DOVER, Del. (WBOC) - It's a mistake with your car you could very easily make in Delaware. It's one you might be making right now. And if police catch you, it'll cost a pretty penny.
Joseph Custis was driving down US 13 between Cheswold and Smyrna late last year when a police officer pulled him over.
"He said, 'You have a tag violation. You have an unauthorized attachment on the rear of your vehicle, covering up your license plate, concealing important information. That would be the expiration sticker on my license plate," Custis explained.
The Philadelphia Eagles frame around his plate covered over the sticker.
"The tag was definitely illegal. You could not see my expiration sticker. It's very important for police doing police work to see this sticker," said Custis.
But here's the thing, the Delaware Department of Motor Vehicles tells you to put the registration sticker in the bottom-right hand corner of your plate.
"Actually our plates when they're plain and come from the factory, in the bottom-right corner it says 'PLACE STICKER HERE.' It gives specific directions to an uninitiated person," said Mike Williams, spokesman for the DMV.
If you put the sticker there and buy a thick-rimmed frame, it will cover the sticker. And that could cost you. The fine for a violation is between $100 and $200.
So what can you do?
Williams says you can run afoul of the "place sticker here" notice to avoid running afoul of the law.
"It can be moved a little - a half-inch, inch, whatever your measurement - in and around that right-hand corner if you have a frame or something else you're afraid might cover it."
That way you, too, can support your favorite team or school without worrying about paying a price beyond the cost of the frame itself.
Delaware state law also prohibits license plate *covers* that obscure the sticker or the plate number. That, too, carries a $100 to $200 price tag.
