License Plate Tabs-Why in the MIDDLE of the plate???

[One Shot]

Can someone explain this to me? Without sounding like a racial thing it is mostly black people's vehicles that I see this on. I have literally seen plates with 4-5 stickers placed all over the face of the plate. I mostly see them placed right in the middle between the numbers/letters. The plate has a recessed area for them and instructions on the new tabs. Whats the deal??

[jackie5275]

I've seen it on cars of people of all races. Nearest I can figure out without asking anyone, is that they want each tab to be visible. Personally, I like stacking them up on the recessed area.

[Johnnny5]

Can someone explain this to me? Without sounding like a racial thing it is mostly black people's vehicles that I see this on. I have literally seen plates with 4-5 stickers placed all over the face of the plate. I mostly see them placed right in the middle between the numbers/letters. The plate has a recessed area for them and instructions on the new tabs. Whats the deal??

47% are illiterate in Detroit

May 6, 2011 By Joanne
Some 47 percent of Detroit’s adults are “functionally illiterate,” according to the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, a job training nonprofit.
That means they can’t fill out a form or a job application, said Karen Tyler-Ruiz, the group’s director. “Reading a prescription; what’s on the bottle, how many you should take… just your basic everyday tasks,” she said. “I don’t really know how they get by, but they do. Are they getting by well? Well, that’s another question.”
.

[English]

My eloquent response is summed up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22984501@N06/2961175776/

The race of the individual =/= where they place their sticker on the license plate. This can't be that important. No seriously, it can't be.

[jtw]

People will occasionally use tin snips to cut off the corner with the tab, and then try to attach the valid sticker on their own [unregistered] car so the police can't immediately tell that theirs is expired. It's a lot harder to cut the tab out of the middle.

[jtw]

And as far as have multiple tabs stuck on separately [[not stacked), I think it's another effort to make it harder to tell if the car has a current one on there.

[DetroitPole]

They're in the center of the plate because, as jtw said, they're much less easily stolen. Nothing to see here, folks.

There is nothing, as far as I know, illegal or invalid about putting it elsewhere on the plate, as long as it isn't covering anything up.

So, to further elaborate on your question, maybe black people are just smarter than white people. :-)

[Sandhouse]

This is definitely an anti-theft measure. I have seen plates in Detroit neighborhoods with the right-hand digit snipped off.

An acquaintance who lives in Corktown stuck his tab in the middle of the plate, as do many of his neighbors. He got a ticket from a hick cop in South Haven for improper registration but state law says only that you must "display" the sticker, and does not empower the Secretary of State to promulgate rules for telling you where to stick it. So it's legal to stick the tab anywhere on the plate. I don't know how the ticket was resolved.

Just more fallout from Detroit's outlandish car-insurance rates.

[Locke09]

47% are illiterate in Detroit

May 6, 2011 By Joanne
Some 47 percent of Detroit’s adults are “functionally illiterate,” according to the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, a job training nonprofit.
That means they can’t fill out a form or a job application, said Karen Tyler-Ruiz, the group’s director. “Reading a prescription; what’s on the bottle, how many you should take… just your basic everyday tasks,” she said. “I don’t really know how they get by, but they do. Are they getting by well? Well, that’s another question.”
.

Nonsense! Do a little research and you will find they are relying on a 2003 survey of 18500 people in the United States [[none of them even from Michigan). Then they extrapolate from that, using race, economic status, etc., apparently based on the 2010 census, although the 2003 survey was done based on the 2000 census. It is a "prediction" reported as fact.

[mtm49269]

I'm not Black; I'm not illiterate [[WSU '83, Magna Cum Laude); and I don't live in a high crime area. My tag is in the center of my plate just to be contrary. I guess I don't really like the state telling me what to do with my personal vehicle if it's not something required for safety or the law...

[Johnlodge]

This is definitely an anti-theft measure. I have seen plates in Detroit neighborhoods with the right-hand digit snipped off.

Just more fallout from Detroit's outlandish car-insurance rates.

Just so I'm clear - you are claiming Detroit's "outlandish" insurance rates cause vehicular crime, and dismiss the explanation that an over abundance of vehicular crime is exactly why Detroit's insurance rates are high, right?

[eno]

I used to "decorate" my license plate with yearly renewal registration stickers until I was pulled over by a Detroit cop who wanted to check to see if I had the current sticker on the plate. He also did a warrant check on me which is normal. Rather than have to go thru the inconvenience of a traffic stop, I put the sticker where the SoS suggests. Caucasian and literate.

[Detroitej72]

I always thought the folks who do this were just trying to "stick it to the man", but I can see the point of it from a security standpoint.

[fryar]

I can't recall where I placed the tabs, although I generally make an effort to be in compliance with regulations and/or instructions.

I do read, from time to time. Whole words, not just the individual letters, actually.

I always imagine that type of thing is either about not conforming, or possibly about "confusing the enemy." It's interesting to read that this could be related to not having a registered vehicle in the first place.

[DetroitScooter]

I've seen this too, and wondered the same thing. When you consider that an officer can pull you over for this and other small infractions [[bulb out, failure to use your turn signal, failure to yield the right of way, etc.), I'd rather follow the directions than get cute or whatever. I'm just lucky with the cops that way, and I'd rather be safely on my way...

[Sandhouse]

Just so I'm clear - you are claiming Detroit's "outlandish" insurance rates cause vehicular crime, and dismiss the explanation that an over abundance of vehicular crime is exactly why Detroit's insurance rates are high, right?

I'm not saying anything about the cause of the high insurance rates. Rather, because insurance is a prerequisite for buying plates, a person stealing a plate tab so as to appear to be registered can be presumed to be dodging a multi-thousand-dollar insurance premium, too. If these thieves could afford insurance, they probably wouldn't risk stealing a $100 plate tab.

[East Detroit]

It's to avoid the tin snips, plain and simple.

Interesting to see who assumes it is because the people are stupid or illiterate.
[[actually it isn't that interesting, just typical)

[downtown_racine]

The same reason people drive 15 over the speed limit with bad registration and 25 pounds of dope in the trunk, people are morons plain and simple.

I dont like the man and the best way for me to fly under his radar is to play by as many of his rules as I can so I stack the tabs up. I see these morons with 8 stickers pasted all over and just laugh. Same as the handicapped folks who get out and walk into the store. Mentally handicapped I figure.
I have heard of slitting the tab with a razor so it falls apart if peeled but if you just tin snip the corner off I guess the slicing does nothing.
Gubmint here is talking about just sending a new plate out every year now instead of the tabs, the cheap plastic plates some states have cant be very expensive to make. Tho we use 2 plates here.

[Magnatomicflux]

Same as the handicapped folks who get out and walk into the store. Mentally handicapped I figure.

Don't worry, I'm in the process of building a store where these so-called handicapped people can just drive their car up and down the asiles. Then us obviously able bodied people get the close spots.



Really though.....reading the way people talk on this board, you wouldn't think people in Detroit are illiterate in any way. You people impress the hell outta me. Buncha smarty pants.

[gazhekwe]

One reason not to stack them, they can be removed easily with a razor blade. That's how they stole them in the early days of tabs. We just peel off the old ones until we get down to base which won't come off whole. I suspect more people doing that brought out the tin snips. Thievery will find a way.

[Ray1936]

Best way to peel off old tabs [[or new ones!) is to heat the corner of the plate with a hair dryer for about two minutes. They come right off.

For what it's worth, Missouri license plates requre the sticker to be placed smack dab in the middle of the plate.

Frankly, I long for the old days when a new plate was issued every year. Yeah, I know, $$$$$.

[ja!mz]

Back in the 80's i got a ticket because I had the month and year stickers reversed, back the you had 2 to put on

[Jimaz]

My eloquent response is summed up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22984501@N06/2961175776/


The race of the individual =/= where they place their sticker on the license plate. This can't be that important. No seriously, it can't be.

Thanks, English. I've been looking for a copy of that image. Here's another thought provoker from the same source:

[Lowell]

They're in the center of the plate because, as jtw said, they're much less easily stolen. Nothing to see here, folks

Here is what some forgotten wise city-dweller taught me long ago and that I have done since. Paste the sticker firmly [where ever] to the plate after using a chisel to scrape off the old one. Then pull out your knife and cut a fine line X from all corners. If you want to be extra careful add a + from all edge centers.

Then when Ray1936 rips your plates and uses his hair blower to extract it, he will still have to deal with reassembling it on his plate. He will choose an easier victim instead.

[Ray1936]

Then when Ray1936 rips your plates and uses his hair blower to extract it, he will still have to deal with reassembling it on his plate. He will choose an easier victim instead.

Aw, Lowell, I never was worth a darn on jigsaw puzzles. That's even worse.