Motor vehicles are required by Utah law to have front license plates, but the law is not regularly enforced.
According to Janice Perry, spokesperson for the Utah State Tax Commission, vehicles (except motorcycles) are still required by law to have both front and rear plates. However, she said the department is not responsible for enforcement of the law.Dennis Ritz, deputy director for the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles, said it's the responsibility of the police to enforce the license plate law - if they consider it a high enough priority.
He said the issue has arisen during some legislative sessions, but law-enforcement agencies have always strongly opposed a change.
"They see it as a very legitimate law-enforcement tool," Ritz said.
The majority of states have laws requiring two license plates on each vehicle, according to Ritz.
Ritz said he's heard rumors of enthusiastic police officers in a few cities actually citing drivers for missing front license plates.
He said it's the responsibility of a car buyer to make sure a front plate can be attached to the vehicle, but he's not aware of any new cars that lack a place for a front license plate.
Gary Whitney, spokesman for the Utah Highway Patrol, said the department has no specific, written policy for front license-plate enforcement. He said a trooper isn't going to pull a person over simply because a car is missing a front plate. However, he said that violation is something an officer may note if a person is stopped for speeding or some other offense.
"It's a matter of being able to better identify a car," Whitney said of the UHP's stand on the importance of having front license plates.
Don Evett, office manager for the Salt Lake City Parking Enforcement Division, said parking-meter enforcement officers are instructed to enforce the front license plate law. He said they will give offenders a $15 ticket when they see such a violation.
People who want or need to replace missing front plates have to get two new plates with different letters and numbers - unless they have a personalized plate. The State Tax Commission charges only $5 for a pair of replacement plates. This fee is the same for personalized and centennial plates.
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Additional Information
There appear to be increasing numbers of cars in Utah without front license plates. Since no official count is available, an informal reporter survey was conducted one late August afternoon.
The survey found 161 vehicles heading north on Salt Lake City's Main Street at 150 South in a 15-minute period; 126 of them had front plates and 38 (or 23.6 percent) lacked them. (This survey did not include newly purchased vehicles that legally can have no front plates.)
A similar survey of 105 cars in Weber County found 18 percent of all vehicles without front plates, and a check of 79 cars in Davis County revealed 14 percent lacked front plates.
Still another check in downtown Salt Lake found two parked cars along 100 South without front plates. A meter enforcement officer drove past the two vehicles and did not ticket them. It appears likely that few tickets are actually given for the lack of a front license plate unless something else calls attention to the vehicle - an expired meter or missing rear decals. The same is probably true for driving along Utah's highways without a front plate. You probably won't be stopped by police unless you break other, higher-priority laws. But then you will likely be ticketed - or at least warned - by the officer for the lack of a front license plate.