[PAA-Discuss] Texas makes it illegal to frame your car license

[Sarah Gonzales]

All,

the other day, I was pulled over the other day while STOPPED at a  
TRAFFIC light! and there was absolutely NO reason for the officer to  
pull me over except.....

it is now probable cause for police to pull you over if you have a  
FRAME or BRACKET on your license plates as they claim it "obscures"  
the info on the plate.

You can thank Peggy Hamric and Jon Lindsay of SD7 for that one.

Text of S.B. No. 439 is below
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/78R/billtext/SB00439F.HTM

Since I was 1). at a stop light, i.e - not speeding as per usual 2).  
I had no lights out on my vehicle 3). nothing was out of place on my  
car, I am confident that this is the reason I was pulled over - that  
and my impeach Bush / political bumper stickers probably contributed.

be careful out there folks and I would highly recommend

1. removing any frames / brackets around your license plates
2. make sure you have BOTH plates on your car - front and back. We  
also got pulled over in a *different* car for no FRONT plate on the  
way to the convention.

thankfully for us, we weren't cited, but still -

	http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/texasplate.asp

<snip from snopes>
Claim:   The state of Texas has passed a law making it illegal to  
have a frame or bracket around the license plate on your car.

Status:   Multiple — see below:

     * Texas recently enacted new rules prohibiting the obscuring of  
motor vehicle license plates with stickers or frames:   True.
     * Texas has absolutely prohibited the use of license plate  
frames or brackets on motor vehicles:   False.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2003]


     Are you all aware of this new LAW?? I wasn't!!

     A new law was passed on September 1st that it is illegal to have  
a bracket around your license plate.

     Brackets such as; dealership, sports team, college alumni. No  
brackets are allowed of any sort!

     If a police officer pulls you over for having a bracket around  
your license plate it is a $200 fine. Yes $200...thanks for the notice!

     Marvin Zindler had a special report on this last night. People  
are being pulled over and given tickets that had no idea about this  
new law.

     Pass this message on to co-worker, friends and family

Origins:   In
May 2003 the Texas state legislature passed SB 439, a bill relating  
to motor vehicles with altered or obscured license plates. The bill  
was signed into law by the governor in June 2003 and went into effect  
on 1 September 2003.

The purpose of the law was to make it illegal for the operators of  
motor vehicles to obscure the letters and numbers on their license  
plates by applying reflective material that makes plates hard to  
read, or by affixing stickers, attaching brackets, or using any other  
material that covers up a portion of the license numbers on the  
plates or otherwise obscures clear reading of the plate numbers:

     Senate Bill 439 amends Section 502.409(a), Transportation Code,  
to provide that, in addition to current statutory restrictions, a  
person commits an offense if the person attaches to or displays on a  
motor vehicle a number plate or registration insignia that:

   # has identification marks that, because of reflective matter, are  
not plainly visible at all times during daylight;

   # has an attached illumination device or emblem not authorized by  
law and that interferes with the readability of the letters or  
numbers on the plate or the name of the state in which the vehicle is  
registered; or

   # alters or obscures the letters, numbers, color, or original  
design features of the plate.

The intent of these revisions was for Texas to bring their motor  
vehicle code up to date (as many other states have already done) to  
prohibit newer means for obscuring the readability of license plates,  
particularly schemes aimed at preventing the recording of plate  
numbers by cameras or other automated devices. The new law does not  
say that drivers may absolutely not place brackets, frames, or  
stickers (other than registration stickers) on or around their  
license plates; it says specifically that plates may not be covered  
by material that alters or interferes with the readability of plate  
numbers or the name of the state in which the vehicle is registered  
or another original design feature of the plate (i.e., some aspect of  
the plate, such as the color or logo, which helps identify the  
issuing state).

Of Texas course, regardless of the intent behind the law, how it's  
interpreted and enforced is what motorists care about most. If having  
a license plate frame which covers even a tiny portion of the word  
'Texas' is considered a violation (even though the word itself may  
still be quite readable), then the practical effect of the law is to  
ban license plate frames, because nearly every frame will overlap  
some portion of the top and bottom of a license plate. And what about  
specialty plates — if a motorist has one of the many license plates  
designed to represent a particular Texas college or university (such  
as the Prairie View A&M University plate shown to the left), is it a  
violation to obscure some or all of the school name or logo, items  
which have nothing to do with the information displayed on standard  
license plates?

We wish we could provide a definitive answer, but we haven't been  
able to get one out of Texas officials. The Texas Department of  
Transportation (DOT) told us that they only issue license plates;  
they don't interpret motor vehicle laws. The Texas Department of  
Public Safety (DPS) provided us with the ambiguous answer that "the  
new language could affect license plate brackets, borders or frames  
if they interfere with the 'readability' of the state where the  
vehicle is registered" and noted that "DPS policy and interpretation  
are not binding on law enforcement agencies around the state." In  
other words, it's up to every local police department to interpret  
the new law as they see fit, and any definitive interpretation will  
only come once some cases involving this law have been brought before  
the Texas judicial system.