Idaho and Utah Have New Laws That Change How Your Car Looks

There are some people who don’t care what their car looks like. If it runs, they are happy.

I’m not one of those people. I recently helped a friend buy a car that I had looked at and passed on because it was the wrong color, even though it was literally half the price of the car I ended up buying with the same mileage and features, because it was the right color.

Idaho and Utah have recently passed laws that were influenced by people who care about how their car looks.

Utah and Idaho Decide a Front License Plate Isn’t Necessary

Some cars come with a bracket or built-in mounting locations on the front bumper for a license plate, but not all of them. I had a Honda Civic as my first car in Utah that didn’t have a bracket, so I drilled holes in the bumper to mount the front plate. Now I live in Idaho, and the car I just bought doesn’t have a place for the front license plate.

Luckily, I don’t have to buy a bracket or drill holes because both states have ruled that a front plate isn’t required on some vehicles.

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No Front License Plate in Idaho and Utah? That’s OK

I was told the decision in Idaho was heavily influenced by the Corvette clubs.

In Utah, it was State Bill 45 that made the change, stating it:

removes the requirement for an owner of a vehicle to display a license plate on the front
of a vehicle

In Idaho, it started with House Bill 688 and was passed as Senate Bill 1180 in 2025. The law is a little different than Utah:

License plates assigned to a motor vehicle shall be attached, one (1) in the front, if the vehicle is equipped with a front license plate mounting bracket, and the other in the rear

The license plate law is already in effect in Utah and could save the state millions of dollars by issuing fewer plates. The law will go into effect in Idaho in July 2025 and hasn't been updated on the .gov site yet.

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Check Out These 30 Rejected Personalized Utah License Plates