Cars & Coffee attendees, beware: I guess we'd better be ready for Fairfax County to start increasing the number of 'no front license' tickets... Nice that they mention revenue generation as their first priority. How about I pay, say, $50 a year not to have to display a front plate on a car that has no place to mount it?


WASHINGTON — Residents of Fairfax County who have kept license plates on their cars from Maryland or other states should prepare for a costly crackdown: County leaders are responding to complaints about the number of cars regularly parked in many neighborhoods overnight without Virginia plates.

The Fairfax County Board Tuesday asked for changes to a law that currently fines car owners who fail to properly register their cars a one-time $250 fee. The board wants that fine to be charged annually, on top of the existing $100 “no-plate tax” that was introduced in fiscal year 2010.

In addition, the board heard more details about plans for a crackdown by police and sheriff’s deputies to catch more residents with out-of-state plates, and charge them the fines and fees called for by the existing law.
Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler says the effort will focus on “known neighborhoods that have this chronic problems,” including several areas in Supervisor Jeff McKay’s Lee district. The district covers the area south of the Beltway, west of the Fairfax County Parkway and Fort Belvoir North Area, east of U.S. Route 1 and north of the Interstate 95 interchange with the Fairfax County Parkway.

“This is one of those things where we can really generate revenue, and educate the public. Because there are instances where people just don’t know, and then there are instances where people are deliberately doing this,” McKay says.

An unscientific survey of a Springfield neighborhood on a recent Sunday morning revealed a “large number” of cars that were not properly registered in Virginia, McKay says.

“I regularly hear from constituents who are concerned that the display of out-of-state plates gives the inference that these residents may be skirting our local tax laws,” McKay adds.

There are exemptions, including for cars owned by members of the military and full-time college students. “The intent behind this legislation was that the combined charge of $350 would provide an annual inducement to get owners to comply with Virginia law and properly display Virginia license plates,” McKay says.

Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth sees a lot of Maryland license plates on cars that seem to be owned by people who live in the county.
“Even if we only get $250 once, it’s still $250 plus the (no plate tax),” she says.

Roessler says he met with county tax staff this week to coordinate the license plate checks with the sheriff’s office to make sure there are no overlapping efforts. “We have a few volunteers that are willing to be trained with our traffic division to go out and target neighborhoods throughout the county,” Roessler says.

The sheriff’s office is also directing deputies to keep an eye out for any potential registration issues as they crisscross the county as part of daily duties. D.C. has a similar, but more stringent, enforcement program focused on vehicles that park overnight on city streets without District plates. It can result in $100 tickets for each time a car is spotted parked overnight within 180 days after a warning ticket is issued.
Fairfax County does not ban repeated overnight parking by people who live out of state.

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Almost any organized state will do that, they want the sales tax when you register the car in the state that you reside, and they want your car inspected under their rules.

As for front plates, Maryland changed the law in 2013. If your car's manufacturer didn't provide for a front plate mount, you just need to carry the tag with you in the car. I keep mine with a copy of the bill as well: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2013RS/bills/hb/hb0577f.pdf

 

I've read in a couple of places that the Maryland 'no front plate' law was never passed.


Bob Collum

 

Have you gotten out of a ticket in MD with that paperwork? I'm with Rcollum, many have also heard the Bill gets killed before it even makes it into the room.

DC is also ripping people off as they will ticket a parked car, even if you have paid for the meter, for no front tag. $50.

 

This happened to me with my 4Runner, which is registered in GA (they don't even make a second plate for the front of the car).

 

SSScott, I've never been pulled over for not having a front tag in MD. I keep the paperwork and the tags in my glove boxes so I could quickly put them on top of the dashboards if I got pulled over.

 

That is simply a proposed bill that was never passed. It has no effect.

 

^^Internet folklore, MD did not pass this bill into law. Cops still pull people over for no front tags in any MD jurisdiction.

However, it wouldn't surprise me if cops didn't know if you whipped out the document and had the plates in your car.

 

MD is TWO $70 tickets for no front plate. I got one last year with this "setup". $140 total for no front plate.

 

These people sound like *****.
If elected President of the USA, I promise there will be no front license plates required anywhere in the USA and will provide all American Porsche owners a $5000 Federal tax credit each year to help ameliorate the costs of harassment by law enforcement! I'll also push for higher allocations of GT4s, GT3s, and Spyders. And I'll push Porsche to make the 4.0L 500 hp RS engine an option in GT4s and GT3s, with all the other good stuff to go along with it.

 

I assume you just paid the ticket...

but this should clearly be illegal under interstate commerce clause, right?

 

I have the best one yet. Driving to the airport on Sat at 7am in the morning in my wife's 2015 Subaru Outback in Maryland, Kent Island of all places. A State cop gets behind me 10 feet from my bumper while I was doing 54 in a 55mph zone. After about 6 miles the lights come on, I pulled over. He walks up to the Subaru and says" Do you know why I pulled you over" I said either your bored or you hate Subaru SUV's. He said " no we have a lot of ( Hispanic's) with smoked plate covers running the tolls and it's illegal to have a plate cover clear or otherwise on a car in Md and I have to write you a ticket.
Now comes the fun part. I said " I am a retired IID officer with I.D in my glove box and it looks like you are profiling and that could cost you your badge. He said " Thank you Mr. ^%%&( and turned around and got back in his car and sped off. What a piece of crap. Marylands finest. If you come to Kent Island, you better have a front plate. They are looking.

 

A Fairfax police officer friend of mine has told me that they are going to be more "proactive" at the C&C's this year due to noise and speed violations and also will be checking to be sure the plate on the car match the car they are registered to. Those cars with the never ending temp tags will be checked a bit closer that usual.

 

yeah, just paid it. wasn't worth my time to fight it - which is why they do it to out-of-state vehicles.

 

Front plate or none, not putting it on....