LADOT To Begin Crackdown on Missing Front License Plates

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles Police Department, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), administers the City’s Photo Red Light Program (PRL). The PRL Program is dependent upon the compliance of California motorists displaying their front license plate on their vehicles. California Vehicle Code Section 5200 states, "When two license plates are issued by the department [DMV] for a vehicle, they shall be attached to the vehicle for which they were issued, one in the front and the other in the rear."
Currently, a large number of Los Angeles motorists fail to display their front license plate on their vehicles. Many believe it distracts from their vehicles’ "aesthetic beauty" and fail to place it on the front of their vehicle. Diane Cunningham, Parking Administrator for LADOT announced that beginning Monday, July 16, 2001, Parking Enforcement Officers will begin including the enforcement of front license plates on all vehicles cited during their routine course of enforcement. Parking Enforcement Officers will check all vehicles cited for parking violations, to see if the cited vehicle is displaying a front license plate. If not, that section will be added to the original violation. Violators will be required to show proof of compliance and be assessed a court processing fee to correct the situation.
The PRL program is currently in its seventh month of operation in the City of Los Angeles. There are currently eight intersections equipped with PRL enforcement cameras. Those intersections are:

Wilshire Boulevard and Westwood Boulevard

National Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard

6th Street and Alvarado Street

3rd Street and Vermont

Imperial Highway and Figueroa Street

Rodeo Road and La Brea Avenue

Victory Boulevard and Laurel Canyon Avenue

Winnetka Avenue and Sherman Way

The PRL program for the City of Los Angeles is a three and one half-year program to impact red light-related collisions at high incident locations. Vehicles entering the intersections on the red phase activate cameras placed at selected intersections and a series of photographs are taken of the vehicle and the driver at the time of the signal change. Officers of the Los Angeles Police Department review each photograph and determine if the violation meets issuance standards. If the officers determine a violation has occurred, the registered owner is sent the citation in the mail within 11 days. Drivers are afforded all the rights and options of those citations issued by a police officer in person, including traffic school if eligible.