Should this license plate frame lead to a $130 fine?

The point has been made: License plates must be entirely visible – including the word “Arizona.”

So it makes sense for the Legislature to now dial back a strict law that went into effect Jan. 1.

Last year, a bill passed by the Legislature allowed police to stop any vehicle with the state name even partially obscured on its license plate. Fines could be as high as $130.

Now lawmakers are considering amending that. A motorist could be cited for the plate violation only if stopped for something else. And the fine for the first violation would be only $30.

There are good reasons for having license plates totally visible. But now that people understand that, it is reasonable to make the law less punitive while still keeping it in effect.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion. Tags for this post: Crime/Safety, Editorials, Opinion-Crime/Safety, Opinion-Crime/Safety-Editorials, page-b01. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.