It certainly won’t hurt to be in the know about these things if you’re planning to make a grand presentation of your vehicle tag:

• Check with your state’s DMV if you can customize your front license plate. Other states require that you use the same state issued license plate on both your vehicle’s front and rear areas.
• Know how many characters you can put on the license plate. Verify, too, if punctuation and other special symbols are allowed.
• Get acquainted with the Dictionary of Custom License Plate Terms. This might help you in your pursuit of the right design or statement.
• Fill out all necessary DMV forms for a hassle-free license plate application. Truthfully.
• Expect that you’re to pay more for a personalized license plate. If you’d rather not spend that much these days, there’s always the standard license plate.
• Make sure that you renew your personalized license plate’s registration before its expiration date to continue using it. Don’t forget to pay all due fees, of course.
• Remember that your personalized license plate automatically ends when your vehicle’s registration expires. So mark this important date on your calendar.
• Confirm with your local DMV if it’s legal in your state to have personalized or even plain license plate frames and license plate covers. Learn about all the rules.
• Decide which type of license plate frame you want. There’s one that’s airbrushed, printed, computerized, or LED with scrolling texts or graphics.
• Find a license plate frame or a license plate cover that doesn’t hide what’s on your license plate. Everything it contains should be visible at all times.
• Avoid a license plate cover that’s tinted and colored. Replace one that’s already aging either.
• Whether it’s for a license plate or a license plate frame, pick the design that reflects your sense of style or states your personal stand. Check out the net for ideas, or create your own.
• Never use offensive or misleading messages on your license plate or license plate frame. They probably won’t make it to the road anyway.
• Scout the net and your neighborhood for the best manufacturer of your personalized license plate, frame, and cover. Ask for the best deals.

And while we’re at the issue of legal license plate accessories, why not we cover the license plate covers as well?

Okay, so they promise protection for your license plate—against bugs and dust, thieves and cops, uppity road fashion commentators. Neat! That means one item less from your cleaning list, your OBAMA tag stays, your wallet is safe from traffic ticket fines, your sense of style is lauded (or goes unnoticed—works for me, too, rather than receiving those hurtful remarks… ouch! =P).

But the question is, again, are they legal?

Many license plate covers today boast of invincibility and invisibility. Gone were the days of smoke-colored or tinted covers to escape police detection. What they do now is they use state-of-the-art technologies to bend the light ala-Matrix or diffuse the infrared laser beam ala-Star Wars blah, blah, so no photo-radar or photo-laser cameras could track you down—ever. You’d be like a god anywhere you go, violating all traffic rules, and you’d still keep that Mafia gangstah smirk, right? Wrong!

Aside from MythBusters junking the effectiveness of crystallized and lenticular lens license plate covers to evade traffic cameras, we go back again to the question of legality. Is your state cool with your use of these über cool license plate covers?

I believe that would us bring back to the basic question of them all—of whether your license plates are visible come day, come night.