The in basket: Bob Hulet writes to say he sees many vehicles
“with the rear license plate blocked by scooters, ice chests, bikes
and dark grey plastic. I thought rear license plates are supposed
to be exposed but it appears as no one is concerned about this
anymore,” he said.
“Should situations like this be reported and to who, and how do
you report it if you can’t read the plates?”
“There are also a large amount of vehicles no longer displaying
the plates on the front, as they chose to put on organizational
plates or none at all,” he added. “A lot of sports cars are in
violation of this, as the manufacture doesn’t put a place for the
plate.”
The out basket: State Trooper Russ Winger says, “Troopers do
encounter the situations you describe where license plates are
obscured by attachments to the vehicle such as trailer hitches and
trailer hitch racks. Another situation encountered is the use of
dark tinted license plate covers as well as oversize license plate
frames that may obscure all or parts of license tabs. All of these
situations are violations of (state law) and as such can get you
stopped by a trooper or any other law enforcement officer.” So is
having a plate covered with dirt.
“Our troopers are trained and expected to stop violations of the
various motor codes, which they can and do,” Russ continued. “The
enforcement taken is left up to the individual trooper. Many
situations are temporary, such as a vehicle hauling bikes with a
bumper rack or some other case where the plate is temporarily
obscured. We expect our troopers to make a reasonable common sense
decision on any enforcement. Actual citations are rare.
“In more permanent situations where plates are obscured such as
with a bumper hitch ball (usually only a single letter or number
obscured) or tinted plate covers which can decrease the readability
of the license, the troopers still makes a judgment call on actual
enforcement. A corrective notice, if warranted, can be issued if
the trooper feels that the violation should be corrected
immediately or as soon as practical. If the corrective action is
not taken within the allotted time period then the trooper has the
option to actually issue a citation to the driver.
“There is also an officer safety issue with obscured license
plates,” he said. “Troopers radio in the location and license plate
of the vehicle being stopped. If the officer cannot read the plate
clearly, day or night, and calls in the incorrect or partial
license plate, if something goes wrong and the vehicle flees,
valuable information may be lost.”
When late Trooper Tony Radulescu was killed, the fact he had
radioed in the correct license number of the killer’s car before
getting out of his car led to quick identification of the suspect,
Russ added. “What may seem to be a simple violation such as an
obscured license plate may well be more important than one might
initially think.”
I have written before that I can spot a car or truck without a
front license plate at least once among any 40 I see coming at me
on the highway, even though they are legally required. Last week, I
saw three in a string of 20. None were older antique cars that are
entitled to have only a rear plate, as I am reminded whenever I
write about this, and as I was again this time in a reader
comment.
I have to assume law enforcement officers have other things that
demand their attention than pulling over vehicless for license
plate violations.
Deputy Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s
Department, agrees. “When the opportunity presents itself,” he
said, “sheriff’s deputies will stop vehicles (for this) and
question the driver / registered owner and take action as deemed
appropriate.
“However… as you surmised, most of the time deputies are dealing
with issues considered more urgent and they have to ignore the
violation for the time being. Additionally, they may notice
the plate violation but not be in a position where they can safely
conduct a vehicle traffic stop without incurring a risk of creating
a traffic safety hazard by doing so.”