I wish I had more detailed information for you. My thought is a plexiglass cover and metal frame on the license plate might solve the problem, but I am not sure if such an item is even produced. It seems a pretty weak deterrent when I see no reason those placards couldn't be reproduced on a low-quality inkjet. I assume the reasoning is that the placards can be matched to the license and registration. Philadelphia has started trying to crack down on this by requiring yellow placards to be placed inside the rear window of cars. Since Pennsylvania requires yearly registration and inspection, these stickers are much more valuable than they are in Maryland, where I live. This is a common problem in the Philadelphia region. Of course, Step 2 makes Step 1 that much more difficult the next year, but it's worth it not to have to spend time and money at the motor vehicles department getting replacement stickers. Anyone trying to peel it off would not be able to remove it in one piece, nor reassemble it easily, and presumably would move on to an easier target.Īfter I implemented these ideas, I never had another sticker stolen. After applying the sticker, use a razor blade to slice it up. Peel off old stickers before applying the new one apparently, new stickers are much easier to remove when applied over old stickers.Ģ. After this happened to me, I learned two strategies to deter this:ġ. When I lived in Los Angeles several years ago, this type of theft was common, although I have not heard of the thieves sawing off parts of the license plate! There, thieves carefully peel off registration stickers for their own nefarious uses.

Instead you are issued a sticker to be placed on the inside of your windshield. I'm from Texas, and a few years ago they stopped using license plate stickers because of the theft issue.

I asked if anyone had heard of this, and whether there are remedies. He wondered if readers had a solution to prevent that kind of theft. Gridlock ran a letter from George Thoma, of Bethesda, who reported that a friend in the District found one-quarter of his license plates, front and back, had been sawed off, apparently to steal the license plate stickers.

Wrong county sticker on license plate