Are temporary license plates for new cars subject to traffic restrictions?
2 Answers
New cars with temporary license plates are subject to traffic restrictions. 1. Temporary license plates serve as a provisional identity for vehicles and must comply with traffic regulations, including traffic restrictions. Traffic restriction policies vary by city, so car owners are advised to familiarize themselves with the rules before driving. Temporary plates must adhere to tail number restrictions, with most cities exempting weekends and public holidays. 2. Regulations regarding the usage period of temporary plates and procedures for vehicle mortgage: The validity period of temporary license plates can be 15, 30, or 90 days, covering both working days and holidays. For vehicles involved in scientific research or prototype testing that exceed national standards in axle load, total weight, or dimensions and thus cannot be registered, temporary plates with a validity not exceeding 90 days may be issued.
I also struggled with this issue when I first got my car. Simply put, temporary license plates and formal license plates are subject to different regulations. Traffic restrictions mainly target the last digit of formal license plates, while paper temporary plates don’t display this digit, making it nearly impossible for electronic surveillance to identify your plate number. Therefore, driving a car with temporary plates on a restricted day won’t get you caught by traffic cameras. However, the key point is the regional limitations of temporary plates—for example, when driving across city districts, you need to pay attention to the designated operating areas of your temporary plate. The most reliable approach is to check the local traffic restriction map before heading out and confirm which road sections might have manual checkpoints. Once, I accidentally drove my temporary-plated car into a one-way street and was stopped by traffic police, who spent a full ten minutes inspecting my documents. In short, the risk of getting penalized with temporary plates is low, but don’t take that as a license to drive recklessly.
