Wow, I have used hitch bike racks forever. On a motor home I had, I had 4 in the front, and 4 in the back.

I always use on my car with 2 to 4 bikes in the back. Never an issue.

When I am towing my boat, you cannot see my rear license plate.

Is this for real?

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Very true. I'm trying to find out if there is demerit points earned with this right now...

 
You could stick a license plate mount on your rack and move it there. But mostly it sounds like the cop is a dick, I haven't had any troubles with my rack and the police.

What kind of rack do you have? I have a 1UP USA and as it is just a once bike carrier it sits low enough it does not cover the plate. Might be an option if you keep getting harassed.

Your boat trailer has its own plate. Maybe we need bike rack plates.

that's sarcasm.

Try, but is the cop saying you have to see the car plate?

What he did makes no sense other than he was bored.

But, will see what the experts say

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I have a Kuat NV rack & I have never had an issue at all. In fact, here in Georgia, we don't have front plates & obstructing your back plate with a trailer is pretty common. Some people's plates are actually destroyed because the hitch ball on many older pickups is so close that a trailer will rub against the plate. I've still never heard of anyone getting pulled over for that.

I'm very pro-police, but this guy sounds like he was just being a dick. There is probably some obscure law in every state about obstructing your plate, but it's one of those laws that is rarely enforced.

After reading your post I did a quick internet search and it seems that although it's not common it does occur. Mostly seems to be people with out of state license plates getting ticketed or its used as an excuse to pull you over to get you on a more serious charge (eg dui). All states have an obscure law on the books that says you can't have either your rear tail lights and rear plate obstructed and that the plate has to be lit at night which eliminates the ability of putting the plate in the rear window. So far, there isn't a system yet that attaches the rack/bikes to allow for both the plate to be attached and lit and also the brake lights to be visible. There are a few that come close but not fully (product idea...).

In regards to trailers obstructing the rear lights and plate they don't fit into this category since all trailers on the road have to have its own license plate and lights.

Funny thing is, where I live some of the cops drive around with hitch bike racks on their squad cars.

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Train to race. Race to win.

It stinks but it happens. What is interesting is that in Florida I know somebody who got a ticket for this from a cop who had a bike rack and bike on their police car blocking their plate at that same time. It's really frustrating. Sorry you got a ticket.

My bike is in and out of two vehicles. No grease transfer in years of doing this. Just be careful about what the drivetrain is near when moving the bike in and out of the vehicle and when in transport. In my car the bike is on its side with the drivetrain up, in the van it's strapped to the side. It's not hard.

I live in Iowa & have had a friend with a Kuat rack get pulled over for this. He put reflective stickers on the rack that were his plate code.

I'll ask him if the cop said this was ok to do or if he did it to be a dick. He travels every weekend for road & cx races, so I am guessing the latter.

Many jurisdictions have bike rack plates. Australia and Europe?
IIRC, some are rack specific plates, while others you get a replica of your car plate.

Not entirely true... At least in my state, it only applies to trailers (+load) over a certain weight (i think the cutoff is 1800lbs)

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"They've done studies, ya know... 60% of the time, it works EVERY time."

I was thinking of my state which requires it for all trailers.

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Train to race. Race to win.

This is one of those frustrating situations where there is no good answer. Of course it's the law that plates can't be obscured, the point of plates is for the vehicle to be easily identifiable. But there are few plate holders for racks, none with lights of which I'm aware, and screwing your plate off your vehicle each time would be a royal hassle. Maybe one could get a third plate for the rack? But it would still technically require illumination...

http://www.1upusa.com/product-plateholder.html

Wonder if you can get a third license plate to permanently leave on the rack?

And still technically illegal because no illumination.

Pretty silly ticket if he wasn't looking for something more severe. Unfortunatly a nessesary law. Where I used to live the locals liked to leave their bike racks on instead of renewing their registrations (and insurance generally). Stuff like that is why we can't have nice things, though getting towed tends to put a nice bow on things.

What state are you in? Have you read the relevant statute? What does it say? Have you looked for any case law, footnotes to the statute or inquired of an attorney? At first blush, I'd say a judge might give you a break and leave you with court costs and a dismissal, but I'd do some research before heading to court.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Is it any more silly than requiring license plates in the first place? What's the point of a license plate if it can't be readily seen?

What I find frustrating is that there appears to be no easy solution.

Silly ticket, not silly law.

I might have stopped him for the obstructed plate, but if that is the only issue there's no way I'll give him a ticket for it. Same idea on headlights/tail lights. It's a decent reason to contact somebody but the ticket isn't with the effort of writing it.

As for an easy solution, the majority of states just require the plate be visible. I've seen several people out the plate in the back window if they leave the rack on. Or clamp it to the rack if temporary.

Yeah, you'd hope this would be a warning or fix-it ticket.

Back window or rack mount works during the day, less visible at night. Could slap an LED light on there to be compliant, at this point don't think such a rack mount exists. As somehow else noted, cops sometimes transport their bikes this way in violation of the requirement!

Depends on the state, but most emergency vehicles are exempt from equipment requirements. Just like they're exempt from traffic laws while operating with lights/siren.

That's not always true--I was an EMT in NJ a long time ago, and at that time, there was no legal cover for an ambulance breaking the law (e.g. running a red light), yet you were expected to do so. Scary if something ever went wrong, though whether a court would actually hold an ambulance driver responsible--criminally or civilly--for something the system expected him/her to do is another question.

It's $110 fine, and I can't see anything about demerit points. Not worth hiring an attorney for. I've removed the rack from my car for the time being.


For the poster above who has 2 bikes in his car constantly.... It can't be done cleanly in my vehicle. I drive a Jetta 4 door. The trunk is pretty small, and while I can fit one bike in there, it is a huge hassle taking both wheels off to fit. Putting the bike in the backseat is what I did before and it was very messy when it is a daily routine.
I also mountain bike regularly, which means lots of mud, dirt and dust. It would get all over the trunk and into my cabin pretty easily.

A rack is the best option in my case. It is infuriating that I paid $250 for the hitch (includes install), $500 for the rack, and now find out that I have to pay a fine for using a system which is commonplace.