After outcry on social media, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued a memo clarifying how the state’s new law on license plate frames and covers should be enforced.
Florida Statute 320.262 took effect Oct. 1. Social media posts debating the legality of vanity license plate frames in particular played out on several platforms. Many of them obscure the outer edges of the plates and sometimes cover up the flavor text on the bottom of some tags.
Debate was further fueled by news headlines like, “Florida makes common license plate accessories illegal” and “Most license plate frames now illegal in Florida,” which is not entirely true.
ALSO READ: These Florida laws are going into effect on Oct. 1
The memo quotes the state statute, then says “this act does not prevent the use of a license plate frame as long as the frame does not obscure visibility of the following: the alpha numeric plate identifier and the decal located in the top right hand corner of the license plate."
The memo further states that “the Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles does not consider the information on the bottom of the plate to be a primary feature of the plate. A plate frame that impinges on the information at the top of the plate is permissible, as long as law enforcement is able to identify the state that issued the plate.”
Statute text specifies that drivers cannot use a “license plate obscuring device” that:
- Hides the plate from view
- Covers, obscures or “otherwise interferes with the legibility, angular visibility, or detectability of the primary features or details, including the license plate number or validation sticker, on the license plate.”
- Interferes with the ability to record the primary features or details, including the license plate number or validation sticker, on the license plate, like anti-camera license plate covers designed to stop red light cameras and toll booths from identifying plates.
Drivers who do so can be charged with a misdemeanor of the second degree, a misdemeanor of the first degree if they manufacture, sell, offer to sell, or otherwise distributes a license plate obscuring device, or a felony of the third degree if they use a license plate obscuring device to assist in committing a crime or in escaping from or avoiding detection or arrest in connection with committing such crime.
Law enforcement officers at various agencies across the state have said that in many cases of unintentional plate obscurement, drivers will be issued warnings on first offenses, as they educate residents about the new law.
