Some readers think it was silly, or worse, for the General Assembly to ban fat frames that hide basic info -- state name, registration renewal stickers -- on car license plates (see today's Road Worrier column, with reader comments).
If they want to make sure that NC license plates are easily recognizable, then they should repeal all those "SPECIAL INTERST" license plates that are no where near the original White, RED, and Blue colors! - mike_cary
To claim that NC state troopers couldn't recognize a local plate (even one of the variations of vanity plates) is sort of demeaning to their ability. - shawnc1959
Maybe so. But -- quick! the car is speeding away! -- can you tell me what state is attached to the license plate you see here?
Not all local cars have local plates. I photographed this one in a Raleigh shopping center parking lot last year, before the new law was passed. The frame advertises a Triangle car dealer, but the plate is from Pennsylvania.
The law takes effect Dec. 1, with a $100 fine for violators. Here, excerpted from Senate Bill 1165, is the full text of the statute that was revised by the General Assembly this year (the new part is near the end):
SECTION 40.(a) If House Bill 1729, 2009 Regular Session, becomes law, then G.S. 20‑63(g), as amended by Section 3 of that bill, reads as rewritten:
"(g) Alteration, Disguise, or Concealment of Numbers. – Any operator of a motor vehicle who shall willfully mutilate, bend, twist, cover or cause to be covered or partially covered by any bumper, light, spare tire, tire rack, strap, or other device, or who shall paint, enamel, emboss, stamp, print, perforate, or alter or add to or cut off any part or portion of a registration plate or the figures or letters thereon, or who shall place or deposit or cause to be placed or deposited any oil, grease, or other substance upon such registration plates for the purpose of making dust adhere thereto, or who shall deface, disfigure, change, or attempt to change any letter or figure thereon, or who shall display a number plate in other than a horizontal upright position, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Any operator of a motor vehicle who shall willfully cover or cause to be covered any part or portion of a registration plate or the figures or letters thereon by any device designed or intended to prevent or interfere with the taking of a clear photograph of a registration plate by a traffic control or toll collection system using cameras commits an infraction and shall be penalized under G.S. 14‑3.1. Any operator of a motor vehicle who shall otherwise intentionally cover any number or registration renewal sticker on a registration plate with any material that makes the number or registration renewal sticker illegible commits an infraction and shall be penalized under G.S. 14‑3.1. Any operator of a motor vehicle who covers any registration plate with any frame or transparent clear transparent, clear, or color‑tinted cover that makes a number or letter on the plate, included in the vehicle's registration, the State name on the plate, or a number or month on the registration renewal sticker on the plate illegible commits an infraction and shall be penalized under G.S. 14‑3.1."
SECTION 40.(b) This section becomes effective December 1, 2010, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter, editor and blogger since 1976, he took over the
Comments
Flawed reasoning
Mon, 09/27/2010 - 07:04 — shawnc1959"But -- quick! the car is speeding away! -- can you tell me what state is attached to the license plate you see here?"
Sorry, but that rationale is flawed, for several reasons: 1) some plate designs from other states, particularly those where the state name is written in some form of script rather than block letters, are difficult enough to read when you're on top of them, never mind if you're trying to read it on a vehicle moving away from you at a high speed. Ensuring those are unobscured will likely make little to no difference for law enforcement officers; 2) the logic that out-of-state drivers are going to stop to pull their frame off before they cross the state line to assist NC law enforcement is fantasy, and the law is probably only going to end up as a black eye for NC tourism. And your reference to a local car dealer frame with an out-of-state plate isn't really relevant ... if they are an NC resident (as presumed by your statement), I believe they were to have registered the car in state (and get an NC plate) within 30 days of becoming a resident, so they've got other potential legal issues besides a fat frame.
For the toll roads?
Tue, 09/21/2010 - 13:43 — phelpsgatesMy guess is that the purpose of this law (and the reason it's being passed now) is for the benefit of the automatic cameras that will (at least in theory) collect plate numbers of cars on the toll roads like the new "Triangle Expressway" extension of I-540. Anybody want to bet whether the cameras are going to do the job? They supposedly tested them successfully a while back, but my suspicion is that this is going to be a disaster in the making: just wait till an AFC plate gets turned into AEG by mud splatters, and some puzzled person gets billed (repeatedly). Unsuspecting out of state drivers (like that PA car) are going to be the chief violators of this plate-covering law, and a bunch of $100 tickets won't do much for NC tourism.