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Comment by derf_ | Hacker News Reader

The part where he drove it for the maximum legal time he was not required to affix his license plates to the car (six months), and then leased a new one [1].

[1] https://www.itwire.com/it-people-news/enterprise/50649-the-t...

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Why are people allowed to drive without a license plate at all?

You need to be able to drive before your plates are mailed to you (or you pick them up at the DMV). Usually you're required to use a temporary paper license plate... maybe California is different on that? And 6 months is a really long time, something like 14 days should be plenty of time.

There was incentive for delaying it as long as possible, for example you could evade tolls that were charged based on license plate readers.

It looks like as of this year (in California at least) there is now a requirement to have a temporary plate that is in the same location as the permanent one, partly to prevent people doing the above:

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/templp

I'm pretty sure CA just updated the law so that you now have to have a more descriptive paper plate affixed where your license plate should go. Basically they were having problems with people evading tolls and running red lights when they had no plates.

"You need to be able to drive before your plates are mailed to you (or you pick them up at the DMV)."

Do you? Why couldn't you be required to get the plates first and attach them to any car plateless you wish to drive?

You aren't, anymore. However, plate theft is booming now.

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