Mad Machine
08-01-2007, 02:28 PM
Taken from the Courier Post online:
By TOM HESTER Jr.
Associated Press
A key legislator wants New Jersey to eliminate its requirement that vehicles have license plates front and back.
"The front plate is really superfluous," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee. "To use an analogy, it's like the appendix in humans."
Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, said he will introduce legislation when the Legislature reconvenes this fall to eliminate the front license plate.
New Jersey is among 30 states that require plates in the front and back of vehicles. Wisniewski said the other states don't seem to have any problems with one license plate.
"There are 20 states that seem to get along just fine," he said.
But William Cicchetti, the police chief in Washington Township, Bergen County, and the president of the New Jersey Police Traffic Officers Association, said the front plate enhances public safety at traffic stops and vehicle checks.
He used an example in which a police officer could use a front plate to identify a bank robbery suspect approaching him on a roadway. Without a front plate, he said, the officer would have to turn around and check the back plate.
Cicchetti said the front plate is also helpful at vehicle checkpoints, allowing officers to quickly check the front plate and inspection sticker without having to walk around the back of the vehicle.
"I'm totally against it," he said of Wisniewski's proposal. "It's a safety issue."
Cicchetti predicted police chiefs and officers would mount major opposition to any proposal to eliminate the front plate.
But Wisniewski said it seems clear most traffic stops involve in the back license plate.
Wisniewski said eliminating the front plate could save the state money in production costs and eliminate the demand for specialty plates devoted to various causes.
"If we eliminate the front plate, that would be the perfect place for individuals to display whatever their cause may be," said Wisniewski, whose plans were first reported Tuesday in the Daily Record of Parsippany.
The state has 17 specialty plates dedicated to causes ranging from organ donation to agriculture to Liberty State Park to the Pinelands to cancer research. Alumni from eight colleges can also get plates touting their school.
A check of the Legislature's Web page Tuesday revealed dozens of bills seeking approval for additional specialty plates promoting, among other things, skiing, high school hockey teams and horses.
Might be time to hit your dealer up for front plate deletes
By TOM HESTER Jr.
Associated Press
A key legislator wants New Jersey to eliminate its requirement that vehicles have license plates front and back.
"The front plate is really superfluous," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee. "To use an analogy, it's like the appendix in humans."
Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, said he will introduce legislation when the Legislature reconvenes this fall to eliminate the front license plate.
New Jersey is among 30 states that require plates in the front and back of vehicles. Wisniewski said the other states don't seem to have any problems with one license plate.
"There are 20 states that seem to get along just fine," he said.
But William Cicchetti, the police chief in Washington Township, Bergen County, and the president of the New Jersey Police Traffic Officers Association, said the front plate enhances public safety at traffic stops and vehicle checks.
He used an example in which a police officer could use a front plate to identify a bank robbery suspect approaching him on a roadway. Without a front plate, he said, the officer would have to turn around and check the back plate.
Cicchetti said the front plate is also helpful at vehicle checkpoints, allowing officers to quickly check the front plate and inspection sticker without having to walk around the back of the vehicle.
"I'm totally against it," he said of Wisniewski's proposal. "It's a safety issue."
Cicchetti predicted police chiefs and officers would mount major opposition to any proposal to eliminate the front plate.
But Wisniewski said it seems clear most traffic stops involve in the back license plate.
Wisniewski said eliminating the front plate could save the state money in production costs and eliminate the demand for specialty plates devoted to various causes.
"If we eliminate the front plate, that would be the perfect place for individuals to display whatever their cause may be," said Wisniewski, whose plans were first reported Tuesday in the Daily Record of Parsippany.
The state has 17 specialty plates dedicated to causes ranging from organ donation to agriculture to Liberty State Park to the Pinelands to cancer research. Alumni from eight colleges can also get plates touting their school.
A check of the Legislature's Web page Tuesday revealed dozens of bills seeking approval for additional specialty plates promoting, among other things, skiing, high school hockey teams and horses.
Might be time to hit your dealer up for front plate deletes