3 ms·

> They really don’t, because vehicles are frequently driven by people who did not register them. Someone else driving your car doesn’t prevent the police from

by dahart 4y ago

> They really don’t, because vehicles are frequently driven by people who did not register them. Someone else driving your car doesn’t prevent the police from compelling you to tell them who drove your car. The point is the police can come to you. Different story if the car’s stolen, of course, but license plates in fact are used often as the first point of contact to identify drivers, regardless of whether it is their car. Without the plate, there might be nothing to go on, right? Your other corrections are valid, I was imprecise with my point. Do you agree with parent that plates are pointless? I was only trying to point out the utility and reasons for the existing system of licensing and registration, plates, IDs, and stickers. I can see parent is making more of a political statement than one of actual utility, but maybe also important to keep in mind that purpose and utility of the various parts of this scheme look different depending on who you are.

kube-system 4y ago
No I think plates are important, for the purpose of correlating a vehicle back to the registered owner. And this can be used, in turn, to look up a lot of the other data you pointed out, even if it does not do so directly. > Without the plate, there might be nothing to go on, right? There’s the VIN, but they’re difficult to see at a distance, and don’t indicate the jurisdiction of registration for out of state vehicles, and so, they’d be a PITA for most things states care about using plates for.
- mnahkies 4y ago
  Difficult to see at a distance is a little charitable - all cars I've encountered the vin is in the engine bay. Without a license plate, all you have to go on is make / model / colour and any obvious modifications, essentially the same as seeing a random human but with less cardinality since vehicles are mass produced
  - rad_gruchalski 4y ago
    The VIN number in modern cars is located in multiple places. Usually: engine mount, central tunnel, under the windscreen, often in the trunk.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    They’re normally externally visible at the lower corner of your windshield. Authorities often do use these numbers when verifying the identity of parked cars or if they suspect an issue with the plate.

by dahart 4y ago

kube-system 4y ago

No I think plates are important, for the purpose of correlating a vehicle back to the registered owner. And this can be used, in turn, to look up a lot of the other data you pointed out, even if it does not do so directly. > Without the plate, there might be nothing to go on, right? There’s the VIN, but they’re difficult to see at a distance, and don’t indicate the jurisdiction of registration for out of state vehicles, and so, they’d be a PITA for most things states care about using plates for.

mnahkies 4y ago
Difficult to see at a distance is a little charitable - all cars I've encountered the vin is in the engine bay. Without a license plate, all you have to go on is make / model / colour and any obvious modifications, essentially the same as seeing a random human but with less cardinality since vehicles are mass produced
- rad_gruchalski 4y ago
  The VIN number in modern cars is located in multiple places. Usually: engine mount, central tunnel, under the windscreen, often in the trunk.
- kube-system 4y ago
  They’re normally externally visible at the lower corner of your windshield. Authorities often do use these numbers when verifying the identity of parked cars or if they suspect an issue with the plate.