ORLANDO, Fla. – The “License vs Law” debate has sparked widespread confusion for weeks as Florida Statutes now upgrade the penalty to a second-degree misdemeanor for anyone covering or interfering with the visibility of a license plate’s primary features, specifically the number and the validation sticker.
Now the big question is, “What’s being done to clarify the law and get everyone on the same page about enforcement?’”
Ted Smith, president of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association, said on his end, work to clarify the language of the law for his more-than 900 dealers and thousands of customers started immediately.
“The first and foremost thing is we want to have safety for our law enforcement. That’s the whole purpose of having a tag on your car to begin with,” Smith said, adding he sent a memo to his auto dealers suggesting they toss out any advertising frames they had concerns about.
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Turns out, those concerns cost at least one auto dealer upwards of $7,000 after Smith said the business didn’t want to risk putting a license plate frame on a vehicle that obstructed too much information.
But what is too much?
Here’s an example of what the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said is acceptable:
Despite the top and bottom writing on the plate being partially covered, the alphanumeric sequence in the middle, along with the tag at the top right, are 100% visible.
That is what Smith says is the primary way law enforcement can identify the owner of a vehicle and where it is registered.
In fact, Smith explained there are two separate laws that need to be understood. One addresses license plate frames and the other tackles “obscuring devices.”
The latter is what’s causing confusion because it’s really meant to go after “bad people doing bad things” Smith explained.
“They want that for the purpose of perhaps running tolls; maybe they want to rob a bank and get away with a crime,” he said.
To his understanding and many experts News 6 has spoken to about this, license plate frames were never meant to be considered obscuring devices, though our investigators pulled records from a handful of police departments who did ticket drivers for them.
[WATCH: What are Florida’s newest rules for license plate frames?]
Which is why another prompt course of action from auto dealers was their offer to remove frames for concerned customers and, in a few cases, suggesting they will cover the ticket tab if a customer finds themselves in hot water.
Rep. Doug Bankson, R-District 39, is a sponsor for the legislation. He addressed the situation, offering the following statement:
“I am happy to hear that the confusion around HB 253 that went into effect October 1st of this year is beginning to resolve. It was never the intent of this law to penalize license plate frames. License plate standards have been in place since 2015 and that has not changed. The purpose of this law is only focused on the alphanumeric number and car registration sticker on the license plate being covered to avoid paying tolls that help fund our transportation and infrastructure. I’m supportive in the future of any clarifying language if necessary so that the intention of the law is clear for both law enforcement and public at large.”