New bill proposes a front license plate again?

[Wingnatic]

I wonder how many dirty deeds are done by criminals with '' stolen '' cars lol

[poobert]

I would add, if I saw you involved in a hit & run, not having an electronic reading device, I might get a glimpse of your plate, and be able to identify you to the autorities. Low tech, I grant you.

Nonsense. I demand to see a study! These double plates will kill my gas mileage! Obama is a Muslim!

[Embee]

Not sure what it costs for license plates in Michigan but in Ontario it costs $74 for the sticker to renew them every year. Clearly a price gouge by the provincial government.

[JBMcB]

Nonsense. I demand to see a study! These double plates will kill my gas mileage! Obama is a Muslim!

So you are as much as admitting that you have no data to back up your claim that a front license plate has any affect on the ability of police officers to catch criminals. Your reasoning for adding the requirement is other states have it and it seems like a good idea. Gotcha.

[milesdriven]

It was a royal pain in the ass to put on front plates when I moved to Toledo. Newer cars don't come with brackets for them, and they cost upwards of $70. We are trying to abolish front plates here in Ohio, but the companies that profit off our red light and speed cameras are lobbying against it. Right now Michigan's constitution guarantees a right to face your accuser, something Ohio's is missing, which bans red light and speed cameras in the state. This is a precursor to a reinterpretation of the constitution to allow private contractors to install traffic cameras to steal more money from the working class.

[Sandhouse]

The costs of the Hunter bill are significant. Another bill is about to be passed that will mandate replacement of license plates when they reach 10 years old, with a charge to the owner of $5, which the Secretary of State says is sufficient to cover the cost. The 3M lobbyist recommended 8-year intervals, but the legislature didn't buy that. But that bill is for routine replacement with mass-produced new plates. The Hunter bill would require custom-printing and mailing a second plate to match all existing car and truck plates by Jan. 1, 2016. I bet the Department of State can't do that for less than $10, maybe more.

Then there's the cost of a front plate bracket. I can't see getting away from the dealer parts counter for less than $20 or $30. Multiply those numbers by 7,500,000 cars and non-semi trucks and you get a quarter-billion bucks taken out of the state economy for no good reason.

It's a safe bet that Tupac had a profitable encounter with either the 3M Company or one of the sellers of speed cameras. Laser speeding tickets are easier to generate with front plates as a reflective aiming point, too.

The 3M firm has a reputation as one of the most generous campaign contributors. Since few individuals buy Scotchlite reflective sheet, it pays them to spread around a lot of bribe-ola to their government customers.

[Honky Tonk]

The 3M firm has a reputation as one of the most generous campaign contributors. Since few individuals buy Scotchlite reflective sheet, it pays them to spread around a lot of bribe-ola to their government customers.

I bet the government customers probably get free Sticky Notes & Scotch Tape too! I thought most manufacturers already have a spot on the front bumper where a plate would go? Usually it's hidden for the purpose of aesthetics. It would require drilling a couple of holes in the correct spot.

[MrJones]

Then there's the cost of a front plate bracket. I can't see getting away from the dealer parts counter for less than $20 or $30. Multiply those numbers by 7,500,000 cars and non-semi trucks and you get a quarter-billion bucks taken out of the state economy for no good reason

My daughter recently moved to Wisconsin and we had to mount a front plate on her car.
Less than $10 at the discount auto parts store and 4 min. with a screwdriver took care of it.

[compn]

i'd rather see them bring back emissions than front plates.

at least emissions helps people breathe better.

[Jimaz]

Coincidental timing?

License-plate scanners on cop cars: Crime-fighting tool or invasion of privacy?

The four small cameras blend in with the overhead lights on top of Macomb County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Elsey’s patrol car.

But the little infrared devices can do big things — capturing the license plate numbers of passing cars and continuously running them through a database, letting Elsey know if there is a “hit” on a possible stolen car or wanted suspect.

While license plate readers aren’t standard equipment for law enforcement agencies, their use is growing in Michigan and in other states....

[lpg]

Coincidental timing?

License-plate scanners on cop cars: Crime-fighting tool or invasion of privacy?

How can you have a invasion of privacy when you have no privacy ??

[Jimaz]

How can you have a invasion of privacy when you have no privacy ??

Shouldn't you expect a right to privacy?!

[Funaho]

Shouldn't you expect a right to privacy?!

Not when you're out in public. It's by definition not private.

[lpg]

I expect right to privacy. But since our e-mails are subject to search, our telephone calls monitored, cameras watching us everywhere, not much privacy left.