Hate the way the front plate looks on your car? How to ditch it legally in California

California drivers who want a sleeker look to that expensive car but don’t want to get pulled over by police for driving without a front license plate now have another option under a state pilot program: A Department of Motor Vehicles-approved sticker.

It’s not uncommon to see motorists without a front plate on their vehicles, or possibly with the plate on the dashboard. Both of those options are vehicle code violations subject to a traffic stops by law enforcement.

But state Senate Bill 806, passed in 2013, authorized drivers to apply the DMV-approved sticker of the same size to the front of their vehicles. The law was recently extended to 2023.

Presently, only one Huntington Beach company, License Plate Wrap, is approved to make the DMV-sanctioned stickers, at a price of $93.89. The company also urged buyers to consider hiring a local vehicle wrap specialist to apply the sticker to make sure of the application process.

Mike Salas, a Fresno-area spokesman for the CHP, noted that because it remains a pilot program, only 5 percent of registered vehicles would be allowed to take part. Salas said he had not personally seen any vehicles with the front bumper stickers.

The Bee reached out to several area vehicle wrap businesses for this story, but did not find anyone who has applied one of the stickers.

On the social media site Reddit, opinions on the utility of the stickers were mixed. One driver noted that the product appeared to interfere with the radar on his car, which caused his cruise control to malfunction.

Another driver noted he had lived in California his entire life, and had never been cited for lack of a front plate.

“I’ll take that risk,” he added.

This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 1:33 PM.