Texas cars with one sticker on windshield

[BrianH]

Originally Posted by jasonamd

Yes, true. That would be an exception to an inspection being required. You are only allowed to drive the car to/from car shows and in parades though.

I think you can only drive them at events / parades and not to and from them. I hate the stickers, plates should be enough. The police should be able to get all the info needed from them.

[jasonamd]

Originally Posted by BrianH

I think you can only drive them at events / parades and not to and from them. I hate the stickers, plates should be enough. The police should be able to get all the info needed from them.

Last time I looked into getting one for a car I had as long as you were on the way to/from something related to showing the car (car show, parade) it was ok. But that was several years ago.

The only thing with not having stickers is that there would be no obvious way to see if someone had current registration other than running every plate on every car. I have a feeling a lot more people would skip keeping up with registration if there wasn't an obvious display of it being good/bad.

[3dogsnokids]

Or TX could be like every other state and put the sticker on the corner of the plate.

[trbstang]

Originally Posted by 3dogsnokids

Or TX could be like every other state and put the sticker on the corner of the plate.

We used to do that, and too many people stole them to illegally put on their plates without paying for the renewal. Unless the plate is run by the cops, it looks legal. That's why we went to the windshield stickers with the plate number on them.

I used to see cars from Mexico with a sticker showing the plate number on the back window and wondered why, but maybe that is the same reason why.

[trbstang]

Originally Posted by jasonamd

Last time I looked into getting one for a car I had as long as you were on the way to/from something related to showing the car (car show, parade) it was ok. But that was several years ago.

You can also drive it to/from the shop, if you just had the oil changed, tires, brakes, etc serviced. Or even say you are out on a test drive after working on it. Most cops are OK with that. I've read about many people that even drive them more often, and the few times they've been stopped, they explained they were driving from a car show or whatever, and the cops let them go. They just wanted to make sure it was a legit plate and after running it, they were OK with it.

Originally Posted by jasonamd

The only thing with not having stickers is that there would be no obvious way to see if someone had current registration other than running every plate on every car. I have a feeling a lot more people would skip keeping up with registration if there wasn't an obvious display of it being good/bad.

Plus it gives the cops just one place to glance at on a vehicle to see if everything is up to date. I was pulled over once because a cop driving in the opposite direction thought one of my stickers was expired, but once he looked at it after I stopped, he apologized for the inconvenience and let me go without doing anything else.

[BrianH]

Originally Posted by jasonamd

Last time I looked into getting one for a car I had as long as you were on the way to/from something related to showing the car (car show, parade) it was ok. But that was several years ago.

The only thing with not having stickers is that there would be no obvious way to see if someone had current registration other than running every plate on every car. I have a feeling a lot more people would skip keeping up with registration if there wasn't an obvious display of it being good/bad.

I looked it up a few weeks ago and I am fairly sure it can only be at shows and parades and not en route to them. I may be off though.

I do see your point, but if the police pull you over don't they run your plates anyway ? I think it would be six of one half dozen of another when you talk about getting out of car to look in window for tags vs just running the plate. I just hate having anything stuck in my windows ...

[jasonamd]

Originally Posted by BrianH

I looked it up a few weeks ago and I am fairly sure it can only be at shows and parades and not en route to them. I may be off though.

I do see your point, but if the police pull you over don't they run your plates anyway ? I think it would be six of one half dozen of another when you talk about getting out of car to look in window for tags vs just running the plate. I just hate having anything stuck in my windows ...

This is what the DMV site currently says:

Antique plates are for vehicles at least 25 years old that are used strictly for antique exhibitions, parades, and related activities. (Occasional trips to the repair shop are permitted.)

Yes...but with the way it is now they can also tell if it is expired without having to pull you over and run your plates. If you have an expired sticker you run the risk of being caught by it just catching the eye of a police officer and that becoming the reason for being pulled over. If there was no visible sign that your vehicle is registered, what is to stop people from not registering and just hoping they don't get pulled over?

[BrianH]

OK well here is where I plead ignorance, how can they tell while driving by is it sticker colour/size thats obvious ? Does it change year to year. I am only in TX fairly recently and registered it in Dec for the first time.

[trbstang]

Originally Posted by BrianH

OK well here is where I plead ignorance, how can they tell while driving by is it sticker colour/size thats obvious ? Does it change year to year. I am only in TX fairly recently and registered it in Dec for the first time.

Both inspection stickers and license renewal stickers have the month and year of expiration on them in large digits you can see probably 30-40 feet away. On one of my cars they are both 11 14 for November 2014. The inspection sticker usually changes color and/or graphics from year to year to further show a distinction. License renewal is on the top: