1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to vehicle license plates; requiring issuance 
  1.3             and display of single license plate; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 168.12, subdivision 
  1.5             1; Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 169.79. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 168.12, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [NUMBER PLATES; DESIGN, VISIBILITY, PERIODS 
  1.10  OF ISSUANCE.] The registrar, upon the approval and payment, 
  1.11  shall issue to the applicant ~~the~~ a number ~~plates~~ plate required 
  1.12  by law, bearing the state name and the number assigned.  The 
  1.13  number assigned may be a combination of a letter or sign with 
  1.14  figures.  The color of the ~~plates~~ plate and the color of the 
  1.15  abbreviation of the state name and the number assigned shall be 
  1.16  in marked contrast.  The ~~plates~~ plate shall be lettered, spaced, 
  1.17  or distinguished to suitably indicate the registration of the 
  1.18  vehicle according to the rules of the registrar, and when a 
  1.19  vehicle is registered on the basis of total gross weight, the 
  1.20  ~~plates~~ plate issued shall clearly indicate by letters or other 
  1.21  suitable insignia the maximum gross weight for which the tax has 
  1.22  been paid.  ~~These~~ A number ~~plates~~ plate shall be so treated as 
  1.23  to be at least 100 times brighter than the conventional painted 
  1.24  number plates.  When properly mounted on an unlighted 
  1.25  vehicle, ~~these~~ a number ~~plates~~ plate, when viewed from a vehicle 
  2.1   equipped with standard headlights, shall be visible for a 
  2.2   distance of not less than 1,500 feet and readable for a distance 
  2.3   of not less than 110 feet.  The registrar shall issue these 
  2.4   number plates for the following periods: 
  2.5      (1) A new number ~~plates~~ plate issued pursuant to section 
  2.6   168.012, subdivision 1, shall be issued to a vehicle for as long 
  2.7   as it is owned by the exempt agency and shall not be 
  2.8   transferable from one vehicle to another but may be transferred 
  2.9   with the vehicle from one tax exempt agency to another.  
  2.10     (2) ~~Plates~~ A plate issued for a passenger ~~automobiles~~ 
  2.11  automobile as defined in section 168.011, subdivision 7, shall 
  2.12  be issued for a seven-year period.  All plates issued under this 
  2.13  paragraph must be replaced if they are seven years old or older 
  2.14  at the time of annual registration or will become so during the 
  2.15  registration period. 
  2.16     (3) Number plates issued under sections 168.053 and 168.27, 
  2.17  subdivisions 16 and 17, shall be for a seven-year period. 
  2.18     (4) ~~Plates~~ A plate for any vehicle not specified in clauses 
  2.19  (1) to (3), except for trailers as hereafter provided, shall be 
  2.20  issued for the life of the vehicle.  Beginning with number 
  2.21  plates issued for the year 1981, ~~plates~~ a plate issued for 
  2.22  ~~trailers~~ a trailer with a total gross weight of 3,000 pounds or 
  2.23  less shall be issued for the life of the trailer and shall be 
  2.24  not more than seven inches in length and four inches in width. 
  2.25     In a year in which ~~plates are~~ a plate is not issued, the 
  2.26  registrar shall issue for each registration a tab or sticker to 
  2.27  designate the year of registration.  This tab or sticker shall 
  2.28  show the calendar year or years for which issued, and is valid 
  2.29  only for that period.  The number ~~plates~~ plate, number ~~tabs~~ tab, 
  2.30  or ~~stickers~~ sticker issued for a motor vehicle may not be 
  2.31  transferred to another motor vehicle during the period for which 
  2.32  it is issued, except a motor vehicle registered under section 
  2.33  168.187. 
  2.34     Notwithstanding any other provision of this subdivision, a 
  2.35  number ~~plates~~ plate issued to a vehicle which is used for 
  2.36  behind-the-wheel instruction in a driver education course in a 
  3.1   public school may be transferred to another vehicle used for the 
  3.2   same purpose without payment of any additional fee.  The 
  3.3   registrar shall be notified of each transfer of a number ~~plates~~ 
  3.4   plate under this paragraph and may prescribe a form for 
  3.5   notification. 
  3.6      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  3.7   169.79, is amended to read: 
  3.8      169.79 [VEHICLE REGISTRATION.] 
  3.9      No person shall operate, drive, or park a motor vehicle on 
  3.10  any highway unless the vehicle is registered in accordance with 
  3.11  the laws of this state and has ~~the~~ one number ~~plates~~ plate for 
  3.12  the current year only, except as provided in section 168.12, 
  3.13  subdivision 2f, as assigned to it by the commissioner of public 
  3.14  safety, conspicuously displayed thereon at the rear of the 
  3.15  vehicle in a manner that the view of ~~any~~ the plate is not 
  3.16  obstructed.  If the vehicle is a semitrailer, the number plate 
  3.17  displayed must be assigned to the registered owner and correlate 
  3.18  to the certificate of title documentation on file with the 
  3.19  department and shall not display a year indicator.  If the 
  3.20  vehicle is a motorcycle, motor scooter, motorized bicycle, 
  3.21  motorcycle sidecar, trailer, semitrailer, or vehicle displaying 
  3.22  a dealer plate, one plate shall be displayed on the rear 
  3.23  thereof; if the vehicle is a truck-tractor, road-tractor or farm 
  3.24  truck, as defined in section 168.011, subdivision 17, but 
  3.25  excluding from that definition semitrailers and trailers, one 
  3.26  plate shall be displayed on the front thereof; if it is any 
  3.27  other kind of motor vehicle, one plate shall be displayed ~~on the~~ 
  3.28  ~~front and one~~ on the rear thereof.  All plates shall be securely 
  3.29  fastened so as to prevent them from swinging.  The person 
  3.30  driving the motor vehicle shall keep the plate legible and 
  3.31  unobstructed and free from grease, dust, or other blurring 
  3.32  material so that the lettering shall be plainly visible at all 
  3.33  times.  It is unlawful to cover any assigned letters and numbers 
  3.34  or the name of the state of origin of a license plate with any 
  3.35  material whatever, including any clear or colorless material 
  3.36  that affects the plate's visibility or reflectivity.  License 
  4.1   plates issued to vehicles registered under section 168.017 must 
  4.2   display the month of expiration in the lower left corner as 
  4.3   viewed facing the plate and the year of expiration in the lower 
  4.4   right corner as viewed facing the plate. 
  4.5      Sec. 3.  [INSTRUCTION TO REVISOR.] 
  4.6      The revisor of statutes shall change the word "plates" 
  4.7   wherever it appears in Minnesota Statutes to "plate" in 
  4.8   Minnesota Statutes 1996 and subsequent editions of the statutes, 
  4.9   and make other appropriate wording changes to effectuate the 
  4.10  purposes of sections 1 and 2.