News
Improperly covered plates can be cited by police
By Jim Lamb, Green Valley News
Although it’s now illegal to obscure the word “Arizona” on the rear license plate, so far, not everyone has received the message.
If a car owner is cited and is convicted, the fine could range from $110 to $299, depending on the traffic court that has jurisdiction.
Usually, the offense is triggered if a car has a license plate holder that obscures the top inch or so, often carrying the name of a car dealer, repair shop or something to show team support, such as “Diamondbacks,” “Arizona State” or “Wildcats.”
The law is easy to understand.
It says, “a person shall maintain each license plate so it is clearly legible and so that the name of this state at the top of the license plate shall not be obscured.”
A quick check of a midtown Green Valley parking lot Friday noted 42 legal license plates and four offending ones.
At the Interstate 19 Border Patrol checkpoint south of Amado Monday morning, a Department of Public Safety vehicle was positioned so the driver could check license plates.
Arizona has at least 41 different kinds of special plates, sometimes called vanity plates. They range from Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Historical Society to Transplant Awareness (organ donor) to Veterans and White Mountain Apache Tribe.
Medal of Honor awardees and families of fallen police officers can also get special plates.
By midday Friday, the DPS Motor Vehicle Division office in Phoenix said it had no reading on how many drivers may have been cited so far.
Said the office, “We do not have a records management system that would allow us to actively track individual traffic violations.”
But it also noted that, “this is only a revision to an existing traffic law which is already preprinted on our warning/repair orders.”
One portion of the new law is very clear, “A person shall maintain each license plate so that it is clearly legible and so that the name of this state at the top of the license plate is not obscured.”
It is listed as a primary offense. An officer can stop a driver just for this violation instead of stopping the driver for another violation and writing a ticket for also the license plate infraction.
There is no “grandfather clause,” where offending license plates that were in place before Jan. 1 are still considered legal.
Out-of-state cars are not affected by the law.
About 214,500 of Arizona’s 6.6 million tags are vanity plates. Applicants can pay a special fee to send a message in seven letters.
But there are lots of no-no’s. Anything the department deems offensive, words about liquor and alcohol and plates that contain “H8” standing for “hate” are banned.
jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749
If a car owner is cited and is convicted, the fine could range from $110 to $299, depending on the traffic court that has jurisdiction.
Usually, the offense is triggered if a car has a license plate holder that obscures the top inch or so, often carrying the name of a car dealer, repair shop or something to show team support, such as “Diamondbacks,” “Arizona State” or “Wildcats.”
The law is easy to understand.
It says, “a person shall maintain each license plate so it is clearly legible and so that the name of this state at the top of the license plate shall not be obscured.”
A quick check of a midtown Green Valley parking lot Friday noted 42 legal license plates and four offending ones.
At the Interstate 19 Border Patrol checkpoint south of Amado Monday morning, a Department of Public Safety vehicle was positioned so the driver could check license plates.
Arizona has at least 41 different kinds of special plates, sometimes called vanity plates. They range from Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Historical Society to Transplant Awareness (organ donor) to Veterans and White Mountain Apache Tribe.
Medal of Honor awardees and families of fallen police officers can also get special plates.
By midday Friday, the DPS Motor Vehicle Division office in Phoenix said it had no reading on how many drivers may have been cited so far.
Said the office, “We do not have a records management system that would allow us to actively track individual traffic violations.”
But it also noted that, “this is only a revision to an existing traffic law which is already preprinted on our warning/repair orders.”
One portion of the new law is very clear, “A person shall maintain each license plate so that it is clearly legible and so that the name of this state at the top of the license plate is not obscured.”
It is listed as a primary offense. An officer can stop a driver just for this violation instead of stopping the driver for another violation and writing a ticket for also the license plate infraction.
There is no “grandfather clause,” where offending license plates that were in place before Jan. 1 are still considered legal.
Out-of-state cars are not affected by the law.
About 214,500 of Arizona’s 6.6 million tags are vanity plates. Applicants can pay a special fee to send a message in seven letters.
But there are lots of no-no’s. Anything the department deems offensive, words about liquor and alcohol and plates that contain “H8” standing for “hate” are banned.
jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749
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