[jonasdegendt]

I got a ticket once for backing into a parking spot in one of the various the parking garages in Santa Monica, blew my mind as a European. After some Googling there didn't seem to be any consensus as to why you're not allowed to.

My hypotheses: The ability to check license plates on out of state cars where they're not required to have a front plate? Who knows.

[WmWsjA6B29B4nfk]

There are quite a few parking garages I've seen that have some sort of obstruction on a certain wall height (pipes, part of the next level, etc). In those cases backing up can be dangerous as drivers might not notice those obstructions with car sensors/camera being located much lower, thus causing collision damaging the car and the garage. Parking forward is safer because there is more visibility and front part of the car is typically lower than rear.

[wink]

In Germany there are tons of signs that you should not park this way when it's close to a wall, probably because of the exhaust fumes. Sure, it's not a law but I suppose the tenants or shops won't be happy if you follow the signs. Actually interesting thing to think about with electric cars now :)

[bloak]

In the UK when there are parking spaces next to a building with windows that may be open then there is often a notice telling people not to reverse-park because of the exhaust fumes. (So presumably there is an implicit exception for electric vehicles!)

[ghaff]

I'm not sure I've ever in my life heard of that. Though there are a fair number of states that don't require front license plates. (That said I'm not sure how many of those states don't issue two plates when someone is getting new ones.)

[jonasdegendt]

I'm pretty sure plenty of enthusiasts wont put on a front license plate if they don't have to by law, the Firebird I was driving at the time even had decorative covers[0] available to fill the slot the license plate would sit in. Looked pretty neat.

[0] https://cdn.dealeraccelerate.com/volo/1/19426/676178/1920x14...

[sokoloff]

I’m in MA where almost everyone is required to run two plates by law.

Even with the law, plenty of enthusiasts here don’t run a front plate except while getting the annual safety inspection done.

[devilbunny]

I live in a rear-plate-only state. You get one and only one.

If they only require one, why would they pay the expense for providing two? Especially as "two different cars driving around with the same license plate" is one of the things you have plates to prevent. If it were only about taxes, you'd have a prominent tax sticker and be done with it.

[ghaff]

My state switched from 1 plate to 2 plates (admittedly a long time ago) and if you had an old single plate there was no requirement to "upgrade" immediately. I assume the same thing has happened elsewhere. I only upgraded when the car failed state inspection because the plate had become less readable.

[devilbunny]

We get fresh plates with every redesign - you might be able to steal a tax-year sticker from someone's mailbox, but after X years (think it's six) they're going to redesign and an old plate will be obvious. Regardless of how long you've had the old one, when the new design comes up, everyone (except those who pay extra for a "themed" plate, not just a custom set of letters/numbers) gets a new plate.

[jackdh]

It's certainly a thing. I remember one Youtube creator who created a car with two fronts specifically to prank the parking lot officers [0].

[0] https://youtu.be/VVyekHp7Vfs?t=68