Car Luggage Carriers

Is it illegal to have a luggage rack covering your licence plate?

i am thinking of buying one of those luggage carriers that go on the back of your suv. it hooks onto the ball hitch, but when i put luggage in it the license plate will be covered. there's no spot to put the plat on the rack either. will i get pulled over? if so why do they make them? Thanks

Public Comments

1. license plates should be visible at all times
2. Most bank robbers and gas theve's cover there plates with mud/dirt. But seriously, Go to autozone and get a license plate bracket for a trailer for $5 bucks and mount it to the luggage carrier. I assume your just using it for vacation right!?
3. i'm sure it wont get you in trouble if you have a front plate... my back plate is missing and i have a front one and have yet to be pulled over... had the car for months... but you will only have the luggage on there for a few hours right? shouldn't be too bad. cops aren't that mean.
4. it is illegal to cover a liscence plate at anytime. the damn things are made for people who kno this and who kno that u need to either make or buy a bracket to place onto the back of the thing to mount the plate so police can see it. it is also illegal in all states to operate a vehicle at night w/o a light on the plate
5. It is illegal to obscure a license plat in Texas so I would bet that is the same in most states. just move the plate if it is a problem or distribute the luggage around the plate when driving.
6. Lic Plates should be visible at all times... i just got pulled over by HWy patrol in Orange Co Cal my truck has a ball hitch on the stock bumper and it covers 1 number on my plate so i was pulled over for that...his cruiser has a auto registration checker and it could not read my plate... he mentioned that i may have this problem more as the city pd and others get this system installed onto there cars...so i wil just remove the ball hitch until i use it for towing again.
7. Ummmm Thats a big yes.