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Fattom23 OP t1_jadrl4w wrote

>Locally, the Philadelphia Parking Authority told NBC10 that cars with the VIN numbers covered or a license plate missing will be ticketed and towed.

This part is a pure lie. I've been told by both PPA and PPD that there's nothing they can do if the plate is missing and the VIN is covered. This is after reporting the same vehicle a couple of times a week for over a year.

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martymoran t1_jadugsj wrote

100% lie all you have to do is take your plate off and park wherever you want

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Thndrcougarfalcnbird t1_jadvd14 wrote

Even if they have a plate they will do nothing. There's a car with California plates with the sunroof open parked on Pennsylvania Ave that's been there for almost a year that we're reported and we got nothing. Its ridiculous

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nayls142 t1_jaeib4l wrote

Report it as having missing inspection stickers.

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cizzop t1_jaelxk0 wrote

100% a lie. There are two people on my block who do this. I told the PPA guy I could even tell them the license plate number (it was sitting upside down on the seat) and they still wouldn't do anything. They said he wouldn't even bother because he couldn't take a picture of it.

I can't even blame the drivers. Why would I pay for permit parking when it's this easy to get around it and I can park wherever I want?

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Fattom23 OP t1_jaembpa wrote

The permit parking is whatever, I guess (although it's annoying), but people are doing this to park in bus loading zones, crosswalks, sidewalks, bike lanes or wherever. That stuff is dangerous and it seems no one in charge seems to care about our safety.

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avo_cado t1_jadznaa wrote

Hypothetically, could one put a fake plate on it?

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LFKhael t1_jae29ko wrote

You can put a fucking Primo's flyer on it.

Source: That SUV that parks across from Primo's on 9th St.

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insearchofbeer t1_jae4m0d wrote

Just cover it with something. The PPA isn't allowed to touch your car, so they can't remove whatever is covering your license plate. My neighbor has been parking illegally on our block as long as we've lived here by just covering half his plate.

​

Edited for clarity: they're not allowed to touch a car's license plate. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/blogs/our-money/Copping-a-free-parking-spot.html

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avo_cado t1_jae5dog wrote

I’m saying if you wanted a car with no plate towed, could you put a fake plate on it?

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Fattom23 OP t1_jae78c2 wrote

You would have to put a fake plate, call the cops, cross your fingers that they come out and don't notice that the plate probably doesn't match the car, hope they ticket it, and then report the illegally parked vehicle to the police for towing. By that point, the driver has gotten at least 4-5 hours of free, illegal parking. Why would anyone follow the rules?

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justanawkwardguy t1_jaeb5bv wrote

That’s not really true, they touch cars all the time while putting tickets on them

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mexheavymetal t1_jadvjfo wrote

The solution is for Philly police to do their job, but according to the FOP asking them to do the work they’re paid to do is offensive and anti-cop. PPD is a waste of our tax dollars

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uptown_gargoyle t1_jadw0r9 wrote

snowflake generation of cops

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NotUnstoned t1_jaed4kt wrote

Hey now, the cops are all sad because their wives have grown tired of the beatings and started fucking people with respectable jobs.

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sparselogic t1_jaf3rgo wrote

Delicious irony: just walked past a car on the 1700 block of Moore with a dark license plate cover. It was a FOP license plate.

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Fattom23 OP t1_jaf4fza wrote

You'll see that a ton. It goes well with several digits being obscured by an FOP sticker.

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ChowderSam t1_jaecf0f wrote

You can’t ticket then tow a car if you don’t have a plate or at least a VIN.

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Scumandvillany t1_jaep73d wrote

Why not? If the car has no plates then it isn't authorized to be on the roads!

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Fattom23 OP t1_jaedtgy wrote

Ahhh, but if you were allowed to just tow without the ticket...

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mexheavymetal t1_jaegem9 wrote

Geneva conventions say gassing enemy soldiers or civilians is illegal but you can bet your ass PPD found a way to bend the rules back in 2020.

−3

Dryheavemorning t1_jadqxq7 wrote

>Gyllenhaal found that, in New York City, about seven-percent of red-light camera tickets are unreadable, often because of license covering techniques.

>But, in Pennsylvania, Gyllenhaal notes, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has said that the impact of 'ghost cars' is negligible.

>Less than one-percent of camera-tickets are considered unreadable and, these have had "no significant impact" on turnpike revenue, the commission told NBC10.

Interesting, the way I see cars driving that are missing or have obscured license plates it seems like more than 1%. But maybe it's just because it's noticable.

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hiding_in_the_corner t1_jadr3yp wrote

The 1% is just on the PA Turnpike.

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Fattom23 OP t1_jadravq wrote

Where there are state troopers who would actually respond to such a thing.

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Dryheavemorning t1_jadsu0u wrote

You'd think that would be fairly representative of the State. Would be interested to see what the results are on the speeding cams on Roosevelt Blvd, probably would be closer to NYC levels.

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Brraaap t1_jadtbvs wrote

It's representative of the state, not the city

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Dryheavemorning t1_jadvfow wrote

Yes, that is exactly what I said. And that's also why I said it would be useful to know the Roosevelt Blvd numbers. Ben Franklin Bridge toll evaders would be too.

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Fattom23 OP t1_jae541f wrote

I don't see too many driving with no tags, just parked. Are you seeing a lot of cars driving around without tags?

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Scumandvillany t1_jaduqlm wrote

I think its probably a higher incidence in NYC because they have so much automated enforcement for traffic. So people are looking to get away with it. Especially cops. There's lots of twitter accounts dedicated to exposing this. In general, with more automated enforcement, there will be a need to enforce rules on parked vehicles spotted with obscured tags.

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Away_Swimming_5757 t1_jaef6yf wrote

Lots of people probably avoid major camera-heavy state owned highways to lower risk and less footage

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hdhcnsnd t1_jadtryg wrote

Let the towing companies seize obscured/no plate cars from the street.

Anecdotally, it seems like 10% of cars I see walking and biking around CC have some form of plate obfuscation. I rarely see no plates, though I do see a lot of questionable temporaries.

We’re have like 10 hit-and-runs a week. Why do you think these people are obscuring their plates?

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dirtymatt t1_jae8919 wrote

You'd have tow trucks taking the plates off of parked cars just to be able to tow them.

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YuleBeFineIPromise t1_jaf3586 wrote

> Let the towing companies seize obscured/no plate cars from the street.

You really want to give perverse incentives to the towing companies?

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Fattom23 OP t1_jaf4cha wrote

It would be significantly better than what we have now.

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piddling_around t1_jaeidpq wrote

Was with someone that slid into the bumper of a parked car on an icy night in West Philly last year. Stopped a passing police cruiser so we could contact the owner of the car. Cops ran the plates. They told us the plates didn't match the description of the car and the VIN was ground off. Told us the car was definitely stolen, have a good night, and drove off. The car is still there. Thanks PPD.

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vivagypsy t1_jae12xh wrote

Was behind a Lexus sedan with super dark tinted windows, a tinted plastic plate protector over the plates, and a PBA star covering the last 2 digits of the plate. Some straight up fucking BS

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ten_cent_toaster t1_jaeirxk wrote

There’s absolutely been a noticeable uptick in these covered plates over the last several months. And honestly I don’t understand how this isn’t just free money for the PPA/PPD. Ticket every car with a covered plate several hundred dollars, and if they don’t remove it in say 7 days and get caught again it’s a several thousand dollar fine and a lost license for 30 days or whatever. The only reason anyone would have their plates covered is so that they can get away with driving recklessly.

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12kdaysinthefire t1_jaeidzf wrote

Nothing like seeing a car drive down the street with super tinted windows, tinted windshield, riddled with battle scars, and a paper license plate from New Jersey

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Little_Noodles t1_jadq0rr wrote

In before the inevitable. No, the driving equality bill does not prevent cops from pulling over cars with missing or unreadable plates (it does contain language about plates, but absolutely says that the plate has to be readable and “clearly displayed”)

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SaltPepperKetchup215 t1_jadt2cv wrote

While technically you’re correct.

Inspection and Emissions are no longer a reason. When you inspect your car it has to be registered as well. Kills 2 birds with one stone. They’re incredibly visible and easy to read from a distance on the windshield. Majority of time an inspection pull over leads to iffy registration issues as well.

No registration stickers on plate anymore. So only way for a police officer to know if car is not registered or there’s issues is to randomly run their plate while driving, imagine that case going in front of Philly DA and judges. “Ran plate for no reason”

So inspection and emissions being whiped off is not good IMO, also, just generally I’d like to see vehicles with bad safety stickers be at least warmed on It as bald tires and worn brakes can kill

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Little_Noodles t1_jadug2d wrote

You can still get ticketed while parked for all that though. It just can’t be the only reason for a traffic stop.

Neither is the point of the article though

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SaltPepperKetchup215 t1_jadush8 wrote

A parking ticket written by PPA will just go to the stolen plate.

Pull over for inspection resulting in the registration being stolen, forged, expired etc is the best course of enforcement. Tow the vehicle, return to owner etc

PPA would just write a parking ticket for inspection and it’ll go to no one.

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Little_Noodles t1_jadvmcs wrote

Oh! I get what you’re saying now. I’m talking about cars without inspection and registration stickers on the windshield. Even before the bill, they were so routinely stolen off plates that nobody got pulled over for that unless cops were looking for a reason to make a stop.

And this article is about plates. Not stickers.

Now, if your windshield stickers and your plate are fucked, they should still be able to theoretically look up the VIN and issue a ticket that way. And part of issuing tickets should involve looking for stolen plates and plates that don’t match the vehicle. But they don’t. And if the VIN is unreadable too, if there isn’t a law ok’ing a tow, there should be. There’s no actual reason this can’t be handled as a ticket.

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Philadelphiaf t1_jaeorkv wrote

saw a guy last week get out of his car and take his plate off after parking. have seen a camry in my neighborhood completely missing it’s front bumper, with “waiting on tags” written on white paper. shit makes my blood boil.

you have have kids using ghost vehicles and fake temp tags to commit crimes and fucking murders.

none of these cars should be on the street without proper plates. i wish there was an app like there is in NYC for ticketing, but it’s able to identify fake tags and report a car without a plate and it gets towed the same day.

i wish PPA and PPD actually did something about this shit smh

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GoldenMonkeyRedux t1_jadxeho wrote

Just a reminder that security head bolt kits are available for not much at all online. They use security torx bolts (like the kind you see in public bathrooms on the turnpike, etc). They are far from foolproof, but they do make it slightly more difficult to remove your plates.

Edit: because most randos don't have the bit or key to remove them. Anyone worth their salt absolutely will. But it doesn't hurt to put them on.

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LFKhael t1_jadzq93 wrote

> because most randos don't have the bit

Just like with bicycles and getting mugged, you don't have to be unrobbable. You only need to look like a harder target compared to what's nearby.

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AgentDaxis t1_jadzmz1 wrote

Fuck the PPD and their lazy fat asses.

They refuse to enforce the law. Defund them.

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12kdaysinthefire t1_jaeii9n wrote

Dude City Council asked for this with their shitty car equality bullshit

−1

AgentDaxis t1_jaeoq63 wrote

Re-read the law.

Nothing in it prevents cops from pulling people over for obscured or lack of plates.

Cops just simply refuse to do their jobs.

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PettyAndretti t1_jaew4b9 wrote

Sidenote: I pay for an annual parking pass for my block. The PPA makes it such a pain in the ass to get a temp pass, when I had a rental last year it was easier for me to just remove the plate and cover the VIN. Drove around the city for 3 weeks in a Mercedes with no plates, in front of several cops, and didn’t encounter an issue once.

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_token_black t1_jaetdue wrote

We're almost at the point where it would be more beneficial to report on city agencies that are functioning correctly. Although we would haven't have much to read about honestly...

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avo_cado t1_jadrjpa wrote

Legalize civil forfeiture against cars without legal plates

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DixonWasAliveAgain t1_jadygrb wrote

This is completely unnecessary. No laws even need to be changed for these cars to be impounded. Our existing laws are not enforced.

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smug_masshole t1_jae12mv wrote

"Sorry your plate was stolen, but the police don't have to give your car back, because technically the case isn't against you, it's The People vs. '09 Honda Civic and 5 CDs Left in the Glovebox Since 2014."

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Ragoz t1_jadtxmc wrote

No. Civil forfeiture should never come back in any form. Taking someone's property, without charging and convicting them of a crime that the property was tied to, and then using the sale of that property to fund your own budget is horrible conflict of interest and practice.

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Fattom23 OP t1_jae5o97 wrote

So do you have a suggestion of what to do about the cars with the removed plates and the obscured (totally by random chance) VIN's that just park wherever?

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Ragoz t1_jae7wb1 wrote

If there is a violation, impound the vehicle.

From the PPA

>Impounded vehicles are not released until the driver presents certification of proper registration, insurance, and driver’s license. You must also pay the total amount due, including all outstanding tickets, fees, fines, and penalties before you can take possession of your vehicle.

Aaand its done! People did their job. The owner received their vehicle or maybe even located a stolen one. All without civil forfeiture which steals the property of legal owners with no cause and then sells it to profit the PPD.

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Fattom23 OP t1_jae9sv7 wrote

That's fair. I thought you were against removal of the vehicle; we're on the same page.

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Ragoz t1_jaeagxw wrote

Ah cool good. Civil forfeiture is completely different and it wasn't long ago that we put a stop to it here.

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lawtechie t1_jaeo35i wrote

This infuriates me more than it should.

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Disarray215 t1_jaeboj2 wrote

Don’t forget the paper plates, which are usually expired already.

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Darius_Banner t1_jaer5pk wrote

While we’re at it, it’s time to require front plates

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saticon t1_jaekha9 wrote

> VIN number

quietly seethes

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revreddit8 t1_jaeud7v wrote

Sir, what is your vehicle identification number number?

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Viperlite t1_jadz9dy wrote

It looked like one car in the video with no plate parked in Philly had a single window sticker from a non-I/M region (where safety, but not emission testing is required).

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colt6288 t1_jaeehkd wrote

This is everywhere all over the country now.

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TrentonMakes t1_jaedesk wrote

When I worked as a mechanic in my teens in west philly my boss had me to do this to park customer cars on the street to not get tickets, and nothing happened. Apparently ppa and the cops couldn’t do anything about it without a vin.

Today I just take my plate off and block my vin on my daily beater because I don’t want parking tickets. Otherwise it is registered, insured, inspections up to date. I’ve never gotten one nor have been towed and I park in a ppa zone. My weekend car, off-road truck, and motorcycles are in the garage so the plates stay on those. There really is zero enforcement of this. Plenty of other cars with visible plates to cite instead of wasting all this time on one without it.

Also can anyone show me where in the city code does it say they can tow away cars with vins blocked? If they could they would remove half the cars in south and west philly.

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GooFoYouPal t1_jaeeu2b wrote

So why would you be getting parking tickets if everything is legit and you’re not parked like a DH ? you don’t actually have to answer.

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