LOL, no not mine, just an example pic.....would love one but 2 kids at home and already have 3 cars :P

OP's parent's car was bought new from BJ BMW.
The plate cover he got, front and rear, is a clear rectangle cover that covers the whole plate. The outer edges of the cover is black with the words Brian Jessel on it.

Similar to this


The black part does not cover the insurance decal and from all angles, the plate is clearly visible.

If that's the case then technically the dealer is not responsible for the plate frame causing the OP to get a ticket as stated in 223 as the vehicle still met Motor Vehicle Safety standard they are obligated to meet.
Also, despite everything being very visible, it is still illegal to have ANY plate frame but in this case I would fight that ticket. In no way does the frame prevent anyone from viewing the plate or get in the way of any of the information and only covers the boarder of the plate.

The cover in the picture above would block a portion of the "Beautiful British Columbia". If a frame blocks any part of the plate, where its a 1cm squared corner of white licence plate, its illegal. Anyone can choose to dispute the ticket based on what's reasonable, but what's reasonable doesn't matter in court. It's black and white, legal or illegal.

Also, BMW Store on Burrard has been putting these plate covers on for years. It is a black frame that surrounds the plate with the dealership name on it. This is not a problem. But within the black frame there is a clear plastic cover that covers the numbers and decal.

All in all, however, I think the officer should have been more lenient here and simply asked you to remove the cover if he thought it was such a big deal. No need for fine given you weren't intentionally trying to cover your plate nor being careless about it.

i just find it excessive the fine is $230 for an infraction that in no one or form more severe than possibly every single infractions that's available in the motor vehicle act.. this is more serious than speeding? running a red? not stopping for a stop sign? this infraction is purely a cash grab as technically more than 70-80% of the cars out there can be fined for $230 for a dealer frame =\

most people have plate covers not to "protect" their plates.. it is there to avoid intersection cameras.. let's be honest here. there's not much a clear cover will do to prevent dirt from sticking on it compared to a bare plate. if you look at the clear plate covers (or tinted), it reduces your ability to read the numbers at different angles and when light is shone on it.

I understand what you are saying, but then why are dealerships still putting these plastic plate frame/covers on their customer's brand new cars?
I bet most people don't know this and we are lucky not more officers are this picky.

But of course, I remember back in the day when everyone had one of those HKS plate frames and they all got tickets when they rolled in Richmond and was pulled over at those road blocks back in the day when they were pulling over all modified imports.

Virtually all of the dealer installed plate frames (with dealer advertising) I have seen cover some part of the "letters or numbers" on the plate.

Heck, even the "Cops for cancer Tour de Rock" plate frames cover some part of the letters or numbers on the plate.

I wonder if I would get a ticket if I had a plate frame that says "I donate to the police man ball". :troll:

not if it said "police man"

As a side note both BJ BMW and MINI Yale town were told their plate covers were illegal in BC, several years ago. The response from Yale town was we have boxes full of them, what are we supposed to do with them. I see they are still using them.

In response to it could have been handled differently. Yes it could but some members are not being Power Tripping A holes just because they issue a Violation. Many do not see the use of discretion as an option in whether a VT should be issued or not. They are of the opinion that is a function of the court to decide if a fine is appropriate in a given set of circumstances. Many people would agree, many would not I guess it just depends on what particular instance you are looking at. Or more often than not whether your the one getting the ticket or not.

I disagree with the statement "Most people".

Most people don't give a flying fuck about anything to do with the license plate or license plate cover on their car. "Most people" have their plate put on by the dealer, with the dealer installed cover (without their consultation on the legal, or illegalness of it), and don't touch the thing till they get a new car...

Also, the plate frames we are talking about here do not have glass, or cover the plate in any way. They are simply black plastic frames that go around the edges of the plates.

The law is very clear, I agree you are not allowed to have them on, but for you to come and imply that "most people" are using these to escape red light cameras and toll bridges is pretty ignorant...

Hang on, is it a black plastic frame or a solid transparent cover? There seems to be a bit of confusion on what is on the car.

it's a solid block of transparent non reflective plastic with the brian jessel BMW printed on it.. and the cop actually said you are lucky i'm only decided to ticket you for one plate only. i can easily ticket you for 2.. i don't care if the dealer put it on, nor if you are borrowing and didn't know it even exist. that's your problem. zzz

Iv been fined for same issue, one of the most retarted fines in my opinion

Funny thing is that I've seen cars who were imported from the US. I know they were imported from the US because they had BC plates but still had the plate frame from the dealership that the car was bought from. :concentrate:

I am personally talking about the the clear plastic that covers the entire plate. The only real issue with the frames are the ones that block the val tag.

if you are talking about a licence plate frame, I agree with you. if you are talking about an actual clear plastic cover that completely covers the plate, I don't agree with you. The majority of "covers" I have seen on plates are not put on by dealerships such as BJ BMW. They are tinted, and obviously for evading intersection cameras.

so..uh..the two screws i used to secure the plate is illegal in the sense of the black/white wording of the law?

Oh snap

yup better take it off

Bottom line is its illegal, but should not be as it does nothing to interfere with anything, causes no safety risks and is merely a reason to grab more money from the user.

Now if we really want to get rid of this law perhaps cops should be issued ticked for "use of an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle". Apparently these guys are not human and are more capable of operating a laptop, two way radio, and there cell phone AND drive there cars.......but thats another thread all together.

how does that have anything to do with the amendment of the obstructed plate law? Also, I guess cops should not be allowed to drive above the speed limit, drive a vehicle with lights and sirens, and not carry a gun as well.. since the general public aren't allowed.... the government is the one that gave police certain privileges in order for them to do their jobs efficiently.. You can cry the "no fair" chant all you want, but at the end of the day those privileges were granted to keep people like YOU safe.

So you think an obstructed licence plate doesn't pose a problem? A vehicle being used to commit crimes has its plate covered/partially covered.... No ID can be made because a couple digits aren't visible.. Oh well... too bad so sad right? If only there was a law that made obstructed plates illegal, maybe cop would have pulled the car over before the crime was committed to do a check on the driver and the validity of the car's insurance... The val tag and plate are meant to be seen. Do you think it makes sense to allow drivers to drive around with a vehicle where the expiration date of the plate is unknown/ cannot be verified? If there wasn't a law to regulate it, people wouldn't bother putting the val tag/plates on their cars.. You may think everyone has common sense and is a good samaritan like yourself, but news flash, shit heads are amongst us all. There are laws for the most ridiculous things because people on their own are more or less...... for example, strata bylaws for buildings.. they are a pain in the ass, but it only takes one moron living in your building to ruin everything for everyone else.

Now as for the OP.. please post a pic of what you got dinged for. I would be very very VERY surprised if you got a ticket for a regular licence plate frame that had a cutout for the val tag to be seen.

what a douche.

An opportunity for better training in my opinion. A zero discretion attitude only puts additional strain on an already overwhelmed court system. And worsens the perception of the police in the public's eye.