VA DMV cautions on license plate frames
Richard D. Holcomb, the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, is cautioning dealers to be careful on how they design their license plate frames, noting that Virginia law requires that all information must be clearly visible on mounted license plates.
Holcomb notes that a number of legislators have reported being stopped by law enforcement because their license plate number appeared to be registered to a vehicle other than the one being driven. This happened, he says, because the license plate frame covered the House of Delegates or Senate label at the bottom of the plate, which then resulted in incorrect vehicle information being returned to the police officer. These stops are not only an unnecessary inconvenience for both the officer and the
individual, but also reflect poorly on the dealer, he says.
Holcomb notes that the verbiage at the bottom of the license plate is the primary factor in determining to which vehicle the plate is registered and that it is essential that dealer plate frames do not obscure any of the information contained on a license plate.
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