Drivers can be charged for hiding Florida license tags

An appeals court has ruled that a Florida driver can face charges for obscuring the lettering on vehicle license tags with a frame.

Many were surprised plates with favorite sports teams or car dealerships can get you pulled over. While this is nothing new, the court ruling reaffirms the law that drivers must keep a clear, clean and fully visible license plate on their vehicles.

“State statute says you can’t obstruct your tag in any way, and that’s the myflorida.com, the number, the graphics, the bottom line, the registration sticker, or any features of that tag cannot be covered, altered, defaced, or obscured,” said Corporal Phil Mullen with the Cape Coral Police Department.

The rule is now causing some drivers to pay closer attention to their plates.

“Yeah I might have to modify my wife’s license plate frame,” said driver Bryan Lemoni.

Cape Coral Police say safety is their top priority.

“It’s a state statute that we can enforce. Do we all the time? I mean, officers have discretion with anything. That’s why you know if somebody’s two miles over the speed limit. The officers are gonna look for the one that’s 15 or 20 over the speed limit because that’s a safety concern or the stop sign runners or red light runners,” Corporal Phil Mullen said.

WINK News asked Cape Police about those dealership frames. They said even though they put them on the cars, it’s still up to the driver and operator to make sure the car isn’t in violation of the law.