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License Plate News

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

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Big John

Quote from: corco on May 23, 2019, 12:10:47 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 12:00:05 PM
While we are on the subject of speciality plates, this was a discussion we had a while back on a sports board I was on. 

Most states now issue college plates for out-of-state colleges, but some refuse.  Particularly KY and OH, which was the subject of our particular discussion.

Opinions?  Should you be able to get a "Go Auburn" plate if you live in Georgia?

I think it's heresy and absolutely should not be allowed - especially in the case of competing state institutions
It does exist: https://mvd.dor.ga.gov/motor/plates/PlateDetails.aspx?pcode=TZ


kphoger

Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 12:00:05 PM
While we are on the subject of speciality plates, this was a discussion we had a while back on a sports board I was on. 

Most states now issue college plates for out-of-state colleges, but some refuse.  Particularly KY and OH, which was the subject of our particular discussion.

Opinions?  Should you be able to get a "Go Auburn" plate if you live in Georgia?

I think college plates should only be issued when a person contributes financially to that school, and also that they should only be issued for in-state colleges.  How did out-of-state college plates even become a thing??
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.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: corco on May 23, 2019, 12:10:47 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 12:00:05 PM
While we are on the subject of speciality plates, this was a discussion we had a while back on a sports board I was on. 

Most states now issue college plates for out-of-state colleges, but some refuse.  Particularly KY and OH, which was the subject of our particular discussion.

Opinions?  Should you be able to get a "Go Auburn" plate if you live in Georgia?

I think it's heresy and absolutely should not be allowed - especially in the case of competing state institutions

I don't understand the objection. A lot of people go to college outside of their state.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

DaBigE

Quote from: mgk920 on May 23, 2019, 05:27:04 PM
Quote from: DaBigE on May 23, 2019, 01:34:18 PM
Quote from: corco on May 23, 2019, 12:10:47 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 12:00:05 PM
While we are on the subject of speciality plates, this was a discussion we had a while back on a sports board I was on. 

Most states now issue college plates for out-of-state colleges, but some refuse.  Particularly KY and OH, which was the subject of our particular discussion.

Opinions?  Should you be able to get a "Go Auburn" plate if you live in Georgia?

I think it's heresy and absolutely should not be allowed - especially in the case of competing state institutions

^ This. I even have mixed feelings about WisDOT offering Marquette license plates.

I often see plates for other UWSystem schools (ie, UW Stevens Point, UW Eau Claire, etc), too.  OTOH, The only private school that I have seen so far on WisDOT plates is Marquette.  None (yet) for D-III Lawrence.

Mike

You stumbled on one of the reasons why I have mixed feelings about Marquette having a plate. (The other is the I-94 basketball rivalry with my alma mater.) I know Marquette alumni paid to get the plate made, but it opens the door for so many more plates, and I think WisDOT is starting to have too many specialty plates for their own good. How soon before we start seeing tech schools or seminaries?

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on May 23, 2019, 07:19:43 PM
Quote from: corco on May 23, 2019, 12:10:47 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 12:00:05 PM
While we are on the subject of speciality plates, this was a discussion we had a while back on a sports board I was on. 

Most states now issue college plates for out-of-state colleges, but some refuse.  Particularly KY and OH, which was the subject of our particular discussion.

Opinions?  Should you be able to get a "Go Auburn" plate if you live in Georgia?

I think it's heresy and absolutely should not be allowed - especially in the case of competing state institutions

I don't understand the objection. A lot of people go to college outside of their state.

At least in Wisconsin, part of the fees is required to go to the school as a donation (with the exception of the Medical College of WI and the aforementioned Marquette U plates). It could get messy to say the least with money crossing borders. I could also see state-supported schools crying foul, as it could look like the state is endorsing a competitor.
"We gotta find this road, it's like Bob's road!" - Rabbit, Twister

formulanone

#1104
Quote from: DaBigE on May 24, 2019, 01:36:36 AM
I could also see state-supported schools crying foul, as it could look like the state is endorsing a competitor.

Let's re-focus the optics on this one: If the fees collected are mostly going back mostly as promised, there's not much to complain about. It's not as if 100% of those plate/registration fees are going right back to another institution, it's just a part of it. The state makes a few extra bucks off of these people, and we all move on.

Part of life is understanding that there's always someone else who doesn't like your team.

Quote from: jakeroot on May 23, 2019, 02:03:56 PM
I know for a fact that I'd pay for something like this. I prefer really simple license plates.

Personally, I also prefer the "boring" plates: Solid-color background, border, legend, slogan, date, alphanumerics, and I'm good. If there has to be some sort of design, keep it out of the way or minimized. I prefer the embossed plates, but let's face it, they're disappearing and states don't want to make them.

SP Cook

If I recall correctly, North Carolina allows private and out of state college plates, but all of the money goes to scholarships for in-state students at NC public colleges. 

kphoger

Quote from: formulanone on May 24, 2019, 06:30:36 AM
I also prefer the "boring" plates: Solid-color background, border, legend, slogan, date, alphanumerics, and I'm good. If there has to be some sort of design, keep it out of the way or minimized.

In Mexico, all license plates were of the "boring" variety up until the late 1990s, and all states had the same design.  Basically, they all looked like this:



That's actually a 2000-series plate, but Mexico City (DF = Distrito Federal) took a few years to break out of the box.

Then, in the late 1990s, states began issuing their own designs.  It took a while for them to get good at it;  some from those early years just weren't all that great.  Here are some examples:









Eventually, though, some of the states went big and bold.  It didn't take long for some really wild designs to start coming out, such as these:











Some designs ended up being pretty hard to read the serial number so, in 2017, the federal government issued stricter guidelines on license plate design.  Now there is not allowed to be any graphic element where the serial number is.  Some states just modified their existing design, while others went for a super simple approach in order to comply.  Here are some before-&-after comparisons:















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.

6a

Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 12:00:05 PM
While we are on the subject of speciality plates, this was a discussion we had a while back on a sports board I was on. 

Most states now issue college plates for out-of-state colleges, but some refuse.  Particularly KY and OH, which was the subject of our particular discussion.

Opinions?  Should you be able to get a "Go Auburn" plate if you live in Georgia?
You can get Notre Dame plates in Ohio, but I think that's the only out of state school available.

MantyMadTown

Why do they have license plates for out-of-state schools anyway? I didn't think state DOTs would want to support out-of-state schools.
Forget the I-41 haters

TheHighwayMan3561

A funny thing regarding the Wisconsin discussion which happened to me today, seeing a Wi vanity plate that said "HUSKERS"  which is clearly a reference to the University of Nebraska...

I admit there are differences, since a standard vanity plate doesn't pay fees to a competing institution, but how is a Wisconsin vanity plate saying HUSKERS, HAWKEYS, GOBLUE, etc. really that much different from a plate carrying a logo from those schools?
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

mgk920

Quote from: kphoger on May 24, 2019, 01:55:50 PM
Quote from: formulanone on May 24, 2019, 06:30:36 AM
I also prefer the "boring" plates: Solid-color background, border, legend, slogan, date, alphanumerics, and I'm good. If there has to be some sort of design, keep it out of the way or minimized.

In Mexico, all license plates were of the "boring" variety up until the late 1990s, and all states had the same design.  Basically, they all looked like this:

[major image snippage]

Do all Mexican states draw from the same number pool?  If so, how close are they to running out of numbers in that format?

Mike

jakeroot

Quote from: DaBigE on May 23, 2019, 03:06:33 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on May 23, 2019, 02:03:56 PM
I have thought seriously hard about designing a Washington state license plate, that is just as dead simple as possible. Something like black numbers, black "WASHINGTON", black border, and that's it. Maybe even just "WA".

I know for a fact that I'd pay for something like this. I prefer really simple license plates. But I'd need to get some signatures first. I know a lot of car guys would be on board, on account of license plate designs often detracting from the design of a car (something European plates don't really do). But a lot of people, including, I'm sure, quite a few of you, like fancy plate designs. I don't really know how I would market this kind of license plate.

No issues from me. Frankly, the plain-er the better. They were intended to be a vehicle identifier, not a personal beliefs/tourism billboard (that's what bumper stickers are for, IMO).

Definitely! Some states/provinces do a better job of keeping the "advertisements" to a minimum, but I still don't like the idea of my vehicle being an advert for the rest of the country. Just let it be an identifier, and call it good. Make it as easy to read as possible, maybe even just use abbreviated state names (to minimize the number of characters, if that would provide any advantage).

Quote from: kphoger on May 23, 2019, 02:32:46 PM
So, basically, the white and green plates.



Of course, if your heart is set on the color black, then...


Quote from: SP Cook on May 23, 2019, 02:24:37 PM
So what you are talking about is something like Nevada which offers a plate it calls "Circa 1982"  which is a replica of its plain white on blue plates of that era ?  And Texas' current standard plate which is very plain and, according to the state's website, done purposefully so based on citizen complaints that previous ones were to "busy". 

Yeah, I know a lot of car guys that would prefer it if the state offered a sort of throwback plate.

Bingo! Those old classic plates were brilliant. I know we moved away from them as technology caught up, but the "pure" designs of everything prior to, basically, the 90s is still my favorite look.

Every now and then, I run into those old green-on-white WA plates, but they're rare, thanks to WA's old law which required licence plate changes every seven years. The only times you see them are when they're purchased third-party and then registered as collector vehicles, or when the car sat unregistered at some point until after the law change around 2012 (meaning it still had its original plates).

kphoger

Quote from: mgk920 on May 25, 2019, 12:16:08 PM

Quote from: kphoger on May 24, 2019, 01:55:50 PM

Quote from: formulanone on May 24, 2019, 06:30:36 AM
I also prefer the "boring" plates: Solid-color background, border, legend, slogan, date, alphanumerics, and I'm good. If there has to be some sort of design, keep it out of the way or minimized.

In Mexico, all license plates were of the "boring" variety up until the late 1990s, and all states had the same design.  Basically, they all looked like this:

[major image snippage]

Do all Mexican states draw from the same number pool?  If so, how close are they to running out of numbers in that format?

Yes, all Mexican license plates draw from the same serial number pool.  Each state is assigned a block of serial numbers.  Passenger cars follow one format, while pickups follow another and motorcycles still another.  Mexico City has its own formats apart from the 31 states.  About six years ago or so, a few states started running out of available serial numbers.  Since then, as states run out of serial numbers, they are switching to a new format.

For example:  Coahuila, the state I travel to regularly, used to have serial block EUA-10-00 to FPZ-99-99  for passenger cars.  Now it has EUA-001-A to FPZ-999-Z.  That serial block was assigned in 2013, but they were still working through the old block as of the 2017 design update.
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.

LM117

“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

route56

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on May 25, 2019, 03:37:29 AM
A funny thing regarding the Wisconsin discussion which happened to me today, seeing a Wi vanity plate that said "HUSKERS"  which is clearly a reference to the University of Nebraska...

Prior to 2010, combinations for vanity plates could be repeated in each county - a leftover from the 1951-1988 system that made the county code part of the licence plate number. When the state updated the system for 2010 and changed it to one combination in the state, the most repeated vanity plate combination was "HUSKERS," with that combination used in 53 counties. "JAYHAWK" was second with 43 counties (no indication if one of those counties was Riley County) There were also 34 counties with "SOONERS"
Peace to you, and... don't drive like my brother.

R.P.K.

Pink Jazz

IMO Arizona is overdue for a redesign.  I know they switched to the flat plates back in 2008, but it looks like these flat plates aren't actually faring much better than the embossed versions of the same design in terms of cracking and peeling (I have noticed this issue occurring with some of the early "A" series flat plates).  Some have advocated for the return to the maroon plates, but I just think these look a bit dated.  Perhaps I think what would be a good design would be a white plate with purple characters and a teal cactus (ADOT colors).

jakeroot

Quote from: LM117 on June 28, 2019, 06:55:14 PM
North Carolina just announced a new plate.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-06-28-new-third-standard-license-plate.aspx

Thankfully they put the American flag on the plate...I thought North Carolina was in Canada!

/s

LM117

Quote from: jakeroot on June 28, 2019, 10:56:34 PM
Quote from: LM117 on June 28, 2019, 06:55:14 PM
North Carolina just announced a new plate.

https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-06-28-new-third-standard-license-plate.aspx

Thankfully they put the American flag on the plate...I thought North Carolina was in Canada!

/s

Yeah, the whole plate design sucks, IMO. When I finally move back to NC, I'm sticking with the original First in Flight plate, like I had before.
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

DJ Particle

#1118
Minnnesota hasn't significantly changed their plate design in over 40 years.  The only changes from 1978 are the changeover from stamped to laserprint, and the addition of ".com" after the state name   :-D

Massachusetts' current design has been used over 30 years...though (AFAIK) they don't expire plates like MN does, so you can see an odd older design floating around.  I still had my old green-lettering plate until 1998, 10 years after they stopped printing them.

WNYroadgeek

#1119
New York getting another new plate design from five potential options, which state residents can vote for: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-launches-statewide-survey-allowing-new-yorkers-choose-states-new-license-plate / https://now.ny.gov/page/s/vote-for-the-next-nys-license-plate-design







(Personally, I like #5 the best.)

SP Cook

Doesn't NY replace all the plates with some regularity, charging some sort of extra "plate fee"  tax, in effect raising the tax on driving every few years?

bulldog1979

Quote from: mgk920 on May 22, 2019, 10:49:23 AM
Wisconsin also has non-expiring 'collector' plates for vehicles 20 or more model years old (also classes of 'hobbyist' and 'antique' plates).  The rules for Wisconsin 'collector' plates - 1] vehicle must be 20 or more model years old and cannot be altered or modified from the manufacturer's original specifications, 2] owner must have one or more other vehicles currently registered in his/her name on a regular annual basis, and 3] vehicle cannot be legally driven on public roads during the month of January.

Non-expiring 'antique' plates are for unmodified vehicles 1945 model year or older.  Vehicle can only be used in special purposes such as shows and parades (that one should be changed, IMHO.  75 or more model years old?  man, 50 model years old and the 1969 Dodge Charger with the 426 Hemi engine would now be eligible  :wow: ).

Non-expiring 'Hobbyist' plates are also available for reconstructed, street modified or replicas of vehicles 20 or more model years old or for homemade vehicles.

My usual mechanic has a classic 1969 Winnebago motor home with collector plates.   :cool:

Wisconsin also allows the display of period-correct plates on older cars that are so registered, as long as the antique or collector plates are also displayed.

Mike

In Michigan, we have two options for cars 26 years or older. The Secretary of State offers a historical plate that is white with a six-digit number. The top has the Pure Michigan logo, and the bottom reads "HISTORICAL". These plates are good for ten years at a time.

The second option is to procure a period-accurate plate from the year of manufacture of the car, including year-correct tabs as appropriate. The plate must be in the correct color combination from the year of issue for approval. (A color photograph or photocopy of the plate is required as a part of the application.) Once registered, an authentic plate registration does not expire unless the car is sold, scrapped or modified.

One important restriction to the use of either plate: a vehicle so registered with the historical or authentic plates can only be driven for historical club activities, car shows or parades. For the purposes of that law, the month of August is considered a statewide car show in the state because too many people were running afoul of the restrictions trying to drive their classic cars to the Woodward Dream Cruise a few days before the event. Now the whole month is allowed.

kalvado

Quote from: WNYroadgeek on August 19, 2019, 01:21:22 PM
New York getting another new plate design from five potential options, which state residents can vote for: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-launches-statewide-survey-allowing-new-yorkers-choose-states-new-license-plate / https://now.ny.gov/page/s/vote-for-the-next-nys-license-plate-design







(Personally, I like #5 the best.)
Regardless of public opinion, #3 with Father's bridge, will be choosen....

vdeane

Quote from: SP Cook on August 19, 2019, 01:48:32 PM
Doesn't NY replace all the plates with some regularity, charging some sort of extra "plate fee"  tax, in effect raising the tax on driving every few years?
That would be this.

https://www.news10.com/news/new-york-is-getting-new-license-plates-next-year/#/questions

Quote
The current $25 license plate replacement fee will be added to the cost of the vehicle owner's registration renewal. Customers may also keep their current license plate number for an additional $20 fee.

Those of us who have parking permits (in my case, both for work and my apartment) tied to our licence plate numbers not only have to pay to replace the plate, but also pay extra to keep the plate number.  They even make the people whose plates are peeling due to a manufacturing defect pay to keep the plate number.

The Empire Gold plates were supposed to be a money raiser during the Great Recession, but public backlash stopped the mandatory replacement.

In any case, I'm sure roadgeeks will be happy with the possibility that the plate design will be the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Mr_Northside

Personally, I like the choice at the bottom the best as it sort of spans the whole state (the Falls, some mountains, NYC)

Though I don't live in NY - so yinz all do what you want.
I don't have opinions anymore. All I know is that no one is better than anyone else, and everyone is the best at everything



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