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License Plate News

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

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StogieGuy7

Quote from: kphoger on January 15, 2019, 01:31:50 PM
Quote from: SD Mapman on January 15, 2019, 12:18:54 AM
Kansas has shifted from an embossed plate to a decal plate (the design has not changed, however).

Decal?  They are screen-printed.

Either way, they suck. Not only do they look like something you could make yourself, but they're illegible when hit by glare at a certain angle.


apeman33

A friend of mine sent me photos of the new Wichita flag plates. The numbers are black on the red background now instead of white, which he said had to be changed because of the screen printing. I don't why they couldn't screen print white numbers.

route56

Quote from: kphoger on January 15, 2019, 01:31:50 PM
Quote from: SD Mapman on January 15, 2019, 12:18:54 AM
Kansas has shifted from an embossed plate to a decal plate (the design has not changed, however).

Decal?  They are screen-printed.

Here's the new screen-printed version of the Kansas plate:


For comparison, here's the embossed version:


The numbers are similar in both versions (except for the horizontal stroke added to the "1"), whereas the lettering on the new plates looks like the 1920s sign typeface instead of the 2010s

Quote from: kphoger on January 18, 2019, 01:58:57 PM
I've always thought a car with no (rear) license plate looks exceedingly strange.

You haven't seen F-350 in Missouri, have you?

Quote from: apeman33 on January 28, 2019, 01:24:33 PM
A friend of mine sent me photos of the new Wichita flag plates. The numbers are black on the red background now instead of white, which he said had to be changed because of the screen printing. I don't why they couldn't screen print white numbers.

I suspect that the printing process is more akin to that found in a laser printer, meaning no "white" ink is available.
Peace to you, and... don't drive like my brother.

R.P.K.

StogieGuy7

Sure, you show the straight on view of the new vs. old plates (the old plate is more visually appealing, btw).  But try looking at these from certain angles - especially at night - and you'll see that the embossed plates vastly outperform the flat ones.  Which also look incredibly cheap, become useless when dirty and which do not hold up as well. 

kphoger

Quote from: StogieGuy7 on January 29, 2019, 12:20:41 PM
Sure, you show the straight on view of the new vs. old plates (the old plate is more visually appealing, btw).  But try looking at these from certain angles - especially at night - and you'll see that the embossed plates vastly outperform the flat ones.  Which also look incredibly cheap, become useless when dirty and which do not hold up as well. 

I don't like flat plates as much as embossed ones either, but I hadn't heard before that they don't hold up as well.  Where have you read that?
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.

StogieGuy7

#1005
Quote from: kphoger on January 29, 2019, 02:02:10 PM
Quote from: StogieGuy7 on January 29, 2019, 12:20:41 PM
Sure, you show the straight on view of the new vs. old plates (the old plate is more visually appealing, btw).  But try looking at these from certain angles - especially at night - and you'll see that the embossed plates vastly outperform the flat ones.  Which also look incredibly cheap, become useless when dirty and which do not hold up as well. 

I don't like flat plates as much as embossed ones either, but I hadn't heard before that they don't hold up as well.  Where have you read that?

Embossing the sheet metal actually adds tensile strength to it.  Furthermore, a flat piece of metal with print on it is easier to deface or damage than an embossed one.  Given the wear and tear that many plates endure over the years, the embossed ones would remain legible for a longer period. 

And this is without getting into the overall suckiness of that ghastly 3M font (seemingly always with ugly black letters/numbers).  Too bad for Kansas, now their one plate is a cheap POS. 

kphoger

Quote from: StogieGuy7 on January 29, 2019, 02:34:44 PM
that ghastle 3M font (seemingly always with ugly black letters/numbers).

3M offers multiple fonts and even accommodates custom fonts.  When license plates end up with that ghastly font, it's their own fault for not specifying something else.
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.

briantroutman

Quote from: PHLBOS on January 02, 2019, 10:40:37 AM
Quote from: SP Cook on January 02, 2019, 10:33:13 AMWV is getting a new state owned plate series:
Looks a little bit like older NJ plates.
Except for the lack of a blue border, my thoughts immediately turned to the late '70s/early '80s PA plates that were still lingering around in my early childhood.

Gnutella

Quote from: kkt on November 02, 2016, 09:02:13 PM
Remember when a license plate was just to hold the number for your car, not carry tourism advertising for your state or an artistic scene?

I do. On a related note, I think we should do away with all special-interest license plates.

rarnold

Quote from: Gnutella on February 28, 2019, 10:48:06 PM
Quote from: kkt on November 02, 2016, 09:02:13 PM
Remember when a license plate was just to hold the number for your car, not carry tourism advertising for your state or an artistic scene?

I do. On a related note, I think we should do away with all special-interest license plates.

Yes! Let's go back to the good ol' days with the state, plate number, county (number, abbreviation, or spelled out) and the date the plate was adopted. Also, two colors ONLY and put the tags on straight.

kphoger

Quote from: rarnold on March 02, 2019, 03:42:04 PM
Quote from: Gnutella on February 28, 2019, 10:48:06 PM
Quote from: kkt on November 02, 2016, 09:02:13 PM
Remember when a license plate was just to hold the number for your car, not carry tourism advertising for your state or an artistic scene?

I do. On a related note, I think we should do away with all special-interest license plates.

Yes! Let's go back to the good ol' days with the state, plate number, county (number, abbreviation, or spelled out) and the date the plate was adopted. Also, two colors ONLY and put the tags on straight.

How much of a stickler are you going to be, and how far back are you wanting to go?  Kansas license plates have featured either the state outline or a graphic element for the last 50 years.
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.

DaBigE

Quote from: rarnold on March 02, 2019, 03:42:04 PM
Quote from: Gnutella on February 28, 2019, 10:48:06 PM
Quote from: kkt on November 02, 2016, 09:02:13 PM
Remember when a license plate was just to hold the number for your car, not carry tourism advertising for your state or an artistic scene?

I do. On a related note, I think we should do away with all special-interest license plates.

Yes! Let's go back to the good ol' days with the state, plate number, county (number, abbreviation, or spelled out) and the date the plate was adopted. Also, two colors ONLY and put the tags on straight.

Coming from a state who, to the best of my knowledge, has never included the county on its plates, what purpose does including the county name on the plate serve? Realistically, I could see plates be stripped down to state, plate number, and expiration.
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

jeffandnicole

Quote from: DaBigE on March 04, 2019, 01:42:01 PM
Quote from: rarnold on March 02, 2019, 03:42:04 PM
Quote from: Gnutella on February 28, 2019, 10:48:06 PM
Quote from: kkt on November 02, 2016, 09:02:13 PM
Remember when a license plate was just to hold the number for your car, not carry tourism advertising for your state or an artistic scene?

I do. On a related note, I think we should do away with all special-interest license plates.

Yes! Let's go back to the good ol' days with the state, plate number, county (number, abbreviation, or spelled out) and the date the plate was adopted. Also, two colors ONLY and put the tags on straight.

Coming from a state who, to the best of my knowledge, has never included the county on its plates, what purpose does including the county name on the plate serve? Realistically, I could see plates be stripped down to state, plate number, and expiration.

Heck, all NJ has is:
'New Jersey'
tag number
'Garden State'

Our plates don't expire; the registration for the car does, but there's nothing on the car detailing that. 

signalman

Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 04, 2019, 02:02:09 PM
'New Jersey'
tag number
'Garden State'

Our plates don't expire; the registration for the car does, but there's nothing on the car detailing that. 
The windshield sticker aka inspection sticker may be the same as registration month, but not necessarily.  I bought my current car in Aug 2014 and transferred my plates from my previous car to it.  It just so happened that my registration month was the same as month that I purchased the car.  It was merely coincidental, I didn't try to get it to fall into place.  My old car's inspection month was June,  so the registration on it didn't coincide with the inspection.  If one gets new plates with the new car (which many seem to opt for) then the registration month will indeed be the same as the inspection month.

kphoger

Quote from: jeffandnicole on March 04, 2019, 02:02:09 PM
Heck, all NJ has is:
'New Jersey'
tag number
'Garden State'

Our plates don't expire; the registration for the car does, but there's nothing on the car detailing that. 

If I have my fact straight, this is also true of Pennsylvania:  no county name, no registration sticker, no windshield sticker.  And they are the only two states that have completed ditched stickers.
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.

rarnold



How much of a stickler are you going to be, and how far back are you wanting to go?  Kansas license plates have featured either the state outline or a graphic element for the last 50 years.
[/quote]

I had forgotten about the Kansas outline plates. Those would be acceptable.

signalman

Quote from: kphoger on March 04, 2019, 09:09:54 PM
If I have my fact straight, this is also true of Pennsylvania:  no county name, no registration sticker, no windshield sticker.  And they are the only two states that have completed ditched stickers.
Pennsylvania uses windshield stickers to validate the inspection (safety checked statewide and some counties check emissions as well--they use a second sticker to validate it).  But you are correct that they've done away with plate stickers.  And to my knowledge, they've never put the county on their plates or on a sticker that goes on the plate.

signalman

Quote from: DaBigE on March 04, 2019, 01:42:01 PM
Coming from a state who, to the best of my knowledge, has never included the county on its plates, what purpose does including the county name on the plate serve? Realistically, I could see plates be stripped down to state, plate number, and expiration.
Some states collect a tax on vehicles and it may vary by county.  Others handle vehicle registrations on a county level, so they too include the county or in some cases, just a numeric code.

PHLBOS

Quote from: signalman on March 05, 2019, 06:55:00 AM
Quote from: kphoger on March 04, 2019, 09:09:54 PM
If I have my fact straight, this is also true of Pennsylvania:  no county name, no registration sticker, no windshield sticker.  And they are the only two states that have completed ditched stickers.
Pennsylvania uses windshield stickers to validate the inspection (safety checked statewide and some counties check emissions as well--they use a second sticker to validate it).  But you are correct that they've done away with plate stickers.  And to my knowledge, they've never put the county on their plates or on a sticker that goes on the plate.
Correct, the plate stickers were discontinued a year ago.  Side bar: it's also worth noting that PA only requires one plate mounted on the rear of a vehicle; same goes for DE.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

kphoger

Quote from: signalman on March 05, 2019, 06:55:00 AM

Quote from: kphoger on March 04, 2019, 09:09:54 PM
If I have my fact straight, this is also true of Pennsylvania:  no county name, no registration sticker, no windshield sticker.  And they are the only two states that have completed ditched stickers.

Pennsylvania uses windshield stickers to validate the inspection (safety checked statewide and some counties check emissions as well--they use a second sticker to validate it).  But you are correct that they've done away with plate stickers.  And to my knowledge, they've never put the county on their plates or on a sticker that goes on the plate.

So I guess the inspection sticker acts as a stand-in for the registration sticker.  Makes sense.  I'm assuming you can't renew your registration without having your car inspected (?) .
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.

signalman

Quote from: kphoger on March 05, 2019, 02:05:46 PM
So I guess the inspection sticker acts as a stand-in for the registration sticker.  Makes sense.  I'm assuming you can't renew your registration without having your car inspected (?) .
No. The inspection stickers in the windshield were in use when PA was still issuing plate stickers.  They just stopped issuing plate stickers.  As far as whether one renews the registration or has it inspected first, I'm not sure.

SP Cook

AFAIK, the only state that ties inspection to registration is NC.  In NC, there no longer is a physical "sticker" on the windshield, but rather you must have the car inspected which, if it passes, means the garage enters that in the DMV computer, during the 60 days leading up to the renewal.  No inspection - no renewal.  NC did away with actual stickers 10 or so years ago.

Here, in WV, inspections have nothing to do with registration.  You are supposed to have a valid "sticker" but probably 1/4th of cars don't.  This has nothing to do with the registration.  The car comes new with a sticker, so that is the month the car was delivered to the dealer (and thus a way to tell if a particular one has been on the lot a while and they might want to give you a deal) and, if you obey the law, will keep that month forever.  It has nothing to do with the month your plate will expire.  Oddly a June plate expires June 1, with a June sticker expires June 30.

I think PA is the same.  I have seen cars with expired PA stickers, IIRC.


jeffandnicole

Quote from: kphoger on March 05, 2019, 02:05:46 PM
Quote from: signalman on March 05, 2019, 06:55:00 AM

Quote from: kphoger on March 04, 2019, 09:09:54 PM
If I have my fact straight, this is also true of Pennsylvania:  no county name, no registration sticker, no windshield sticker.  And they are the only two states that have completed ditched stickers.

Pennsylvania uses windshield stickers to validate the inspection (safety checked statewide and some counties check emissions as well--they use a second sticker to validate it).  But you are correct that they've done away with plate stickers.  And to my knowledge, they've never put the county on their plates or on a sticker that goes on the plate.

So I guess the inspection sticker acts as a stand-in for the registration sticker.  Makes sense.  I'm assuming you can't renew your registration without having your car inspected (?) .

Speaking for NJ:

Incorrect - While they check your registration at the inspection station, they don't check your inspection when getting your car registered.  The only thing you need to get the registration renewed is a valid insurance policy.  And even then they take your word for it - you tell them your insurance company and policy number, but that could be an expired policy or even a fake policy...they don't do an on-the-spot check. 

You need a valid registration, along with license and insurance, at the time of inspection.  For example: Your inspection sticker shows March, 2019.  You are in the inspection station on March 30th, and your registration, license and insurance expire on March 31st. You still pass that part of the inspection.  They will probably tell you to get your registration renewed, but emissions are the only thing they can fail you on if it's not properly working or valid at the time of inspection. 

Also, the inspection cycle is 2 years.  The registration cycle is for one year.  So even if I renewed my registration, it'll still expire on March 31, 2020, while my inspection is good until March 31, 2021.

PHLBOS

Quote from: signalman on March 05, 2019, 02:43:01 PM
Quote from: kphoger on March 05, 2019, 02:05:46 PM
So I guess the inspection sticker acts as a stand-in for the registration sticker.  Makes sense.  I'm assuming you can't renew your registration without having your car inspected (?) .
No. The inspection stickers in the windshield were in use when PA was still issuing plate stickers.  They just stopped issuing plate stickers.  As far as whether one renews the registration or has it inspected first, I'm not sure.
For PA, typically the expiration date of the registration is a month earlier than the expiration date of the inspection sticker(s).  So the registration renewal indeed comes first.  It's also worth noting that PA now allows the option of renewing one's registration every two years rather than every year.  The inspections are still annual regardless of which registration renewal interval is chosen.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

kphoger

So, from what I'm understanding now, there is no way in either NJ or PA to tell if a vehicle has current registration.  I know Pennsylvania, when that state stopped issuing stickers, said there's no need for stickers anymore, since everything is in the database.  So why do all those other states continue to issue them?
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.



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