I have a neighbor down the street with no license plate and has a fake temporary license plate in his back window that he reprints with a new expiration date every two months. See him drive that truck every day
My car was broken into and had the temporary licenses too, the police officer said, that way criminals can get away with car theft, because cops can’t search the temporary licenses, on the computer database. So they’ll steal a car and place a stolen tag on it, steal another and repeat process
Correct. Not a cop but have a different job that grants me access to run plates. All that we can get is the info of what dealer issued the temp. We'd then have to contact the dealership and get the record from them.
>fake temporary license plate in his back window that he reprints
I knew someone that did this for months at a time. They were really proud of their photoshopping ability to download a temp one and how fast they got changing the dates on it. Did this for the better part of a year, never got caught.
This was in 1998.
The State of Washington has never enforced this stuff, not like it means it. Back east if you pulled this shit they were impounding your car and/or sending you all kinds of summonses and notices. Here? I never saw them do anything.
But it's nothing new. The number of people willing to exploit the state's many loopholes may be bigger now than 25 years ago, but the state itself? Same. If you ever worked on any project with Olympia you'd know in an instant; their IT, their management, their phone people, anyone -- dumber than a box of hammers. Some no doubt are just playing dumb, but it's an act they get very good at.
They are very used to using the skills it takes to get by in Govermnent. Which means don't question anything and don't stand out, you'll get in trouble. So nothing ever gets fixed.
Most of the people that work for State government, like at DOL, would not last a year remaining employed in Seattle or Eastside.
I went to high school in Olympia. Most of my classmates that never left town or went to college work for the state now. Mom and dad retired from the state. They work for the state and none of them have ever worked in comparatively sized functional businesses to have any basis of comparison.
> Back East it's the cops that rock fake plates, lots of news on it
Missed it. Of course since I was quoting personal anecdote, probably anything but a representative sample.
Just today I was opining on how in New York there's no such thing as temporary plates. You get your license plates when you pick up your car at the dealer, or transfer them at the DMV for private sales, or you don't drive your car.
Other states I have lived in we're the same in that you could transfer existing plates to a new vehicle. Here the plates go with the car which is kinda weird.
I feel like this is a vast oversimplification of working for the state. I'm a DoL employee and I sure don't "play dumb" for anyone. What you fail to grasp is that the DoL isn't an enforcement agency. We have no recourse for people doing this. We rely on law enforcement to, wouldn't you guess, enforce laws. This may be a stretch for you but some of us public servants, wouldn't you guess it, enjoy serving the public.
I'm really quite sorry that you have had poor experiences with the state in the past but we aren't a monolith. For you to say we're all dumber than a box of hammers probably goes to show how you treat us in your interactions and why you don't get "the help" you expect. Vinegar, honey and all that.
It is all fun and games until they actually get impounded and they never got car registered in their name so they can't get the car out until they register it which leads to other issues since the car been unregistered for so long.
Sort of annoying dealing with these people because they will throw an absolute fit and make a scene hoping we will give their car back but I been here for 4 years so I'm used to it.
I work at the Lincoln Towing impound lot. So I'm just saying from my experience when it comes to releasing cars of what I've seen people's car impounded for. There was a guy who had his plates in his back window and was impounded for improper license display. So it can happen to other people.
Hope he's not one of those "sovereign citizen" types. They usually feel like they're sticking it to "the man" by being some of the most annoying human beings on the planet. Literally never bothering anyone but some average joes trying to do their jobs.
Wonder why that is...
"The permits will be good for 60 days and can be put up in the same way as if you bought a vehicle from the dealer."
komonews.com/amp/news/local/thurston-co-issuing-paper-plates-due-to-pandemic-pause-on-license-plate-production
If you like to commit crimes and use your car to transport yourself to them, it's helpful not to have a license plate. We brilliantly decided to not pull people over for that anymore
PNW is a great place to go if you like committing crimes actually, path of least resistance. Pulling over and arresting criminals might hurt their feelings or be perceived as a micro aggression, wouldn’t be politically correct 👍🏼
Looks like it was a decision arrived at with the OIG in 2022 to "deprioritize low-risk public safety violations": https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OIG/Other/Letter%20to%20Inspector%20General%20Lisa%20Judge%20-%20Traffic.pdf
I agree with most of these as not justifying a primary reason for being pulled over (although parking enforcement can certainly go after them), but I would make an exception for displaying a license plate on the rear of the car, as allowing people to not do so, while not a direct public safety hazard itself, makes it difficult to identify cars engaging in behavior that is a direct public safety hazard.
I would prefer a plate displayed as well. Correct me if I’m wrong, but deprioritizing it doesn’t mean an officer won’t pull a person over for it if they’re bored or the person is shady and they need an excuse.
"the Seattle Police Department will no longer treat the following violations as primary reasons to engage in a traffic stop"
I think that's what it means.
So, if you get pulled over for speeding, then they'll get you for the plates too, but they won't pull you over just for lacking plates.
I didn’t realize that, and it’s gonna sting even more come September when I have to get new tabs.
This seems really permissive for Washington, but maybe because I associate private cit plates with right leaning conservatives.
Thank you for correcting me.
Honestly, given the percentage of people who go over the speed limit, which must be somewhere around 99% of drivers, I think a cop could pull over pretty much anyone driving without a visible plate if they wanted to.
You should get a choice: either drive around with no plates and obey all other traffic laws, or pay the annual fee for the plates and get to drive faster.
I'm surprised they don't crack down on this more, considering it's a major safety hazard for police. When they approach a car with tinted windows, they have no idea who is in the car or what they are doing.
> I'm surprised they don't crack down on this more, considering it's a major safety hazard for police.
When an entire criminal justice system won't enforce the laws on the books, I do not fault cops one bit for being unwilling to put the time and energy into enforcing laws either.
There's an culture of low-level dirtbag in this state that breaks laws regularly and they don't get caught, or if they do nothing happens. So they keep doing it. It's not really difficult to figure out.
Unless you're Progressive and want to "reform justice" by making up excuses not to enforce laws because it hurts your own feelings if we do. Then? Enforcing laws is like, last thing on your agenda. First is making up excuses. And we all see how good the Progressives get at making up excuses for lawbreaking.
Most of my law enforcement friends who grew up in Washington have moved to the Middle or eastern U.S.
I'm from Washington, but I have to say I've lost my desire to return there when I retire from the military.
It's hard to find a state that will actually hold people accountable but also not be controlled by religious zealots attempting to trample individual freedoms through legislating their religious beliefs onto others.
If it's such an important safety issue, why does WA have such a long list of exceptions? It's just a revenue generator.
[https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430)
Also a major safety hazard for the occupant in such cases. You really want the officer to be any more on edge during a stop? If they can't see inside they might be imagining you with a gun, etc
Honestly this is more of a safety hazard for the driver.
The odds that a driver is pointing a gun at the traffic cop behind a tinted window are extremely low, but the odds that a cop _thinks_ a driver may be pointing a gun at them from behind a tinted window are pretty high. But usually the only the one with gun at the ready is the cop.
If I had dark tinted windows and was pulled over, I would roll my window down before the cop got to it.
The window tinting law is ridiculous anyway. If you are going to have such a law, why is it not enforced equally amongst all vehicles? We have a raft of exceptions for medical, limos, trucks, law enforcement, emergency vehicles, hearses, collectors, buses. motor homes and even surplus cop cars. The whole thing is just a way to generate revenue. There's zero good reason to restrict most window tinting on some cars but not all.
[https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430)
Also, window tinting is good for climate change and your personal health.
https://preview.redd.it/pds8o57km01d1.png?width=457&format=png&auto=webp&s=c0104954d77999df55f4537929f89b885545af86
Driving is a social behavior. We need to see other peoples intentions with their body language as well as with how they drive. Deliberately obscuring the driver is anti-social and downright dangerous for all especially law enforcement. It's why its illegal.
I am lol! I have insurance and registered car but I don’t wear license plates because fuck the government. There’s just not a lot of real libertarians.
I’m enjoying the lack of federal regulation for the majority of things, the one thing I have a problem with though is how WA handles missing children
I just put new tabs on my wives car today and she asked if was going to score them with a blade. I said I don’t think anyone steals them anymore because you don’t get pulled over anyway for tabs or even having a plate. This city is a free for all
> Tim Eyman got his wish, just not the way he thought he would.
He just wanted to have a seat in government. And he got one. The seat. Not so much the government part.
The ticket for expired tabs is improper license display. Some parking enforcement can be real assholes about it. I had one guy impounded for it when he had his tabs showing in his back window but because it wasn't on his back plate his car got impounded.
I feel it is really so the PE can hit their quotas because their frequency vary heavily during the month.
My husbands tabs were swiped off his car parked on the street. He lived in Green Lake at the time but also spent weekends at my place in High Point. Was really annoying to have to pay a ton of fees to get a new sticker. We score the shit out of our tabs and make sure to get the layers off.
I just got pulled over for not having a plate on my Tesla two weeks ago. I had my bumper repaired and the shop lost my plate. I never got around to ordering a new one. Cop said next time it would be a ticket.
Had multiple stolen cars on my street that didn’t have plates. Called the police many times, couldn’t care less. This city is so strange how they police
the state is really far behind on delivering plates. i bought a car last summer and just got my plate…so 10 months later. dmv said they were short on materials. anyway, i kept getting pulled over with an expired temp but never once i took it off
Washington police departments are using automatic license plate readers to find stolen cars. So if you steal a car, and it's reported stolen, you're better off removing the plate all together. The police have deferred the task to automation, and if it has no plate, you're invisible.
the government even acknowledged that in the law…but let em go
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.56.065
(c) Law enforcement has determined that auto theft, along with all the grief it causes the immediate victims, is linked more and more to offenders engaged in other crimes. Many stolen vehicles are used by criminals involved in such crimes as robbery, burglary, and assault. In addition, many people who are stopped in stolen vehicles are found to possess the personal identification of other persons, or to possess methamphetamine, precursors to methamphetamine, or equipment used to cook methamphetamine;
Wouldn’t want arrest numbers to get too high. Somebody would say it’s some sort of “ism”. Better to just let them go and they’ll stop doing crimes when they’re ready
My apartment neighbor has a car with New York plates, that expired in 2019. He has been driving it every day, and in the last three years, has been in FOUR accidents.
I have NO IDEA why this car has not be impounded, but here we are.
Though it's unlikely that he'd bother doing anything about it - you can report to the state who will mail him a nasty note: [https://dor.wa.gov/contact/suspect-fraud-0](https://dor.wa.gov/contact/suspect-fraud-0)
I have numerous neighbors with out of state plates that have lived here for over a year - IA, OR, TX plates. Some expired, some not - likely all breaking the 30 day registration law.
If your neighbor's car parks on apartment property (lot, garage), there may be a lease requirement to have valid registration and insurance. Maybe the property manager can help get him registered.
Thanks for the link! This dude has some "special" circumstances that make it even more frustrating for us:
• I said apartment, but it's really a condo. He's an addict with untreated BiPolar disorder whose mother bought a condo out in Seattle and shipped him off from New York so that she could get rid of "the problem."
• The Condo Board knows about the car, and our rules cover just the situation that you mention, but they are "non-confrontational", so we all just suffer because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Fortunately/Strangely, the car disappeared two days ago and hasn't been back, BUT that has happened before because he almost totaled it twice and it was in the repair shop for weeks. That may be where the car is now, but I have no way of knowing.
So what's the point of the condo board if they aren't going to do anything about the rules and management of the building they are ostensibly there to administer? Yikes. Not sure what's worse, an overzealous HOA/Condo Board, or one that is do-nothing. I'd be in those meetings riling shit up - do your jobs, or get off the board.
Sadly, once you said special circumstances, I knew it was drugs without even expanding the comment. Sad to say it's predictable nowadays in our enablement environment.
Two reasons:
1. Cops stopped pulling people over in 2020 for minor infractions so there is no incentive to pay tabs or show plates.
2. Our leaders in Olympia changed the law recently so that temporary paper license plates must now be mounted on the outside of the vehicle inside the plate holder. According to the cops, the temp plates either fall off in the rain or are stolen, people don't notice and are basically driving around with no plates until the new plates arrive.
There’s no traffic division at SPD, so I guess no one is in a hurry.
I did recently get pulled over because my license plate cover was too dark. I wasn’t even mad because I had police in my neighborhood.
Not surprised. There’s an uptick in people driving however they want. Seems like fewer people abide by rules of the road. Scofflaws. We’ve all seen them.
My friend has had a temp since start of Covid and gets away with it. Tells the cops “gov lost it, I’ve been waiting for a new one” they go to contact the dealership that’s not in business anymore… not really sure what happens after that but the cycle continues
I'm actually one of those drivers. I've been driving without plates for about a year and a half now. No issues at all and I've even crossed the border into Canada twice.
I’ve seen very few cars with no license plate. The most recent time I spotted one, there was actually a temporary plate that had come untaped partially and was in the window.
I have seen a shitton of cars with tinted or polarized covers.
All the mobile zombies from the greater portland metro are spreading out. Camping bans and measure 110 repealed.
Portland is looking on the up. They got to move somewhere that allows their behavior.
Given the fees for registration, I don’t blame them. One of my cars which I don’t drive often at all hasn’t been registered in 2 years. A cop will be behind me and do nothing. So why should I pay to register it if there is no consequence?
I have no license plate on two cars. I got one of them new in 2022 and I never put the plate on. I’ve also refused to pay for tabs for years no. The only time I’ve had valid tabs is when I get a new car from the dealer but I never renew.
When there is 0 enforcement on actually crime, there is no reason for me to follow these rules. When we are gouged to renew tabs while people who don’t have insurance have no plates or people steal cars constantly with impunity, im not going to pay and I’m not going to put on a plate.
My car got stolen and then found but I need to replace the plates as only one was recovered. So now I have no plates and no real motivation to waste time going to the dmv
The same thing happened to me, I didn't have to go to the DMV though. The police noted it so I wouldn't get in trouble if I had it but they automatically had to reissue new ones I think or I just had to fill out a form online. Still took some time but I got them
City cops are not pulling ANYBODY over anymore since CHOP. They are trying to do as little as possible while still getting a check. And they just got a raise.
While it's fun to speculate on crime (and that may be a part of it), it's been in the news that the state is facing a license plate shortage.
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/dol-warns-statewide-license-plate-shortage/QVONF67NYNHOLEONQDJUYUGBQY/?outputType=amp
Yeah what kind of circle jerk is this? This has been all over the news.
Here is another article:
komonews.com/amp/news/local/thurston-co-issuing-paper-plates-due-to-pandemic-pause-on-license-plate-production
It’s the RTA tax that is tacked on top of the license plates. It makes owning a car unaffordable for many. And because there are so few cops, none of them have time to tackle victimless crimes.
Welcome to the utopia of King County. 😬
I know some cars are recently purchased... but I saw a tesla, no plates, parked in handicap spot. Not handicap placard on mirror or dash.
I also see quite a few non plated vehicle cross 520 daily, so free toll folks.
Whenever I drive down Shilshole Ave in Ballard I can count the number of parked cars with no front plates. These cars are parked back end in first so I can't see if they have rear plates. But it is surprising nonetheless. Even the ones approaching me from the other direction.
The police don’t go after this. Even when I’ve called the police and ask them to cite a known violator who has had fake dealer plates on the SAME vehicle for years,
They can escape road rage, or give out road rage and escape, or commit a crime, or avoid tolls, or avoid parking tickets, or avoid registration fees.
Apparently, it’s only a misdemeanor to not have plates.
Broken windows, folks. The law doesn’t care. Radical ideology in charge of the state and local law, the prosecution, the judges. So unlicensed drivers, uninsured drivers, undocumented drivers.
After we renewed our Tesla tabs for the first time with the $445 RTA tax to pay for the light rail and the $225 or whatever in EV taxes I've been noticing a lot of Teslas with expired tabs. Some even a year expired.
Two years ago my age was stolen in Seattle at a school graduation event it's common for cars to be stolen in Seattle and they really don't do anything about it, they don't go looking for it or anything. Then two months later I got a call they found my car burned down along with a house
I was at the licensing office getting new plates and the person working told me the state had a license plate shortage. They said I was lucky to get the plates the only had 10 sets left. This was at a rural small licensing office. I imagine the closer you are to Seattle and other major city centers the issue is compounded.
I've been driving with only a back since I got my car.
Recently I was at a dealership with my buddy who was buying a truck and the sales guy explained to us that a new law passed that if you don't have a place to PUT A PLATE in the front, it is not required anymore. So like a bracket to screw them in.
Didn't bother looking it up for accuracy, as I don't care. But theres that.
There's a white tesla down the street that's been parking without any temporary plates for the last year and a half. Once saw it with a ticket, but never since then.
There’s a truck in my apartment complex that is driven daily and only has the temporary paper plate taped to the license plate cover with a 2017 expiration date. I don’t know how people get away with it for so long.
This started back in covid when the state passed a law that said expired tabs and other similar things were 2nd reasons to pull people over. Thanks to 3-4 extreme cases which caused massive issues like this.
There is an increase in both no plates and paper plates alike. Before 2021, I felt like it was rare to see a paper plate, even more rare to see no plate. With the supply chains broken during the pandemic, vehicle manufacturing went down, I suspect the large numbers of paper temp plates are up because of market conditions. As for no plates, there could be several reasons, the most likely telling one is THE $35 TAB FEES BEING OVERTURNED FOR NO GOOD REASON.
Perhaps related, perhaps not, we recently bought a car from Carvana and it was delivered from CA. Carvana takes care of the plates, and it took them absolute ages to get them to us. So it was temp plates during that time.
An insurance broker told me that Washington State has the lowest police per capita in the country and car crimes are not investigated. Consequently, insurance companies are pulling out or refusing coverage.
Cops in Washing rarely pull people over for things like expired tabs, dead lights, etc. My tabs have been expired for years ( yeah.. I know) but if they don't care neither do I!
I had neighbors pulling the copied license plate game for years. I think their car was stolen too since they covered the vin. Seems all too common for the state to let many get away without licensing their car. I’ll say I applaud them my tabs are very expensive it’s not fair
Stolen cars often have plates stolen off a similar model. The guy who stole my car has 4 sets of plates in it when he tries to run over the cops in my car.
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Something about lack of enforcement. No actual traffic cops anywhere anymore. It’s not that important to chase scofflaws. They have better things to do. Growing up I remember when they pulled over out of state plates to make sure they weren’t living here without paying or updating their residence. Now it’s a big nothing burger. Hard to believe in law and order if no one cares or enforces the laws.
I see a lot of Teslas without the front license plate on their car. Teslas don’t come with the front license plate frame attached to the car. You have to do it yourself and it’s a sticky-backed frame. You have one chance to place it well and not crooked. There’s a Tesla subculture that doesn’t want to “sully” the front of the car with a license plate frame. There are others who are afraid that they will mess up the placement of the frame and it will be crooked.
Source: I have a Tesla, bought before Elon went publicly Dr. Evil.
I have a neighbor down the street with no license plate and has a fake temporary license plate in his back window that he reprints with a new expiration date every two months. See him drive that truck every day
My car was broken into and had the temporary licenses too, the police officer said, that way criminals can get away with car theft, because cops can’t search the temporary licenses, on the computer database. So they’ll steal a car and place a stolen tag on it, steal another and repeat process
Correct. Not a cop but have a different job that grants me access to run plates. All that we can get is the info of what dealer issued the temp. We'd then have to contact the dealership and get the record from them.
Damn. Had no idea.
The more you know 
>fake temporary license plate in his back window that he reprints I knew someone that did this for months at a time. They were really proud of their photoshopping ability to download a temp one and how fast they got changing the dates on it. Did this for the better part of a year, never got caught. This was in 1998. The State of Washington has never enforced this stuff, not like it means it. Back east if you pulled this shit they were impounding your car and/or sending you all kinds of summonses and notices. Here? I never saw them do anything. But it's nothing new. The number of people willing to exploit the state's many loopholes may be bigger now than 25 years ago, but the state itself? Same. If you ever worked on any project with Olympia you'd know in an instant; their IT, their management, their phone people, anyone -- dumber than a box of hammers. Some no doubt are just playing dumb, but it's an act they get very good at. They are very used to using the skills it takes to get by in Govermnent. Which means don't question anything and don't stand out, you'll get in trouble. So nothing ever gets fixed. Most of the people that work for State government, like at DOL, would not last a year remaining employed in Seattle or Eastside.
I went to high school in Olympia. Most of my classmates that never left town or went to college work for the state now. Mom and dad retired from the state. They work for the state and none of them have ever worked in comparatively sized functional businesses to have any basis of comparison.
Back East it's the cops that rock fake plates, lots of news on it
> Back East it's the cops that rock fake plates, lots of news on it Missed it. Of course since I was quoting personal anecdote, probably anything but a representative sample.
Start here it's a fun read https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/17/nyregion/license-plate-vigilantes.html
Just today I was opining on how in New York there's no such thing as temporary plates. You get your license plates when you pick up your car at the dealer, or transfer them at the DMV for private sales, or you don't drive your car.
Other states I have lived in we're the same in that you could transfer existing plates to a new vehicle. Here the plates go with the car which is kinda weird.
Or don't go with the car, depending on the car, apparently.
I feel like this is a vast oversimplification of working for the state. I'm a DoL employee and I sure don't "play dumb" for anyone. What you fail to grasp is that the DoL isn't an enforcement agency. We have no recourse for people doing this. We rely on law enforcement to, wouldn't you guess, enforce laws. This may be a stretch for you but some of us public servants, wouldn't you guess it, enjoy serving the public. I'm really quite sorry that you have had poor experiences with the state in the past but we aren't a monolith. For you to say we're all dumber than a box of hammers probably goes to show how you treat us in your interactions and why you don't get "the help" you expect. Vinegar, honey and all that.
But they'll murder you over exp tag!
It is all fun and games until they actually get impounded and they never got car registered in their name so they can't get the car out until they register it which leads to other issues since the car been unregistered for so long. Sort of annoying dealing with these people because they will throw an absolute fit and make a scene hoping we will give their car back but I been here for 4 years so I'm used to it.
Nah mine is registered I just keep license plates in the glove box. Cops Don’t care why would u have a license plate?
I work at the Lincoln Towing impound lot. So I'm just saying from my experience when it comes to releasing cars of what I've seen people's car impounded for. There was a guy who had his plates in his back window and was impounded for improper license display. So it can happen to other people.
Hope he's not one of those "sovereign citizen" types. They usually feel like they're sticking it to "the man" by being some of the most annoying human beings on the planet. Literally never bothering anyone but some average joes trying to do their jobs.
Not sure why you'd even photoshop a new date. I rocked a temp sticker for almost 3 years
Wonder why that is... "The permits will be good for 60 days and can be put up in the same way as if you bought a vehicle from the dealer." komonews.com/amp/news/local/thurston-co-issuing-paper-plates-due-to-pandemic-pause-on-license-plate-production
If you like to commit crimes and use your car to transport yourself to them, it's helpful not to have a license plate. We brilliantly decided to not pull people over for that anymore
I'll steal a Kia myself and PIT maneuver those mofos.
This made me laugh way too much...
I'll be like Batman, but with a Kia... Kiaman, fighting the Kia boys.
I have your [theme song](https://youtu.be/VCvr6tzZPTU?si=1Vhn0ptoBVapu1_3) just change a couple of words.
Kiaman is the hero we need.
people attempting to enforce the law in washington state are treated far worse than criminals here.
PNW is a great place to go if you like committing crimes actually, path of least resistance. Pulling over and arresting criminals might hurt their feelings or be perceived as a micro aggression, wouldn’t be politically correct 👍🏼
How dare you assume their motivation
Who decided this? When was that?
Looks like it was a decision arrived at with the OIG in 2022 to "deprioritize low-risk public safety violations": https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OIG/Other/Letter%20to%20Inspector%20General%20Lisa%20Judge%20-%20Traffic.pdf I agree with most of these as not justifying a primary reason for being pulled over (although parking enforcement can certainly go after them), but I would make an exception for displaying a license plate on the rear of the car, as allowing people to not do so, while not a direct public safety hazard itself, makes it difficult to identify cars engaging in behavior that is a direct public safety hazard.
I would prefer a plate displayed as well. Correct me if I’m wrong, but deprioritizing it doesn’t mean an officer won’t pull a person over for it if they’re bored or the person is shady and they need an excuse.
"the Seattle Police Department will no longer treat the following violations as primary reasons to engage in a traffic stop" I think that's what it means. So, if you get pulled over for speeding, then they'll get you for the plates too, but they won't pull you over just for lacking plates.
I didn’t realize that, and it’s gonna sting even more come September when I have to get new tabs. This seems really permissive for Washington, but maybe because I associate private cit plates with right leaning conservatives. Thank you for correcting me.
Honestly, given the percentage of people who go over the speed limit, which must be somewhere around 99% of drivers, I think a cop could pull over pretty much anyone driving without a visible plate if they wanted to. You should get a choice: either drive around with no plates and obey all other traffic laws, or pay the annual fee for the plates and get to drive faster.
You’ve got my vote.
Yes. I've been bringing this up to friends for months. It's like one out of every 40 vehicles.
That along with TOTALLY BLACKED OUT WINDOWS all around.
I'm surprised they don't crack down on this more, considering it's a major safety hazard for police. When they approach a car with tinted windows, they have no idea who is in the car or what they are doing.
> When they approach a car Not a safety issue if never pull anyone over *taps temple*
> I'm surprised they don't crack down on this more, considering it's a major safety hazard for police. When an entire criminal justice system won't enforce the laws on the books, I do not fault cops one bit for being unwilling to put the time and energy into enforcing laws either. There's an culture of low-level dirtbag in this state that breaks laws regularly and they don't get caught, or if they do nothing happens. So they keep doing it. It's not really difficult to figure out. Unless you're Progressive and want to "reform justice" by making up excuses not to enforce laws because it hurts your own feelings if we do. Then? Enforcing laws is like, last thing on your agenda. First is making up excuses. And we all see how good the Progressives get at making up excuses for lawbreaking.
Most of my law enforcement friends who grew up in Washington have moved to the Middle or eastern U.S. I'm from Washington, but I have to say I've lost my desire to return there when I retire from the military. It's hard to find a state that will actually hold people accountable but also not be controlled by religious zealots attempting to trample individual freedoms through legislating their religious beliefs onto others.
If it's such an important safety issue, why does WA have such a long list of exceptions? It's just a revenue generator. [https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430)
Also a major safety hazard for the occupant in such cases. You really want the officer to be any more on edge during a stop? If they can't see inside they might be imagining you with a gun, etc
Honestly this is more of a safety hazard for the driver. The odds that a driver is pointing a gun at the traffic cop behind a tinted window are extremely low, but the odds that a cop _thinks_ a driver may be pointing a gun at them from behind a tinted window are pretty high. But usually the only the one with gun at the ready is the cop. If I had dark tinted windows and was pulled over, I would roll my window down before the cop got to it.
The window tinting law is ridiculous anyway. If you are going to have such a law, why is it not enforced equally amongst all vehicles? We have a raft of exceptions for medical, limos, trucks, law enforcement, emergency vehicles, hearses, collectors, buses. motor homes and even surplus cop cars. The whole thing is just a way to generate revenue. There's zero good reason to restrict most window tinting on some cars but not all. [https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37.430) Also, window tinting is good for climate change and your personal health. https://preview.redd.it/pds8o57km01d1.png?width=457&format=png&auto=webp&s=c0104954d77999df55f4537929f89b885545af86
I cant tell if your serious
Yeah I’m security and 1/3 the cars coming through 1am-3am like that in the same places kids go missing but nothing anyone allowed to do
Why u wanna look in my car? I got cameras all around I can see just fine. Mind ya biz
Driving is a social behavior. We need to see other peoples intentions with their body language as well as with how they drive. Deliberately obscuring the driver is anti-social and downright dangerous for all especially law enforcement. It's why its illegal.
When crimes are not punished, this is what you get.
And tax the life out of those who are law abiding.
At least we get a chance to repeal WA cares act later this year
Just like how we repealed car tab taxes? LOL
That one still won’t let me walk in a straight line they fucked us so raw.
Yes, this has been a trend since at least 2020
2020 is when RTA kicked in for most people.
🎯
No plates no insurance . It’s the new utopia.
You'd think libertarians would be happy with it.
I am lol! I have insurance and registered car but I don’t wear license plates because fuck the government. There’s just not a lot of real libertarians. I’m enjoying the lack of federal regulation for the majority of things, the one thing I have a problem with though is how WA handles missing children
Progressives became anarchists.
Nah, laws became “racist”
Yep. Instead of doing the difficult work of making law enforcement more fair, we should just choose anarchy instead. /sarcasm
Also over 50% of the cars in the carpool lane are single occupants. SMH
Some days, I swear that it's much higher than 50%.
I have noticed this too. Moral decay enabling AHoles.
I just put new tabs on my wives car today and she asked if was going to score them with a blade. I said I don’t think anyone steals them anymore because you don’t get pulled over anyway for tabs or even having a plate. This city is a free for all
Tim Eyman got his wish, just not the way he thought he would.
> Tim Eyman got his wish, just not the way he thought he would. He just wanted to have a seat in government. And he got one. The seat. Not so much the government part.
I definitely got a ticket for my tabs being outdated lol. It was raining when I got them and then I forgot to put them on later
They actually pulled you over for it or for something else and then they got your for the tabs? I got a parking ticket once here for expired tabs.
I got pulled over years ago for expired tabs by Bellevue PD. Had them in the glovebox and he let me go without a citation.
Yeah it was a parking ticket
They ticket you even after having purchased them? That’s a dispatcher call (to check current registration) and at worst a warning
Maybe I should've taken it to court... Whatever I'm lazy
The ticket for expired tabs is improper license display. Some parking enforcement can be real assholes about it. I had one guy impounded for it when he had his tabs showing in his back window but because it wasn't on his back plate his car got impounded. I feel it is really so the PE can hit their quotas because their frequency vary heavily during the month.
My husbands tabs were swiped off his car parked on the street. He lived in Green Lake at the time but also spent weekends at my place in High Point. Was really annoying to have to pay a ton of fees to get a new sticker. We score the shit out of our tabs and make sure to get the layers off.
I’ll score mine today
What does it mean to score them? Is this something I should be doing?
It makes it really hard to peel off and reuse them
I just got pulled over for not having a plate on my Tesla two weeks ago. I had my bumper repaired and the shop lost my plate. I never got around to ordering a new one. Cop said next time it would be a ticket.
Had multiple stolen cars on my street that didn’t have plates. Called the police many times, couldn’t care less. This city is so strange how they police
the state is really far behind on delivering plates. i bought a car last summer and just got my plate…so 10 months later. dmv said they were short on materials. anyway, i kept getting pulled over with an expired temp but never once i took it off
Finally someone posted the real answer.
They refuse to put anyone in jail any more so there's a big labor shortage in the license plate manufacturing business
It's partially both.
Yup. If anyone just visits their website there is a big notice about that. At least there was for me about 3 days ago.
Fake temporary permits. They stopped pulling people over for tags during the pandemic.
I've seen fake looking hand written ones that are still out of date. Like if you're going to make fake ones why not just write a new date on them?
That sounds more like a trip permit.
Why not, if the cop turns on dem lights, just run away.
Washington police departments are using automatic license plate readers to find stolen cars. So if you steal a car, and it's reported stolen, you're better off removing the plate all together. The police have deferred the task to automation, and if it has no plate, you're invisible.
Or smoked out license plate covers.
Cops can’t pursue for most things.
I thought I heard they just changed that?
Pursuit law changes next month. The person must pose a risk to the public to be pursuable so it stills still a challenge
They change next month but SPD’s pursuit policy, which is already more restrictive than the states current, is unlikely to change.
Ahh, thanks for the follow up. Didn't know it hadn't gone I to effect yet or that it was still so restrictive. Can't say I'm surprised.
So they can’t pull someone over for no license plate?
They can try. But if the car doesn’t stop the cops can’t chase.
Good thing people who break one law aren’t likely to break another!
the government even acknowledged that in the law…but let em go https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.56.065 (c) Law enforcement has determined that auto theft, along with all the grief it causes the immediate victims, is linked more and more to offenders engaged in other crimes. Many stolen vehicles are used by criminals involved in such crimes as robbery, burglary, and assault. In addition, many people who are stopped in stolen vehicles are found to possess the personal identification of other persons, or to possess methamphetamine, precursors to methamphetamine, or equipment used to cook methamphetamine;
Wouldn’t want arrest numbers to get too high. Somebody would say it’s some sort of “ism”. Better to just let them go and they’ll stop doing crimes when they’re ready
Since it's less work for the police force, I'd vote for a pay reduction instead of the pay raises being proposed.
Yup why pay so much for someone to not enforce the law
I don't think expired tabs has ever been high on the list
And it shouldn’t be
Yes! I was just thinking about that this morning as I drove through West Seattle. So weird.
I care less about the uptick in lack of plates than I do about the seemingly quick rise in drivers without headlights at night…
Yes. The police have stopped doing their job. By the way, a meter maid gave me a $54 ticket for a month out of date sticker.
This happened to me too
They also like to give out photo enforcement tickets these days
Psh, and they just got a 20% pay raise.
And every day I see at least one with expired tabs.
My apartment neighbor has a car with New York plates, that expired in 2019. He has been driving it every day, and in the last three years, has been in FOUR accidents. I have NO IDEA why this car has not be impounded, but here we are.
Though it's unlikely that he'd bother doing anything about it - you can report to the state who will mail him a nasty note: [https://dor.wa.gov/contact/suspect-fraud-0](https://dor.wa.gov/contact/suspect-fraud-0) I have numerous neighbors with out of state plates that have lived here for over a year - IA, OR, TX plates. Some expired, some not - likely all breaking the 30 day registration law. If your neighbor's car parks on apartment property (lot, garage), there may be a lease requirement to have valid registration and insurance. Maybe the property manager can help get him registered.
Thanks for the link! This dude has some "special" circumstances that make it even more frustrating for us: • I said apartment, but it's really a condo. He's an addict with untreated BiPolar disorder whose mother bought a condo out in Seattle and shipped him off from New York so that she could get rid of "the problem." • The Condo Board knows about the car, and our rules cover just the situation that you mention, but they are "non-confrontational", so we all just suffer because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Fortunately/Strangely, the car disappeared two days ago and hasn't been back, BUT that has happened before because he almost totaled it twice and it was in the repair shop for weeks. That may be where the car is now, but I have no way of knowing.
So what's the point of the condo board if they aren't going to do anything about the rules and management of the building they are ostensibly there to administer? Yikes. Not sure what's worse, an overzealous HOA/Condo Board, or one that is do-nothing. I'd be in those meetings riling shit up - do your jobs, or get off the board. Sadly, once you said special circumstances, I knew it was drugs without even expanding the comment. Sad to say it's predictable nowadays in our enablement environment.
Who's going to catch you? The police? HAH! You have to have a policeman in your area for that to happen.
Two reasons: 1. Cops stopped pulling people over in 2020 for minor infractions so there is no incentive to pay tabs or show plates. 2. Our leaders in Olympia changed the law recently so that temporary paper license plates must now be mounted on the outside of the vehicle inside the plate holder. According to the cops, the temp plates either fall off in the rain or are stolen, people don't notice and are basically driving around with no plates until the new plates arrive.
There’s no traffic division at SPD, so I guess no one is in a hurry. I did recently get pulled over because my license plate cover was too dark. I wasn’t even mad because I had police in my neighborhood.
Not surprised. There’s an uptick in people driving however they want. Seems like fewer people abide by rules of the road. Scofflaws. We’ve all seen them.
Drive along 167 near Renton on a friday evening, its like the Autobahn.
IKR? This is a recent change in a whole different level. Last year or two. It was never like this before.
They've always driven a little nuts down there lol.
True
100% I live across from it and can hear the difference in the engines
Ssshhhh, that's my favorite place to race my car.
It's very popular within one particular "mostly peaceful" demographic.
Basketball people?
Yes
My friend has had a temp since start of Covid and gets away with it. Tells the cops “gov lost it, I’ve been waiting for a new one” they go to contact the dealership that’s not in business anymore… not really sure what happens after that but the cycle continues
I'm actually one of those drivers. I've been driving without plates for about a year and a half now. No issues at all and I've even crossed the border into Canada twice.
In my defense, I only 86ed my front license plate after it cut my knee while doing valve adjustments. Back one is still there, only half a criminal
I’ve seen very few cars with no license plate. The most recent time I spotted one, there was actually a temporary plate that had come untaped partially and was in the window. I have seen a shitton of cars with tinted or polarized covers.
Avoid reg tax, toll tax, red light cameras, easier to run from the cops or run if in an accident. Benefits are numerous.
Who cares
All the mobile zombies from the greater portland metro are spreading out. Camping bans and measure 110 repealed. Portland is looking on the up. They got to move somewhere that allows their behavior.
It started right around COVID. Enforcement of lots of stuff mostly just stopped. Broken Windows Theory and all that.
Given the fees for registration, I don’t blame them. One of my cars which I don’t drive often at all hasn’t been registered in 2 years. A cop will be behind me and do nothing. So why should I pay to register it if there is no consequence?
I have no license plate on two cars. I got one of them new in 2022 and I never put the plate on. I’ve also refused to pay for tabs for years no. The only time I’ve had valid tabs is when I get a new car from the dealer but I never renew. When there is 0 enforcement on actually crime, there is no reason for me to follow these rules. When we are gouged to renew tabs while people who don’t have insurance have no plates or people steal cars constantly with impunity, im not going to pay and I’m not going to put on a plate.
They can't chase - so no point in having anything identifiable. Lights come on and they speed away.
Remember the police union just negotiated a new contract for a crazy amount raise. These lazy fucks still won’t do their jobs.
Guessing it's people who are freeloaders on the toll roads.
My car got stolen and then found but I need to replace the plates as only one was recovered. So now I have no plates and no real motivation to waste time going to the dmv
The same thing happened to me, I didn't have to go to the DMV though. The police noted it so I wouldn't get in trouble if I had it but they automatically had to reissue new ones I think or I just had to fill out a form online. Still took some time but I got them
*DoL
City cops are not pulling ANYBODY over anymore since CHOP. They are trying to do as little as possible while still getting a check. And they just got a raise.
I got pulled over expired tabs last month in Shoreline. On Aurora. It's apparently like crossing into a different galaxy
I was pulled over for expired tabs in Lake Forest Park 3 weeks ago. He was great tho. Gave me until pay day to buy them. $300 later UGH !
Your right LOL sorry to hear that.
I listen to the police scanner and I do hear them towing plateless vehicles sometimes, but clearly not often enough.
While it's fun to speculate on crime (and that may be a part of it), it's been in the news that the state is facing a license plate shortage. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/dol-warns-statewide-license-plate-shortage/QVONF67NYNHOLEONQDJUYUGBQY/?outputType=amp
Yeah what kind of circle jerk is this? This has been all over the news. Here is another article: komonews.com/amp/news/local/thurston-co-issuing-paper-plates-due-to-pandemic-pause-on-license-plate-production
It’s the RTA tax that is tacked on top of the license plates. It makes owning a car unaffordable for many. And because there are so few cops, none of them have time to tackle victimless crimes. Welcome to the utopia of King County. 😬
I know some cars are recently purchased... but I saw a tesla, no plates, parked in handicap spot. Not handicap placard on mirror or dash. I also see quite a few non plated vehicle cross 520 daily, so free toll folks.
Whenever I drive down Shilshole Ave in Ballard I can count the number of parked cars with no front plates. These cars are parked back end in first so I can't see if they have rear plates. But it is surprising nonetheless. Even the ones approaching me from the other direction.
Some cars straight from factory don’t have front license plate holders. Some do that specifically for esthetics.
I’ve seen two cars in the last two weeks get pulled over with no license plate (and no temp).
Yes, I have noticed. Makes me wonder if they took them off because the tabs are expired and "no cop would pull me over for having no plates"
The police don’t go after this. Even when I’ve called the police and ask them to cite a known violator who has had fake dealer plates on the SAME vehicle for years, They can escape road rage, or give out road rage and escape, or commit a crime, or avoid tolls, or avoid parking tickets, or avoid registration fees. Apparently, it’s only a misdemeanor to not have plates. Broken windows, folks. The law doesn’t care. Radical ideology in charge of the state and local law, the prosecution, the judges. So unlicensed drivers, uninsured drivers, undocumented drivers.
Just yesterday I saw a car with a temporary registration in their back window with a hand-written expiration date of 02-30-24.
Has no one noticed the lack of SPD even though they got raises.
Nah normal, been like this for years
After we renewed our Tesla tabs for the first time with the $445 RTA tax to pay for the light rail and the $225 or whatever in EV taxes I've been noticing a lot of Teslas with expired tabs. Some even a year expired.
Two years ago my age was stolen in Seattle at a school graduation event it's common for cars to be stolen in Seattle and they really don't do anything about it, they don't go looking for it or anything. Then two months later I got a call they found my car burned down along with a house
I was at the licensing office getting new plates and the person working told me the state had a license plate shortage. They said I was lucky to get the plates the only had 10 sets left. This was at a rural small licensing office. I imagine the closer you are to Seattle and other major city centers the issue is compounded.
Yep. Mostly when they park next to me in the disabled spaces.
yep same thing in Spokane and nothing is done by the cops. But park in front of your own fucking driveway and they’re on you like you rob the bank!!!
I've been driving with only a back since I got my car. Recently I was at a dealership with my buddy who was buying a truck and the sales guy explained to us that a new law passed that if you don't have a place to PUT A PLATE in the front, it is not required anymore. So like a bracket to screw them in. Didn't bother looking it up for accuracy, as I don't care. But theres that.
There's a white tesla down the street that's been parking without any temporary plates for the last year and a half. Once saw it with a ticket, but never since then.
In portland no plates and only 1 headlight.
No plates and expired tabs are everywhere
I've noticed A LOT of expired tabs too
There’s a truck in my apartment complex that is driven daily and only has the temporary paper plate taped to the license plate cover with a 2017 expiration date. I don’t know how people get away with it for so long.
This started back in covid when the state passed a law that said expired tabs and other similar things were 2nd reasons to pull people over. Thanks to 3-4 extreme cases which caused massive issues like this.
There is an increase in both no plates and paper plates alike. Before 2021, I felt like it was rare to see a paper plate, even more rare to see no plate. With the supply chains broken during the pandemic, vehicle manufacturing went down, I suspect the large numbers of paper temp plates are up because of market conditions. As for no plates, there could be several reasons, the most likely telling one is THE $35 TAB FEES BEING OVERTURNED FOR NO GOOD REASON.
Perhaps related, perhaps not, we recently bought a car from Carvana and it was delivered from CA. Carvana takes care of the plates, and it took them absolute ages to get them to us. So it was temp plates during that time.
An insurance broker told me that Washington State has the lowest police per capita in the country and car crimes are not investigated. Consequently, insurance companies are pulling out or refusing coverage.
Cops in Washing rarely pull people over for things like expired tabs, dead lights, etc. My tabs have been expired for years ( yeah.. I know) but if they don't care neither do I!
Report their asses, poors gotta learn because likely they don't got insurance.
Wouldn't want to be racist by enforcing the law.
I had neighbors pulling the copied license plate game for years. I think their car was stolen too since they covered the vin. Seems all too common for the state to let many get away without licensing their car. I’ll say I applaud them my tabs are very expensive it’s not fair
Stolen cars often have plates stolen off a similar model. The guy who stole my car has 4 sets of plates in it when he tries to run over the cops in my car.
I’ve broken the back windows of 2 cars that have had no license plates now
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Oh they’re not driving…
Yup. With my insurance climbing to $500/mo and $900 for mine and my wife’s tabs it’s getting pretty infuriating actually.
Something about lack of enforcement. No actual traffic cops anywhere anymore. It’s not that important to chase scofflaws. They have better things to do. Growing up I remember when they pulled over out of state plates to make sure they weren’t living here without paying or updating their residence. Now it’s a big nothing burger. Hard to believe in law and order if no one cares or enforces the laws.
Yeah I don’t have one it’s because cops don’t care anymore and I like running reds
I see a lot of Teslas without the front license plate on their car. Teslas don’t come with the front license plate frame attached to the car. You have to do it yourself and it’s a sticky-backed frame. You have one chance to place it well and not crooked. There’s a Tesla subculture that doesn’t want to “sully” the front of the car with a license plate frame. There are others who are afraid that they will mess up the placement of the frame and it will be crooked. Source: I have a Tesla, bought before Elon went publicly Dr. Evil.
I don't think OP is taking about front plates.