License plate covers now illegal in Arizona

Regional News

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Got one of those plastic covers or films over your license plate?

Be prepared to get out your screwdriver or razor blade to take it off.

Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday signed legislation making it illegal to put any covering or substance on a plate “that obscures from any angle the number, characters, year validating tabs or name of the jurisdiction issuing the plate.” The measure takes effect 90 days after the end of the session, meaning probably not until sometime in August.

Violators would be subject to civil fines decided by a judge.

The issue has been at the heart of the debate now for more than a decade over the issue of photo radar.

That’s because many of these coverings are deliberately designed to keep the plates of offending vehicles from being clearly photographed. And foes of the practice sought to keep the plate coverings legal to defeat the cameras.

Prior efforts by other lawmakers went down to defeat in 2004, 2008 and 2010.