zanni

Q. I bought a small pickup truck that holds for four passengers, two in the front and two in the back. I wanted to put my auto plate on it, which had two letters and two numbers. I was told no auto plates could be put on trucks. Since then I have seen trucks with three letters, three letters and one number, two letters and three numbers, and trucks with five letters and one number. I don’t understand what the difference is between my plate and the ones I have listed.

A. The vehicles you have seen with two letters and three numbers on the plates are improperly registered with passenger plates, and the owners of those vehicles face fines and suspensions if they do not comply and register properly with either commercial or combination plates.

The other examples you gave are all commercial vanity plates. Commercial vanity plates are allowed on pickup-type vehicles meeting the criteria of a gross vehicle weight of less than 9,000 pounds, according to RIGL 31-3-17.1 Courtesy plates — “The administrator of the division of motor vehicles shall design and issue under regulations that he or she deems appropriate, special courtesy automobile, motorcycle, and commercial registration plates to be used on passenger motor vehicles, motorcycles, and all commercial vehicles whose gross weight is not more than 9,000 lbs. in lieu of other number plates … provided that … a commercial courtesy plate shall be marked “commercial,” and shall contain no more than five letters or more than five letters and numbers in a combination or less than two letters …”

Obscured license plates

Q. Why does DMV permit license plate holders to obscure Rhode Island and Ocean State on our plates? The holders furnished by automobile dealers in this state boldly advertise the dealer’s name in large typeface and it seems to me to be a real concern for identification. Isn’t there a substantial fine for having your plate obscured in any way? The state needs money — they could raise thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of dollars by cracking down on this.

A. It is a big concern for the DMV, and it’s part of the reason why people receive erroneous parking summonses and red-light violations at intersections equipped with cameras. If the lettering indicating what plate type is obscured, there is no way to ascertain if plate “1234,” for example (apologies to the actual owner of any plate “1234”) is a passenger, commercial, combination, suburban or other type of plate. It is clearly stated in RIGL 31-3-12 Visibility of plates… “Each registration plate and the required letters and numerals on it, except the year number for which issued, shall be of sufficient size to be plainly readable from a distance of 100 feet during daylight. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in 31-41.1-4.” Those fines can be up to $75. Also, in RIGL 31-3-18 Display of plates — Penalties, the law states “… b) Every registration plate shall at all times be securely fastened in a horizontal position to the vehicle for which it is issued so as to prevent the plate from swinging at a height of not less than twelve inches (12 inches) from the ground, measuring from the bottom of the plate; in a place and position to be clearly visible and shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible.”

While the DMV has no law enforcement arm to issue summonses for the violation of these sections, state and municipal law enforcement can and does issue tickets for these violations.

Gina Antonucci Zanni, chief of communications for the State Division of Motor Vehicles, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state motor vehicle laws and procedures. To ask a question that would be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask projoCars, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902. You can e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Ask projoCars” in the subject field. Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DMV directly and will not be answered in this column.