# Why do people do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 1, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867 "2002-06-01T06:16:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/1 "2002-06-01T06:16:29Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/2 "2002-06-01T06:18:53Z")
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **88** ``` **87** **90** **91** **98** ``` XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/3 "2002-06-01T06:19:59Z")
Grrrrr! I can’t get my image to look the way I want it!:mad: But you get the picture! ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/4 "2002-06-01T06:36:49Z")
Wisconsin, eh? Must be all that cheese. Gets 'em constipated in the head as well as the other end. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/5 "2002-06-01T06:47:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/6 "2002-06-01T06:56:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pkbites \* > \*\*Grrrrr! I can’t get my image to look the way I want it!:mad: > But you get the picture! \*\* 😃 Oh I get the picture all right and I think kambuckta has the answer. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/7 "2002-06-01T08:14:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. :rolleyes::mad: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. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/8 "2002-06-01T11:18:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/9 "2002-06-01T14:56:21Z")
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?😃 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/10 "2002-06-01T15:05:01Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/11 "2002-06-01T15:06:48Z")
_down_ arrghhh! ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/12 "2002-06-01T16:46:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/13 "2002-06-01T17:08:18Z")
I usually see them set like this: ```auto 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.) ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/14 "2002-06-01T19:56:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/15 "2002-06-01T21:07:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/16 "2002-06-01T21:18:48Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/17 "2002-06-01T22:26:16Z")
In Indiana we see a lot of people putting the new year sticker over the _month_ sticker, so instead of ```auto XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X **Oct** **02** X X ``` you get ```auto 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! ---
**Author:** ![meathead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@meathead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meathead)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/18 "2002-06-01T23:35:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. ---
**Author:** ![meathead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@meathead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meathead)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/19 "2002-06-01T23:36:26Z")
Photo-radar on front plates that is. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867/20 "2002-06-01T23:48:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-do-this/111867.md?page=2)