“A registration plate may become unreadable due to damage, dirt, rust, or due to a malfunction of the rear plate lighting. From the point of view of legislation, the concept of unreadability should be distinguished from situations when car license plates are specially modified or hidden, but in fact also become unreadable,” the experts explained.
They emphasized that specially hidden letters and numbers are determined by the rules to be the same violation as dirt or damage, but entail more serious consequences.
“If a traffic police officer sees such a situation, the driver will not be able to get away with a warning. An attempt to close a number or part of it is also a violation. Usually it is done so that the owner does not pay for parking or traffic violations, since it will not be possible to identify the car using cameras,” the press service added.
In addition, they stated that sheets (of paper or from trees), signs, specially applied dirt or snow are considered measures to hide numbers.
“As we have already mentioned, an inspector can initiate a case even when the car itself is clean and the license plates are dirty. Also, changes made to registration plates (stickers, drawings, other small “decorations”) will lead to a fine or deprivation of rights if the number eventually becomes unreadable,” experts noted.
Roskachestvo explained that in general, the violator will have to pay 500 rubles or get off with a warning, but if it is proven that the number was hidden on purpose, then the amount will be 5 thousand rubles or possible deprivation of the right to drive for a period of one to three months.
“With our climate, rooms run the risk of being dirty most of the year. Of course, the driver is not able to control the cleanliness of registration plates every minute, but he can take the simplest precautions. So, before the trip, it is recommended to check both numbers, front and rear, and clean them. If a long trip is expected, make several checks along the way depending on the situation,” the organization advised.
Earlier, the press service of Roskachestvo explained to RT what the punishment is for crossing a double solid line, whether there are mitigating circumstances, and also what to do to the offending driver.