Where can you legally put bumper stickers?
Whether you drive around proudly with a Fly As One or Never Tear Us Apart sticker on your back windscreen, a stick figure family that looks nothing like your nearest and dearest, or just want to let everyone know you’ve Gone Fishin’, every sticker tells a story, but our experts say drivers need to be careful where they stick them.
Why? The stickers mustn’t obstruct the driver’s view of the road. If it does, it could cost you a $184 fine and a $60 Victims of Crime Levy. Sounds like common sense to not stick anything big across your back or front car windows, but any modification to a car’s windscreen should be considered carefully, according to RAA’s road-rule expert, Graeme O’Dea.
The law says a person mustn’t drive a vehicle unless they’ve got a clear view of the road and other road-users travelling ahead, behind or alongside them. “Obstructing the view through the rear passenger side windows could also create a breach of the road rule,” he says.
So where’s the best place to put a sticker and still be able to see the road and other road users clearly? Here are 3 tips from our experts.- Place stickers low on the back windscreen if you drive a big vehicle, like an SUV.
- Stick it higher on the back windscreen if you drive a small vehicle.
- Stickers on either side, above or below number plates are allowed, but every letter and number on the plate must be legible from up to 18m away. Penalties apply for driving with an obscured plate.
Keep in mind that advice on where a sticker should go will vary for different drivers. “It depends on how tall a driver is. If a person’s shorter, placing a sticker lower on their windscreen could be in their direct line of vision,” Mr O’Dea says. Want to remove a bumper sticker without ruining the paint? Our experts can tell you how to do that too – just head to our story about 11 of our best car hacks and scroll to number 7.