2008 Smart Fortwo: My Turn

Can you fix the plate on the G8 while you got the tools out?

The first thought that went through my head when I saw the headline "2008 Smart Fortwo: My Turn" was: "Oh, I'm so sorry".

And yes, please fix the G8 while you're at it. At least it has finally been acknowledged.

06scooby, I managed to drive a car without a plate for a year before finally getting harassed by a parking scumbag in LA.

parking "scumbag" when most people know it's illegal to drive without a front plate in California? lol.

I got a "fix-it" ticket in LA for not having a front license plate. The irony was, I DID have a front license plate installed, but was secretly CONSIDERING removing it. I protested, but to no avail. I wasn't too upset, however, since I noted that my tags were expired - so maybe that was the metermaid's idea of a friendly reminder.

Yeah, I love it when people are scofflaws and then get pi$$ed when they are caught.

I understand not having a front plate because i've tried to fight that battle before, but in all the pictures I just noticed it doesn't have a rear plate either. Is it in the window or something?

"You've got good visibility too"

Of course you do! You only have a couple of feet of sheet metal to look over before you see the sea of bumpers whizzing by you!

Why would you take the Smart out of the city?

The ForTwo is too slow and unmaneuverable to run from the cops. Therefore it is exempt from having a rear plate.

Sorry, I had no idea this is the MeterScum Lovefest.

FWIW, I'll always love the story of one of those jerks getting pulled over by a REAL cop (a detective). The MeterScum ran a red light and then tried to disobey the detective who pulled him over for it. It turned into a big deal with a black and white coming too, the MeterScum's boss showed up and the MeterScum & boss almost getting arrested for resisting arrest/interfering with a police officer.

It's stories like that which warm the heart.

Where's the "after" photo, Kurt? Hehehe

You're right. The people need to unite and eliminate meter maid jobs.
We need to cheer when a cop beats up one of those scums like this:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/05/16/2008-05-16_traffic_enforcer_says_officer_beat_him_b.html
They seem to be making too much money for how little education they have anyways.

I gotta agree with desmo

Metermaids only give out tickets to losers who seem to think rules don't apply to them.

Complaining about them only shows where you stand in the world.

Well said firstwagon, but they don't like it being pointed out that they are losers that think the rules don't apply to them. That is why they hate those that are paid to point it out to them. (and yes I have gotten a parking ticket before and my response was the Homer Simpson "Doh!", not "how dare that scum catch me when I goof")

Ever watch Parking Wars? Nothing more entertaining than watching someone argue when they are wrong and there is no gray area to how wrong they are.

If you get a parking ticket with the Smart do they just give you half a ticket?

http://www.aetv.com/parking-wars/

to bad they only show legit tickets being issues on parking wars. As a resident of Philly, we all know that PPA is very well known for issuing bogus tickets, to have their quotas met.

but it's still entertaining when the scums do get caught on camera.

MeterScum, like Highway Patrol Scum exist to punish taxpayers. They do not provide peace, security or protect private property. They are designed expressly to punish drivers. Their entire existence is based on collecting revenue.

FWIW, I've been illegelly ticketed and fought the MeterScum. And won. Yeah it took 6 months and I had to miss work but the MeterScum asserted my tires were on the blue lines of a handicap spot. They were. I've got a placard. But still I got hit with a $371 ticket because my tires were on the blue lines.

I fought it and ended up winning. Since that time it was uncovered the MeterScum were scouring San Diego writing up every disabled person if the person's tires touched the blue lines (a new law made this illegal for everyone!) surrounding a handicap spot.

So would I cry if they did away with a malicious forces that only exists to torment and harass?

blueguydotcom,
who the crap is making those crazy laws in your neighborhood? It's sounding like home owner's association horror stories.
The MeterScum would not be to blame in that story you give. Whoever's passing those laws would be.

You must live in a rich neighborhood that's attempting to weed out as many people as possible so they can keep the place to themselves?
Rich people make some scary illogical laws. Well, very logical. Those laws protect their personal interests.

Our Smart didn't come with front or rear license plate holes, let alone installed brackets. It's quite common for nicer cars not to come with the front ones (my girlfriend's Mini, for instance), but the rear was just ridiculous.

However, because California doesn't require you to have a temporary plate on a new car prior to getting the official plates, we've been fine. Unless we got pulled over for some other infraction, the little piece of paper would have sufficed. Law enforcement and meter maids would assume that we only recently got our brand new Smart. It's not unheard of for people to leave their cars like this forever -- Adam Carolla often mentions he does this with his cars and has never been tagged or ticketed. Follow that advice at your own discretion Californians.

I cannot believe you did not take this golden opportunity to put the license plate on at a 45 degree angle. Kurt needs to be punished: maybe force him to drive the Smart for a week!

Jriz, actually the metermaids in San Diego will check the dealer tags on the window and if they can't read it - like your salesguy put it on wrong - they'll ticket you.

I've actually watched the Meterscum check out my cars. I think the placard draws their attention first - they're itching to ticket someone for not paying for parking in a metered spot. They look for tags, then a front plate (LAX MeterScum love the front plate rule) and finally they go to the window to look at the dealer-tags. If they can't see any single digit, you get a ticket....

jahfakin--totally hear ya with the PPA--lol. I go to Drexel, and when I went to a friend's place there was a PPA parking violation on her Vespa chained to a pole right outside her own house. FAIL.

The lesson is move your ass out of cities that require paid parking!
Move out of cities that have weekly street cleaning!

Those cities are run by scumbags. Move to a city or a rural area where parking is always free.