Question for the Crowd

[CSpec]

So I was walking back to my car from a sports bar last night after watching the Patriots lay an egg, and a car pulled over in front of me with something truly bizarre: two sets of license plates. It was a Crown Victoria, but as far as I could tell it wasn't a cop. It was sporting perfectly regular Virginia and DC license plates (ie, not official plates or anything) mounted right next to each other on the front bumper, and on the back one plate was in the regular holder and the other was on the bumper. Is this guy just a thief? Under what circumstances would this be allowed?

[Robert Hall]

Dual registration..I've seen semi trucks w/ multiple plates..registered in 2 or more states for unknown commercial or tax reasons.

[Intrepidation]

Man you are sheltered if that's the strangest thing you've seen on the road.

[crunksoulbrotha!!`]

I find that rather odd considering it's not an 18 wheeler and just a regular passenger car.

[Robert Hall]

Man you are sheltered if that's the strangest thing you've seen on the road.

One of the strangest things I've seen this year was the Mitsubishi Montero Sport someone had rebadged as as Toyota Land Cruiser. Subtle. One of those things that defy explanation.

[Robert Hall]

I find that rather odd considering it's not an 18 wheeler and just a regular passenger car.

Maybe it's owned by a taxi or limo/town car service that does business in both Virginia and DC and has to be registered in both. DC is wierd because it isn't a state. I wonder how taxi or limo services do business in cities like DC (or Cincinatti) where the airports are different states from the city served..

Edited September 21, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[loki]

how about a celebrity chopped into an elcamino "clone"

[Nick]

One of the strangest things I have seen so far this year is this thing:

It had BMW roundels on it...

[CSpec]

Maybe it's owned by a taxi or limo/town car service that does business in both Virginia and DC and has to be registered in both. DC is wierd because it isn't a state. I wonder how taxi or limo services do business in cities like DC (or Cincinatti) where the airports are different states from the city served..

This wasn't a cab. All the cabs here have ridiculous paint schemes and can only pick up fares in their hackney-licensed area (VA, DC, MD, etc). They can drop you off in the other zones, but they can't pick up a new fare once they get there (save for the airport taxi stand).

[SAmadei]

So I was walking back to my car from a sports bar last night after watching the Patriots lay an egg, and a car pulled over in front of me with something truly bizarre: two sets of license plates. It was a Crown Victoria, but as far as I could tell it wasn't a cop. It was sporting perfectly regular Virginia and DC license plates (ie, not official plates or anything) mounted right next to each other on the front bumper, and on the back one plate was in the regular holder and the other was on the bumper. Is this guy just a thief? Under what circumstances would this be allowed?

Hmmm... thats really odd. I doubt that they are a thief... I would think dual plates would raise suspicion. I was thinking dealer plates, but you say these were standard issue. I would think tax or commercial reasons would result in commercial plates or something other than special issue.

This wasn't a cab. All the cabs here have ridiculous paint schemes and can only pick up fares in their hackney-licensed area (VA, DC, MD, etc). They can drop you off in the other zones, but they can't pick up a new fare once they get there (save for the airport taxi stand).

Yeah, MD cabs are especially ridiculous in their paint schemes... LOL, can't mistake that. Even so, pretty much all cabs that drive in other states go by the same rules... pick up in their area only... can drop off anywhere legally.

So, after thinking about this, I have this to say... I suspect one set of plates are bogus. Why? Simple... you can't have two valid license plates from different states. If the car is owned by one person, its going to be registered and titled in the state they have the license in. Perhaps the car is co-owned by two people, each having a residence in a different state... but then it would be titled and registered in two different states. It make no sense for the states to allow that... and we're not even touching on the insurance. So, then if they flip-flop from one state to the other, one plate is going to be bogus. I imagine it would be against the law to add extra, bogus plates to your car.

I guess _if_ the vehicle is corporate owned, things would change... but I'm not sure if a corporate-owned vehicle would require commercial plates in those states.

Otherwise, I'm stumped. People do STRANGE things... like plaster a bunch of registration stickers all over their plates, so I guess they might think they can have all their license plates on the car.

Actually, one last thought... perhaps dual plates would fool EZ Pass? I've seen people take their plates off or put them on backwards, run through EZ Pass to escape the tolls. Again... people do STRANGE things.