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License Plate News

Started by Alex, February 04, 2010, 10:38:53 AM

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gonealookin

Quote from: roadfro on June 28, 2015, 05:37:06 PM
One other thing I found interesting while reading up on this: According to a statement from the DMV (listed as an exhibit on the AB 484 information page), this rolling reissue of license plates is apparently in the interest of "public safety". That document also lists another change coming (possibly concurrently), also in the interest of public safety: a return to embossed license plates!  :clap: :clap: :clap:

I've seen a couple of Nevada's new raised-lettering plates which are being phased in, as discussed in this Review-Journal piece. (unfortunately, the image at the top of that article is of a Sesquicentennial plate and is unrelated to what the writer is discussing).  The most notable thing about the new plates is the very narrow font of the lettering; I almost want to call it "Kate Moss font".  The little state shape in between digits 3 and 4, replacing the old round dot, is a nice little touch.


MikeTheActuary

The Courant is announcing that Connecticut is abandoning its current 1AB-CD2 license plate number series for the seven-character pattern AB-12345.  The change is partly in recognition that the DMV can now handle seven-character plates, and partly because the pattern used was "too hard to remember".

Story (may be paywalled): http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-license-plates-0919-20150918-story.html

CT exhausted the 123-ABC series a couple of years ago.  There was a brief period of time where private cars drew from the Combination series before moving to 1ABCD2, with a quick change to 1AB-CD2 when LEO's complained about the plates being too hard to read without a dot.

The leading line of the Courant article:  "Twenty million license plate combinations down the drain".

vdeane

If they're changing because the pattern is too hard to remember, why not use ABC-1234?  I would think that would be easier to remember than AB-12345.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

PaulRAnderson

I agree that the series without the dot was much harder to read than the earlier 123-ABC series.  All the characters seemed squashed in the middle of the plate.

I have seen one of the new AB-12345 series in the wild.

Paul

thenetwork

Quote from: catch22 on September 15, 2015, 09:07:21 AM
Quote from: vtk on September 14, 2015, 09:28:38 PM
I think I've noticed a double helix watermark in the retroreflective background of Kansas and Kentucky plates. What's with that?

It's a security feature provided by the manufacturer (3M).

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/NA_Motor_Vehicle_Services_Systems/Motor_Vehicle_Industry_Solutions/product_catalog/reflective-license-plate/license-plate-security-feature/?PC_Z7_U00M8B1A00PAD0A0C2MU390MG0000000_nid=90G94ZV31LbeMWDVM6RXWXgl

I just noticed the helix watermark on the most-recent issue of the Arizona plates with the "purple cactus" desert scene.  At night, the watermark blends right in, looking like smoke from a small campfire in the desert!!

I couldn't take a photo, but perhaps another person can get a flash photo of the Arizona plate at night to illustrate my point (Hint Hint).

roadfro

Quote from: gonealookin on September 18, 2015, 04:43:04 PM
Quote from: roadfro on June 28, 2015, 05:37:06 PM
One other thing I found interesting while reading up on this: According to a statement from the DMV (listed as an exhibit on the AB 484 information page), this rolling reissue of license plates is apparently in the interest of "public safety". That document also lists another change coming (possibly concurrently), also in the interest of public safety: a return to embossed license plates!  :clap: :clap: :clap:

I've seen a couple of Nevada's new raised-lettering plates which are being phased in, as discussed in this Review-Journal piece. (unfortunately, the image at the top of that article is of a Sesquicentennial plate and is unrelated to what the writer is discussing).  The most notable thing about the new plates is the very narrow font of the lettering; I almost want to call it "Kate Moss font".  The little state shape in between digits 3 and 4, replacing the old round dot, is a nice little touch.

I've seen some of Nevada's new embossed plates, on both the sesquicentennial plate and on the standard Sunset plate. The letter font is narrower, and also appears to be a tad bit shorter–seems like they are overall harder to read than both the flat plates and the original embossed lettering (although some of the letter forms are a bit different in style than before and makes the font less blocky). I really do like the Nevada dot though.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Sam

New York is changing "Official" plates used by municipal and quasi-governmental agencies from "12345 A" to "AB 1234" and the entire legal name of the agency spelled out in full on the plate.

That's not bad for a snowplow from the "County of Erie AB 1234" but it looks just plain ridiculous on a van from the "Hamilton Fulton Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services AB 1234".

vdeane

I think the NYSDOT cars have been using that format for a while now.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

SP Cook

I think having the name of the agency is a good idea.  In my state, non-police plates simply read "COUNTY" "CITY" or "STATE" with no indication of which agency, or which county or city or whether the county car belongs to the county, the school board, or some other county board. 

If the full agency were on the plates, at least it is possible to question why the car is being driven home, driven dangerously, driven to non-work locations, and other abuses.  At least you know who to call.


SP Cook

WV's odd numbering system has again been exhausted.

First series was *L NNNN, which exhausted in the 80s.  Follow up series was *LL NNN, which has reached exhaustion.  New series is *NL NNN. 

In all cases * is the expiration month.  1 though 9, O, N, and D.  Obviously quite wasteful.  A simple NNN LLL, with the month indicated with a sticker, like most states, would serve this small jurisdiction forever.


kphoger

Quote from: SP Cook on September 28, 2015, 02:13:35 PM
WV's odd numbering system has again been exhausted.

First series was *L NNNN, which exhausted in the 80s.  Follow up series was *LL NNN, which has reached exhaustion.  New series is *NL NNN. 

In all cases * is the expiration month.  1 though 9, O, N, and D.  Obviously quite wasteful.  A simple NNN LLL, with the month indicated with a sticker, like most states, would serve this small jurisdiction forever.



I don't really think it's too great of a concern to the powers that be. It's not like they got toward the end of the *LL NNN series, suddenly panicked and shouted 'Oh crap!', then convened an emergency brainstorming session to figure out the new series. And it's not like the limitation of the series never occurred to them either; it's pretty basic math that reveals twelve characters to be fewer than thirty-five.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

vtk

I got a good photo of the double helix watermark on a Kansas plate:


There's also a smaller, circular watermark that's much more difficult to see & photograph.  It's invisible from almost every angle, or at least it was in the lighting conditions I was working with.  The circle contains the letters KS, and something else that's partly obscured by the embossed digit:

I had to make a significant contrast enhancement here.  The watermark is almost lost in the digital camera's JPEG-exacerbated sensor noise.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

discochris

Quote from: bulldog1979 on June 06, 2015, 05:58:12 AM
Do any other states have the option to allow the reuse of vintage plates on collector cars? Michigan allows the owner of a collector car to register an original plate from the same year as the model year of the vehicle, so long as it qualifies as an antique (26 years old). The car can't be used for daily transportation. So if my father still had his first car, a 1963 Chevy Impala, and if he had his original 1963 plates, he could use one of them on the car as long the plate was in good condition. People here even have old plates repainted so that they can be reused.

Minnesota allows it if that numbering combination would not be used on another plate. I have them on my 1966 Ford pickup.  That year MN used AA 1234 as their pattern, which hasn't been used in many years (early 1970's I think). I bought the plates off ebay, and just had to bring them into the DMV.  The vehicle I believe also must have a collector plate issued to it which must be presented if requested, so I keep mine under the seat. The nice thing is that with collector or YOM plates, there is no renewal fee. I keep my truck in Wisconsin actually, so I doubt any LEO in the area would even know what was going on.

adt1982

It will be interesting to see what Illinois does once the Z## #### series is exhausted.  The only letters they haven't used in this series are I, O, and Q.  M is used for municipal plates and U for state-owned vehicles.

Alex

New general issue licenses plates are being issued in North Dakota starting this month.



QuoteThe 2013-2015 state legislature directed the NDDOT to create and distribute a new flat license plate for general issuance. The Buffalo Plate has been in use for 23 years and some of these plates are deteriorating and losing the reflectivity.

Alex

Goodbye "Sunrise," SC introduces new, simplified license plates

QuoteThe DMV will begin issuing a new license plate and sticker to all those who currently have the "Sunrise" plate during the next few months. The "Sunrise" license plate was first introduced in 2008.

QuoteIn May, the DMV began issuing redesigned license plates to comply with South Carolina law, which require a basic design for all license plates. The first to be simplified were specialty plates.

Look for the plates in early 2016. The new plates will have one validation sticker placement area instead of two. The new stickers will have both the month and year, eliminating the need for a month sticker. Switching to a single sticker process will mean more than $800,000 savings during the reissue cycle, according to the DMV.


1995hoo

Ok, people are always putting their decals on the wrong side or at a strange angle or the like. But how the heck do you make this mistake? Seen yesterday on a Mercedes at Total Wine in Springfield.

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

SD Mapman

#892
Not sure if this was in yet, but SD now has new standard plates for 2016!

Article: New South Dakota license plate design for 2016 unveiled
The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see. - G.K. Chesterton

Zzonkmiles

The South Carolina license plate reissue has been met with a lot of criticism because they just released the current plates within the last three years I believe. I personally don't care much for the newest design, but it is much easier to read. Any idea why SC seems to change its license plate design every four years or so?

discochris

Quote from: bulldog1979 on June 06, 2015, 05:58:12 AM
Do any other states have the option to allow the reuse of vintage plates on collector cars? Michigan allows the owner of a collector car to register an original plate from the same year as the model year of the vehicle, so long as it qualifies as an antique (26 years old). The car can't be used for daily transportation. So if my father still had his first car, a 1963 Chevy Impala, and if he had his original 1963 plates, he could use one of them on the car as long the plate was in good condition. People here even have old plates repainted so that they can be reused.

Minnesota does. I have a set of 1966 plates on my '66 Ford truck. It has to be from a year that didn't use either the ABC-123 or 123-ABC numbering system though, and you're supposed to carry your collector plate in the vehicle.

I wish MN would redesign our plates though. It's been the same basic design (with some minor updates) since 1978.

PHLBOS

Bold emphasis added:
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 01, 2016, 11:16:33 AM
Ok, people are always putting their decals on the wrong side or at a strange angle or the like. But how the heck do you make this mistake? Seen yesterday on a Mercedes at Total Wine in Springfield.


Maybe the owner had a little too much of their stock when he placed the decal on. :) 

Either that or he thought of the year 1991.   :sombrero:
GPS does NOT equal GOD

NJ

I like plates that have map and nickname of the state, such as New Jersey, New York.

PHLBOS

Effective Jan. 1, 2017; PennDOT will no longer be issuing registration stickers for license plates.

Five things to Know About PennDOT's Elimination of Registration Stickers

Quote from: Opening paragraphPennDOT says it will eliminate the use of registration stickers beginning Jan. 1, 2017, and automated license plate reader technology will help law enforcement verify expired registrations.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

briantroutman

Quote from: PHLBOS on February 11, 2016, 12:48:18 PM
Effective Jan. 1, 2017; PennDOT will no longer be issuing registration stickers for license plates.

Perhaps now, residents of the Delaware Valley won't have to worry about marauding bands of thieves with tinsnips cutting off the corners of their license plates.

It seems that the same logic could be applied to safety and emissions inspection stickers as well, right? That's essentially what California has done with emissions inspection certification (rely on an electronic record associated with the license plate number), yet they still issue registration stickers.

PHLBOS

#899
Quote from: briantroutman on February 11, 2016, 02:56:04 PMPerhaps now, residents of the Delaware Valley won't have to worry about marauding bands of thieves with tinsnips cutting off the corners of their license plates.
A blue PA plate I had on the back of my '76 LTD back in the late 90s almost became a victim of such.  I noticed a slight bend in the plate where the registration sticker is.

Quote from: briantroutman on February 11, 2016, 02:56:04 PM
It seems that the same logic could be applied to safety and emissions inspection stickers as well, right?
I wouldn't bank on such happening in the Keystone State just yet.  Not every county in PA does/requires emissions testing.
GPS does NOT equal GOD



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