Car owners face penalties for intentionally concealing license plates, including a fine of up to five thousand rubles or revocation of their driver's licenses for a period of one to three months. This was stated by Evgeny Masharov, a member of the commission of the Public Chamber of Russia on public expertise of draft laws and regulatory acts.
Masharov explained that, according to Part 2 of Article 12.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) of the Russian Federation, driving a vehicle with license plates equipped with devices that make it difficult to identify them or allow them to be concealed may result in the revocation of driving licenses for a period of one year to one and a half years with confiscation of such devices.
In accordance with Part 1 of Article 12.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, driving a vehicle with illegible, non-standard, or installed in violation of the requirements of the state standard state registration plates entails a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of 500 rubles.
According to him, some drivers deliberately cover or smear license plates to hide from traffic violation cameras. They use films, curtains, sprays with artificial dirt, or other devices for this purpose. He added that several factors can cause illegibility, such as road dirt or accumulated snow.
According to the note to Article 12.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a state registration plate is recognized as illegible if, from a distance of 20 meters, it is not possible to read at least one of the letters or numbers of the rear state registration plate in the dark, and in daylight, at least one of the letters or numbers of the front or rear plate.
The expert emphasized the importance of periodically cleaning license plates in bad weather conditions, adding that traffic police officers usually first warn drivers and ask them to clean the dirty plate.
