Everyone’s talking about the guy in Calgary who got a $162 ticket because his bike rack blocked his license plate.
Oscar Castellanos says he and his wife enjoyed some biking last month and removed their bikes, but not the rack, from the car after returning to the city. He says the police officer wrote him the ticket explaining that he couldn’t see the rear plate.
Here in Brandon, police spokesperson Kirby Sararas says “as long as the plate is visible, the bike rack would be okay, but if the bikes are in a position to obstruct the plate at all the driver could receive a fine” – and that ticket would cost you $203.
Here’s the official law according to the Manitoba Highway Traffic Act:
Obstruction of number plate
4.25(1.1)
No person shall drive or tow a vehicle on a highway if a number plate required to be displayed on the vehicle is obstructed in a manner that prevents or is capable of preventing any of the following information from being accurately captured by an image capturing enforcement system:
(a) the jurisdiction or authority that issued the number plate;
(b) the numbers or letters that make up the vehicle’s registration number.
To avoid the hassle, some manufacturers do make licence plate holders for the back of their bike racks.
