One Plate, And Nothing Over It
Veh. Code 5200 — front and rear when two are issued, and Veh. Code 5201 — no covering on a plate
Front and rear. When the department issues two license plates for a vehicle, one is attached in the front and the other in the rear. When it issues only one, it goes on the rear.
Mounted and legible. Plates are securely fastened to prevent swinging, mounted to be clearly visible with characters upright and reading left to right, and kept clearly legible. The rear plate is mounted not less than 12 inches nor more than 60 inches from the ground, and the front plate not more than 60 inches.
No covering. A covering is not used on license plates, except a weather cover over a lawfully parked vehicle, or a security cover limited to the area directly over the registration tabs that does not obstruct the state, the number or the tabs. No casing, shield, frame, border, shade, tint, product or other device may be installed that obstructs reading of the plate by law enforcement or toll cameras or by remote emission sensing devices.
A wheelchair lift or carrier. It is not a violation that a rear plate is blocked by a wheelchair lift or carrier where the owner has the special plate or the wheelchair user has the placard, and a department decal with the plate number is displayed on the rear window.
Registration itself, temporary tags and specialty plates are governed by other sections that are not on this page. What a particular ticket means is a question for a licensed California attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- Veh. Code 5200 — Display of plates: front and rear
- Veh. Code 5201 — Display of plates: mounting, legibility and coverings
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed California attorney.