Can police charge people who let snow or muck obstruct their licence plates? I always thought it was the law to keep your licence plate visible. With the recent record snowfall, we have seen many vehicles on the highway with licence plates plastered with snow. – Pam, British Columbia
If you don’t brush snow off your licence plate, you could face a ticket in British Columbia – and everywhere else.
In B.C. and every other province, it’s against the law to have anything covering your licence plates, whether you realize it or not.
Section 3.03 of the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act Regulations states that a licence plate “must be kept entirely unobstructed and free from dirt or foreign material, so that the numbers and letters on it may be plainly seen and read at all times, and so that the numbers and letters may be accurately photographed using a speed-monitoring device or traffic-light safety device.”
“It is very important for licence plates to be visible,” RCMP Corporal Melissa Jongema, a spokeswoman for B.C. Highway Patrol, said in an email. “Check your plate when you stop for gas to ensure that it may be seen.”
That doesn’t mean you need to keep pulling over if you’re driving in a snowstorm to make sure your plate is clear – check it whenever you stop and at home before leaving, Jongema said.
If police can’t see your plates, you could face a $230 fine, Jongema said. It’s up to the officer to decide whether to give you a ticket or to let you off with a warning.
In 2022, the most recent year with numbers available, there were 2,263 charges in B.C. for driving with an obstructed or illegible plate.
Brush up on the law?
While the rules vary by province, most are similar – your plate cannot be obscured by anything, including snow, mud, a spare tire, a bike rack or a clear or tinted plastic cover.
In Ontario, drivers can face an $85 fine if their entire plate isn’t “plainly visible at all times”, said Sergeant Kerry Schmidt with the Highway Safety Division of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
“The legislation is clear,” Schmidt said. “I’ve seen people driving on Highway 407 that have perfectly clean cars, except snow or mud is caked on their licence plates to avoid the toll cameras.”
The law also bans any device that prevents an automated speed-enforcement system, a red-light camera or an electronic toll system from seeing your licence plate number.
Police in most provinces, including Ontario, use automatic licence-plate readers, which scan licence plates to check for expired and suspended licences and outstanding warrants.
So, if you’re pulled over for a snow-covered plate, could you argue that the snow will just eventually blow off?
“If it had blown off, you wouldn’t be getting a ticket,” Schmidt said.
Have a driving question? Send it to globedrive@globeandmail.com and put ‘Driving Concerns’ in your subject line. Emails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada’s a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.
Jason Tchir