Bill for Removal of Front License Plate Dies

By | Posted - Jan. 31, 2006 at 11:11 a.m.

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah drivers will have to keep a license plate on the front of their vehicles after a bill to eliminate the front plate was killed 4-2 in a Senate transportation committee Tuesday.

The bill by Sen. Dan Eastman, R-Bountiful, would have allowed vehicles to have a single rear license plate, as is the case in 19 other states.

Eastman said he wanted to eliminate the potential for license plate fraud, reduce manufacturing costs to the state and eliminate the need for car owners without a front license plate holder to damage the front of their vehicles by installing one.

"Many times if you add a front license plate to a vehicle it causes aesthetic damage," said Eastman, who received two tickets more than 20 years ago for not installing a license plate on the front of a sports car. He estimates that about 30 percent of Utah car owners refuse to put a license plate on the front of theirs, preferring to risk paying a $45 fine instead.

But committee members said they were concerned that taking away the front license plate would hamper law enforcement efforts.

"I know there are mechanisms where (police) can read those oncoming license plates and screen them," said Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Salt Lake City, who voted against the bill.

The Utah Chiefs of Police Association opposed the bill because it would take away another tool they have to identify stolen vehicles and those with outstanding warrants.

But Eastman said Highway Patrol officers he spoke with in Davis County said they were indifferent to his bill.

"I acknowledge it is a tool for law enforcement, but it is not a hammer," Eastman said.

Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, agreed.

"Those 19 states must have an insurmountable issue with public safety. It must be quite amazing," Killpack joked.

Eastman said although he's wanted to run this bill for years, he's unlikely to try it again next year because as long as legislators worry about taking away a law enforcement tool, it will be a tough battle.