Maine has Pretty Specific Laws About Your Tinted Plate and Light Covers

Aftermarket car parts can be cool.

It's true. Other times though, they can get a little silly. Adding things to your car that enhance its performance, or maybe something that bolsters the safety of your car is always cool. But sometimes, things get outrageous. Like the brightness wars that seem to exist around headlights on modern vehicles.

How many times have you been driving down the road at night, only to have your retinas burned out by a car that *technically* doesn't even have its high beams on? It's nuts. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I've also seen license plate covers on some cars that all but render the plate invisible. Same with tail light covers. Why do you want something that makes it harder to see you? It doesn't make sense.

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Are these parts even legal in Maine?

Well, not really. According to Maine's laws on the subject of various tinted items on your car, there's pretty specific rules about what's ok, and what isn't. For instance, you're not supposed to have anything covering your license plate that obscures the view of it in any way. The numbers and stickers are supposed to be visible at all times.

They specifically use the words "plainly visible and legible". If you have a tinted cover on your license plate, you're violating these terms. When it comes to the tinted rear light covers, the verbiage specifically states that your rear lights need to be visible from a distance of 100 feet. If you have a dark cover on them, there's just no way you're compliant. There's some gray area here, but a cop may decide to enforce the law.

How often are these laws enforced?

Well, judging by this thread on Reddit, police officers don't seem to take much notice of these items. I certainly haven't seen or heard of people complaining about such things. My guess is, they may not pull you over for those reasons, though they could. They're probably more likely to add these things to other charges if you were to get pulled over.

In my world, I've never wanted to being this kind of attention to myself. I'd rather float in the background, unnoticed. I figure that's how I get away with driving as fast as I do. Who pulls over a Mom Mobile like mine? No one owns a pimped out Honda CRV. So maybe think about that before you put all those "cool" things on your car.

Take a quick walk down memory lane and get mad at gas prices...