve a big X into the new one with a single-edged blade after I apply it so it can't be ripped off (pardon the pun......)

it is true that the stickers are easy to steal when stuck over the old ones, but you can't reuse them easily, because you can never fully get the old crusty ones off the new sticker. the correct was to steal the sticker is to a) put a piece of clear tape over the sticker. b) gently heat the plate from the back. c) gently peel the tape with the new sticker off the plate. d)apply sticker to new "location". e)trim excess tape away

this works even with state stickers that are perforated to tear apart when attemped to remove, like Nevada.

don't ask me why i know this.......

___________
Jesus was in a coma.