Here’s everything you need to know about Florida’s new ‘license plate’ law

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nearly 30 new Florida laws took effect earlier this month, including a law that sets more rules surrounding license plates.

That law — House Bill 253 — makes several changes to existing rules regarding motor vehicle crimes in the state.

For example, HB 253 sets up harsher penalties for drivers who try to mimic a police officer with red-and-white lights while trying to pull someone over.

But HB 253 also says that alterations to license plates now constitute a second-degree misdemeanor, rather than a noncriminal traffic violation.

[RELATED: Here are all the new Florida laws that took effect on July 1]

This applies to any of the following situations:

• Mutilating or defacing a registered license plate

• Changing the plate’s color

• Applying reflective material, spray, covering or anything else that can obscure the plate

• Attaching an illuminated device that can prevent someone from reading the plate

As such, anyone found liable under this law may face a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.

New crimes under HB 253

However, that’s not all. Under this law, people are also entirely prohibited from doing the following:

• Buying or owning a “license plate obscuring device”

• Creating or selling a “license plate obscuring device”

• Using a “license plate obscuring device” in the commission of a crime

What counts as a “license plate obscuring device?”

HB 253 defines this term as follows:

“…A manual, electronic, or mechanical device designed or adapted to be installed on a motor vehicle for the purpose of:

House Bill 253