Plate visibility becomes a legal issue in Florida
Apparently, everyone in South Florida has a framed car license plate; either adorned with the logo of the brand of your car, the dealer or your favorite sports team. This could put motorists in serious trouble. Last Wednesday, a Miami court of appeals ruled that a police patrol acted lawfully when it stopped a motorist whose frame partially hid the word "Florida" on the license plate of his car, but not the number or registration.
The driver, identified with the name of Marcelo Pena, was arrested for driving with a suspended license, as well as for the drugs found in his vehicle. It turns out that Florida law prohibits any obstruction of the word "Florida" on license plates. "The Legislature is in charge of the laws that govern our streets and highways", Judge Robert Luck wrote in the document, "and it has made it clear that the word 'Florida' cannot be hidden on license plates."
A Miami-Dade County police patrol stopped Pena in 2015 at West Kendall. The Pena SUV had a silver frame that read Grand Prize Chevrolet, a car dealer, which is currently called Bomnin Chevrolet. The frame hid "MyFlorida.com" on the top of the familiar orange and green plate, and "Sunshine State" below. The number and registration were visible. Patrolman Carl Senabria found shortly after that Pena drove with a suspended driving license, and also found a bag of alprazolam pills. Pena was accused of possession of a controlled substance with the intention of selling it and drug trafficking.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diane Ward determined that the traffic stop was illegal, and was based on a previous decision where a frame partially hiding the license plate of a car was said to be insufficient reason to stop anyone.
However, prosecutors appealed the judge's decision and the Miami Court of Appeals dismissed Ward's determination, and said the word "Florida" should be clearly seen.
"A lot of people do not know that it's something against the law", said Lt. Alejandro Camacho, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP). "The golden rule is very simple: the letters, the numbers or the decals of the plate cannot be hidden.”
Serve this note to alert all readers on this matter. Remember: ignorance of the law does not exempt its fulfillment.
