so why is this such a big thing now?

I've seen cars all over with either a full plastic cover, or the dealer trims, In fact I gotta dealer trim recently.

People sometimes use the full clear plastic to protect the plate, especially if its a vanity plate... whats the issue?

also anther question (to the police on the board)

* are/would you pull over and ticket somone (as a sole reason) just because they had a cover/trim and nothing else wrong, and we'll agree that the license/plate and sticker are all clearly visible

* and/or if you've pulled somone for an offence and then add "oh BTW you've got an illegal plate cover"

When people are driving with blown headlights, full beams pulling people for a licence covers seems a bit much, also isnt there a bucket load of paperwork and time lost?

Not forgetting all that lost DAC time !

ok, I agree it's illegal (and though somone people untill recently didnt know- me included)

Isnt police time worth more than this? drunk drivers, serious injuries, dangerous drivers etc?

not trying to pick a fight, but just asking a reasonable question.

txs

Seriously? I just installed one on my car this weekend as someone stole my renewal sticker off my back plate (2 year sticker) took me 45mins in line and $7 to get a replacement.

This is generally not a problem with the busier regional police services: Peel, Toronto; but when you go into butt *EDIT* Ontario, OPP will look for everything under the sun. The clear plates also yellow over time, and do obstruct the plate. It also diminishes the reflectivity of the original license plate.

The Highway Traffic Act is pretty clear that you can not have any sort of dealer/clear license plate cover.

Whether it's worth the police's time, is irrelevant; it's still illegal. You're just giving them an opportunity to give you a $110 ticket at any time and place.

Whenever you see a marked/unmarked police vehicle; don't be surprised if you get the $110 ticket. Personally, i'd rather remove the eye-sore and drive under the radar... then have a target on my back.

As for the stolen license plate sticker; the same criminal with a screwdriver can still steal your license plate sticker; the plate cover is a poor deterrent.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-dr ... le4582754/

I look at it this way. I stop you and your respectful you get a warning. You become a dick on the side of the road (I get to be the judge as to who is a dick) and you get the ticket.

OPS

Just saw this on CBC as well: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/o ... -1.3064957

Hey There,

txs all for the comments; especially the links,

my POV, yes a plate must be clear/clean visible inc. the ticket. for law enforcement puproses.

and I also agree with OPS Copper 100%, any of my dealing with LE I'm always 110%,

Yes I understand it's illegal,

Can I add this to the pot.

Since I've bee driving here (2010) this is the first time I've ever heard of this being an issue. my wife's been here 10 years before that and same with her.

On driving around, 99% of the cars I see HAVE the dealer trims, a few have the plastic covers and a TINY percentage have the tinted ones.

One of the articles also says about the plates only lasting a couple of years before they deteriorate. So if you've spent a couple of hunderd bucks on plates,

a clear cover is worth it, unless of course this is a scam so that you have to replace it for 100 bucks every 3 years or so?

BTW, no one asked me about my acronym I used; DAC ?

Doughnuts and Coffee JK hahaha

Maybe this is all now easy money

BTW, is this considered a CONVICTION? I heard its a 2 pointer? would my insurance need to know or get to know

txs again

Yes it's a Highway Traffic Act offence so insurance treats it the same as any other ticket. Personally I never had an issue with the clear covers but I did have a huge issue with the tinted ones. If I'm following a car and about to pull it over I like to run the plate first to get a sense of who the driver might be. With tints I could pretty much only read it once I'd stopped the car and was up close.

And yes, attitude mattered. If the driver was polite and took it off then and there then we're all good.

OPS Copper wrote:

I look at it this way. I stop you and your respectful you get a warning. You become a dick on the side of the road (I get to be the judge as to who is a dick) and you get the ticket.

OPS

I think when a person is pulled over the cop has the advantage in setting the tone of the conversation as it is he/she that commences the stop . If the cop is professional and polite almost always it will result in a good interaction . Common sense isn't so common in these days of cutting edge everything.

bobajob wrote:

People sometimes use the full clear plastic to protect the plate, especially if its a vanity plate... whats the issue?

Yellowing, oxidation, pitting, glare, etc. Some people also want to believe "clear" means tinted (black, blue, etc). The issue is a lot of times they interfere with the reading of a plate, whether by an officer, toll, or another driver. For every person who could maintain a clear cover, there's a clueless person with a fully oxidized cover.

CumminsDiesel wrote:

OPS Copper wrote:

I look at it this way. I stop you and your respectful you get a warning. You become a dick on the side of the road (I get to be the judge as to who is a dick) and you get the ticket.

OPS

I think when a person is pulled over the cop has the advantage in setting the tone of the conversation as it is he/she that commences the stop . If the cop is professional and polite almost always it will result in a good interaction . Common sense isn't so common in these days of cutting edge everything.

Edited by forum moderator

I volunteered at a law firm where we they had a case where a cop pretty much violated every charter right under the sun, started making up violations because the occupant of the vehicle knew his charter rights - ended up arresting the occupant and showed up to court and testified that all of the charges were legitimate.

Now... unfortunately for this cop, the occupant of the vehicle had a dash cam which caught the whole conversation including when the cop said he's going to make up charges. So this officer ALSO lied under oath, in addition to all the BS he pulled. The result? He got transferred to another region... Now, this happened previous to me actually working there, but these were the alleged facts of the incident - I have the officers name, but won't disclose it because I did not witness it first hand.

Edited by moderator

I understand that you can't generalize them all based on a few bad individuals, I understand that. My displeasure comes from the fact that these officers are 'above the law' and do not face equal punishments of anyone else charged with similar offences. For example: In the above case, the officer 'lost' his own video recording from the police cruiser, but if that happened to the average citizen - you can bet an obstruction of justice charge would be pursued.

bend wrote:

bobajob wrote:

People sometimes use the full clear plastic to protect the plate, especially if its a vanity plate... whats the issue?

Yellowing, oxidation, pitting, glare, etc. Some people also want to believe "clear" means tinted (black, blue, etc). The issue is a lot of times they interfere with the reading of a plate, whether by an officer, toll, or another driver. For every person who could maintain a clear cover, there's a clueless person with a fully oxidized cover.

I find even when brand new the perfectly clear covers can be problematic. Over time dirt tends to build up between the plate and the cover itself, making it hard to read the plate. Also during the winter, when everyone's plate is entirely white with salt, you can at least make out the letter embossing on an uncovered plate, making it somewhat legible.

Of course drivers might have a better understanding of the law if some of the private licensing offices didn't sell clear covers. It would probably also help if the MTO moved away from the new laminate plates that always seem to peel within a few years.

It might also help if the stores selling the products were a little more upfront about what they're selling. Usually the packaging will say something like "for off road/show use only", but not many consumers are reading all the fine print.

ok, so I understand now, why the plate covers can be an issue,

but the dealer trims, don't cover the numbers or tag (or rather shouldnt) I understand that they are still "technically illegal"

On my drive home yesterday I saw at least 2 cars with blue tinted covers, and 90% of the cars had dealer trims the rest had nothing.

At the end of the day its not a big deal to remove the dealer trim. Especially if it means thats an excuse to get pulled

Oh another question, you can get the neon license plate surrounds,

Are these illegal too ?

OR more to the point, (officers on the board) if you saw a car with that on, driving safely etc, would you give it a tug?

I wouldn't, nor would I care about dealer trim......if I can read the plate and see the sticker then I'm happy.

As for Sonic, what a nonsensical tirade. If you truly believe that cops walk up to a car and start yelling as a matter of course then I really am at a loss for words.

bobajob wrote:

Oh another question, you can get the neon license plate surrounds,

Are these illegal too ?

Licence plate lights need to be white, so if the neon was coloured (like in the photo) it would be illegal.

the lamp shall face to the rear and reflect on the number plate a white light only