Can You Drive Without Front Plates in Massachusetts?
License plates here in Massachusetts are a funny thing. I think we take them more seriously than almost any other state in America.
I remember hearing my dad and grandfather having a conversation about license plates when I was a kid. My father had secured a coveted "low-number" plate for his Chevy Blazer. I was fascinated that low-number plates had status. They are still so popular that the Registry of Motor Vehicles actually has a lottery for them to this day.
Both my dad and grandfather were also all about vanity plates.
There's another status plate here in Massachusetts that is becoming rarer each passing year. The OG green plates, which were last issued in 1987, are slowly going extinct. Why are they so popular? Because they are grandfathered in to allow owners to only have one plate in the rear of the car. No front plate was issued for the old-style green numbered plates.
"If you've got a red, white and blue Massachusetts plate, you need to have both the front and back plates displayed on the vehicle," Fairhaven Police Captain Michael Botelho said.
The exception is the green plates.
"There are still a few of them out there on the SouthCoast," Botelho said. "If they are still in good shape, they are fine to display on the back of your vehicle. I've even seen people touch up the green letters and numbers with paint to make sure they stay legible and they can still use them."
However, if you are still using a green plate that is illegible or in bad shape, you could be disappointed the next time you go for an inspection sticker.
"They can fail you for it and make you get a new one," Botelho said.
The new plate would be of the red, white and blue variety, as the registry is no longer issuing green plates in Massachusetts.