License Plate News

[StogieGuy7]

^^^^

Then you have states like Virginia. Certain parts of Virginia are subject to emissions inspections, others are not, and there is no emissions sticker–the test result is transmitted electronically to the DMV so you can renew your registration. When they first started the emissions program in the early 1980s, there was an emissions decal that went at the lower driver's-side corner of the windshield (where the much smaller safety inspection sticker goes today), but people complained about it being distracting and they scrapped the decal a year or two later.

Wisconsin is similar. Only the SE region is subject to emissions inspections, and it's tied to your registration renewal. IIRC, there's never been a separate indication showing you passed.

Illinois is almost the same as Wisconsin.  The only difference is that IL has specific emissions testing facilities while WI utilizes certified private garages for testing. In both states the testing is free to the motorist, which is not the case in most states with emissions testing.

[DaBigE]

^^^^

Then you have states like Virginia. Certain parts of Virginia are subject to emissions inspections, others are not, and there is no emissions sticker–the test result is transmitted electronically to the DMV so you can renew your registration. When they first started the emissions program in the early 1980s, there was an emissions decal that went at the lower driver's-side corner of the windshield (where the much smaller safety inspection sticker goes today), but people complained about it being distracting and they scrapped the decal a year or two later.

Wisconsin is similar. Only the SE region is subject to emissions inspections, and it's tied to your registration renewal. IIRC, there's never been a separate indication showing you passed.

Illinois is almost the same as Wisconsin.  The only difference is that IL has specific emissions testing facilities while WI utilizes certified private garages for testing. In both states the testing is free at no additional cost to the motorist, which is not the case in most states with emissions testing.

FIFY. It comes out of the state budget/taxes somehow.

Yeah, Wisconsin used to have state facilities for testing, but eliminated them years ago as a state budget cut.

Abandoned test facility - West Bend
older test facility turned fire station - West Bend (this one was replaced by the one in the first link)

[Dustin DeWinn]

I know this maybe confusing, but it's a very complicated system. I was curious what each state was doing in terms of license plate registration and inspection stickers.

Kansas is a rear-plate-only state with an annual registration sticker that goes on the upper right corner of the license plate and no periodic emissions or safety inspection.  I think the first version of your map is consistent with this, but the second suggests there is no registration sticker.

Kansas is one sticker? I'm just after sticker count. Thanks

[roadman65]

What is a Kentucky 10,000? Saw a KY plate with that number on it at the bottom.

[csw]

What is a Kentucky 10,000? Saw a KY plate with that number on it at the bottom.

I believe that means that the vehicle weighs at least 10,000 lbs. In Indiana, vehicles over a certain weight have to have different "truck" plates with their weight class on them. Probably the same thing in Kentucky.

[Scott5114]

I know this maybe confusing, but it's a very complicated system. I was curious what each state was doing in terms of license plate registration and inspection stickers.

Kansas is a rear-plate-only state with an annual registration sticker that goes on the upper right corner of the license plate and no periodic emissions or safety inspection.  I think the first version of your map is consistent with this, but the second suggests there is no registration sticker.

Kansas is one sticker? I'm just after sticker count. Thanks

Kansas has two stickers–the one in the upper right mentioned above, and one in the upper-left bearing a two-letter county abbreviation.

[SP Cook]

What is a Kentucky 10,000? Saw a KY plate with that number on it at the bottom.

I believe that means that the vehicle weighs at least 10,000 lbs. In Indiana, vehicles over a certain weight have to have different "truck" plates with their weight class on them. Probably the same thing in Kentucky.

Yeah, it has something to do with trucks.  The deal is, and AFAIK this is a unique to Kentucky thing, I have seen the same exact type of vehicle with both regular and these weight based plates.  No body seems to know what the distinction is.

[apeman33]

The month of expiry on a Kansas plate is tied to your last name. It's a carry over from the old system (pre-1987) when the third letter in the license plate number indicated the month of expiry.

If your last name begins with:               You renew your tag in:
A                                                        February
B                                                        March
C, D                                                    April
E, F, G                                                May
H, I                                                    June
J, K, L                                                July
M, N, O                                              August   <--- when mine have to be renewed since my last name begins with N.
P, Q, R                                               September
S                                                       October
T, V, W                                               November
U, X, Y, Z                                            December

January is for trucks, trailers and other categories of vehicles.

On pre-1987 tags, you had the county code stacked on top of each other on the far left in small letters, then a larger letter corresponding to the expiration month, then the number.



They only used one letter for the expiration code, so you'd never see a tag for any county with the third letter being "K".
The letter code for each month was, in order, A, B, C, E, H, J, M, R, S, V, X.

"Z" was used if the range of numbers for other letters ran out. I never saw a "Z" tag in the field, but I have seen a photo of a Z tag for Johnson County.

[vdeane]

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

[Scott5114]

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

It's a good way to make sure you remember to do it, though. Harder to say "Oh, I forgot" if literally every car you've owned in the state has its tag expire in August. Considering the state's interest is in compliance and not on avoiding screwing people over...

[jakeroot]

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

It's a good way to make sure you remember to do it, though. Harder to say "Oh, I forgot" if literally every car you've owned in the state has its tag expire in August. Considering the state's interest is in compliance and not on avoiding screwing people over...

That's as may be, but Valeria makes a point. Does the state offer credits to drivers on "remaining time" for the current registration? Or do they have to start all over?

[kalvado]

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

It's a good way to make sure you remember to do it, though. Harder to say "Oh, I forgot" if literally every car you've owned in the state has its tag expire in August. Considering the state's interest is in compliance and not on avoiding screwing people over...

That's as may be, but Valeria makes a point. Does the state offer credits to drivers on "remaining time" for the current registration? Or do they have to start all over?

In NY, at least, it's a full registration credit for unused time when transferring plates&registration to another car. Not sure if unused year can be refunded; 1 day use definitely makes it non-refundable.
But in case of NY, we're talking about less than $100 total for a regular car - plates, registration, inspection - which may be just another thing when moving out of state.

[J N Winkler]

My thanks to Apeman33 for explaining the Kansas system for determining month of expiry for vehicle registration--that is my new thing learned for the day.

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

That's as may be, but Valeria makes a point. Does the state offer credits to drivers on "remaining time" for the current registration? Or do they have to start all over?

In Kansas, the unused portion of the personal property tax paid on the vehicle (as part of the registration renewal charge) is eligible for refund.  It is calculated from the date all the required documentation of the vehicle's change in status (sale in-state or transfer out of state) is received by the treasurer in the Kansas county from which the refund is sought, which is a financial incentive to gather the required paperwork and submit it ASAP.

There are other fees wrapped into registration renewal that are not refundable.  However, the personal property tax element can be quite significant, especially for newer cars, because it is related to the car's value and is seen by counties as a significant revenue source.  In the 1980's and 1990's Kansas had a reputation as one of the most expensive states in the country to register a car and one of the cheapest in which to insure it.

Kansas has two stickers–the one in the upper right mentioned above, and one in the upper-left bearing a two-letter county abbreviation.

Kansas has used stickers for the county on all recent standard-series plates with raised plate numbers.  (I have checked this against a current state-seal plate, an old capitol plate, and an even older wheat plate.)  However, on the new flat plates (which also use the state-seal design), the county block is printed directly onto the plate in the same manner as the plate number.  I don't know if stickers are still used when a vehicle moves in-state from one county to another.

[Dustin DeWinn]

There's an Indiana plate used by one of my neighbors, and it has 2 stickers on it, plus a third printed date (says 06-28).

The other two are the month and county.

I think that the whole point of NC moving to single sticker was the cost itself of the sticker. The printed flat info does complicate this whole calculation, but I will discard them. I am only after stickercount. But I don't know if directly printing on the plate saves any money.

I will add though that I don't know if Indiana uses this method still. NC moved to one sticker, but you will still see cars with 2 because they never removed the now-obsolete decal. So Indiana may have changed and he just didn't get a new plate that reflects the current methods.

[J N Winkler]

Another factor that complicates sticker count is that some states, like Kansas, do not appear to have a mechanism for retiring old plates that are not in the standard series, and in the past have used separate stickers for month and year of expiry.  The oldest car in the family (turned 26 last February) still has visible stickers for "NOV" and year buried underneath newer decals.

[kalvado]

I think that the whole point of NC moving to single sticker was the cost itself of the sticker.

If this is of any indication... Outdoor grade vinyl stickers are sold at about $0.15/square inch; for example: https://www.grainger.com/product/LYLE-Vinyl-34JZ14
License plate sticker is probably about 1 square inch, and sticker itself costs less than cost of mailing it or driving a mile to pick it up..

[DaBigE]

I think that the whole point of NC moving to single sticker was the cost itself of the sticker.

If this is of any indication... Outdoor grade vinyl stickers are sold at about $0.15/square inch; for example: https://www.grainger.com/product/LYLE-Vinyl-34JZ14
License plate sticker is probably about 1 square inch, and sticker itself costs less than cost of mailing it or driving a mile to pick it up..

I wonder how many states use pure vinyl (or similar) stickers, versus reflective stickers? Wisconsin's are reflective (engineer-grade sheeting?). The cost for reflective is likely slightly higher, but not by much (or Wisconsin should have cut it a long time ago).

[Dustin DeWinn]

^^^^

Then you have states like Virginia. Certain parts of Virginia are subject to emissions inspections, others are not, and there is no emissions sticker–the test result is transmitted electronically to the DMV so you can renew your registration. When they first started the emissions program in the early 1980s, there was an emissions decal that went at the lower driver's-side corner of the windshield (where the much smaller safety inspection sticker goes today), but people complained about it being distracting and they scrapped the decal a year or two later.

how many stickers on the front and rear plates in VA?

Any idea for WV?

Previous notes say

*WV:1 on the rear plate (no front plate) and 2 on the front
*VA: 2 on the front, 2 on the back, one on the WS, but now that's wrong

[interstate73]

And just as fast as they came, the blue Ontario plates are gone: https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/ontario-government-admits-mistake-returns-to-a-white-licence-plate-design

The new new plates will be pretty much the same as the old design but flat (akin to recent redesigns in Kansas and New Jersey) and maintain the "A place to grow" slogan from the blue plates. Is this the shortest lived license plate design in history??? Didn't even make it through February...

[SP Cook]

Any idea for WV?

Previous notes say

*WV:1 on the rear plate (no front plate) and 2 on the front

WV has only a rear plate, and one sticker for the year of expiration.  The month of expiration is indicated by the first character of the number (1-9, O, N, D).  All personalized plates all expire in January; all member group plates expire in July.

WV has one inspection sticker in the lower driver's side windshield.  Safety only.  The state has a "permanent"  waiver from the EPA for emissions testing due to the economic situation.

WV's current plate numbering scheme is near exhaustion.  State said it was going to recall all the plates and start over with a more traditional system of NNN - LLL with two stickers (month and year) but has made no moves to actually do so.

[jemacedo9]

PA no longer has a registration sticker on the license plate...that went away I think two years ago...maybe three.

PA has a windshield sticker for the inspection for all counties.  Some counties (urban/suburban) require an emission inspection which is a second windshield sticker.  But also...trucks (commercial?) have a third windshield sticker indicating I believe weight class. I don't know if this is still a requirement, but I still see trucks with the third windshield sticker.

[PHLBOS]

PA has a windshield sticker for the inspection for all counties.  Some counties (urban/suburban) require an emission inspection which is a second windshield sticker.

It is worth noting that vehicles older than 1975 are not required to undergo emissions testing nor receive a sticker for such in PA counties that do/require emissions testing.  Exemptions from emissions testing for newer vehicles (example: vehicles w/less than 5000 miles/year) will typically receive an emissions sticker with EXEMPTION placed on it.

[rlb2024]

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

When I was growing up in Tennessee they went from all plates expiring at the same time to a phased system based on the first letter of your last name.  It was a convenient way to initially spread out the renewals throughout the year.  I haven't lived in Tennessee in 40 years so I don't know if they still use a similar system.

[frankenroad]

Honestly, I don't understand states that tie vehicle things to stuff like last names and birthdays.  That sounds like a good way to get screwed over if you need to buy a vehicle right before your designated renewal time or get rid of one shortly thereafter.  Having the plate/registration/whatever term start when you get the vehicle seems much more sensible.

It's a good way to make sure you remember to do it, though. Harder to say "Oh, I forgot" if literally every car you've owned in the state has its tag expire in August. Considering the state's interest is in compliance and not on avoiding screwing people over...

That's as may be, but Valeria makes a point. Does the state offer credits to drivers on "remaining time" for the current registration? Or do they have to start all over?

When I lived in New Hampshire, your initial registration was pro-rated down to the month.  In Ohio, you get half price if it's 6 months or less to your next renewal.   However, in both cases, if you leave the state or sell the car before the registration expires, no refund is issued.  Not a big deal in Ohio as annual fees (base plate) is only $31.  Some counties add a fee, but I think that is capped at $15 or $20/year.

[7/8]

And just as fast as they came, the blue Ontario plates are gone: https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/ontario-government-admits-mistake-returns-to-a-white-licence-plate-design

The new new plates will be pretty much the same as the old design but flat (akin to recent redesigns in Kansas and New Jersey) and maintain the "A place to grow" slogan from the blue plates. Is this the shortest lived license plate design in history??? Didn't even make it through February...

Back to the "liberal" plates, eh? . It still shocks me that the illegibility slipped through.

I'm disappointed that they're sticking to flat plates, but at least the return to blue-on-white will look better.