You may or may not know this, but you can’t make your own license plate, slap it on your car, and expect no hassle. The same goes for a handmade replacement for a lost or stolen license plate. It’s a lesson one California driver learned all too well when police stopped them for their silly, hand-colored attempt at a replacement plate. 

This California driver’s handmade license plate is anything but convincing

Some states require a solitary license plate on the rear of your vehicle. Other states mandate front and back plates. But every state requires you to use an official, up-to-date plate. Let’s face it, a handmade plate simply won’t do it.

It especially won’t do it when the quality is, well, wanting. That’s precisely what happened with one California Nissan Sentra owner who thought their best attempt at a hand-painted license plate was good enough. Needless to say, it wasn’t.

Police officers stopped the Sentra driver at a California gas station to ask about the trunk-mounted art project. The driver told police officers that they had lost the original, state-issued license plate. We can understand the desperation, but there are other options. 

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) reminds motorists that they can always request a replacement plate in the event of loss or theft, per ABC 7 News. The process for a replacement is typically through the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). And while it may cost more than the ink in your kid’s favorite marker set, it’s certainly cheaper than a ticket from the police.

That said, this wasn’t the most convincing copy of an official California license plate. Granted, the driver attempted to recreate the recognizable scripts, fonts, and layouts of the typical state plate.

At the top, they painted the “California” in as close a swoopy script as they could to the real thing. They really tried, right on down to the “DMV.CA.GOV” at the bottom of the plate. But in execution, the plate really doesn’t begin to pass for an official example.