License Plate News

[pderocco]

Right. For instance, why can't a previous number be "reintroduced" if the car that previous had that plate isn't registered for five years?

That would probably be easy to do with screened plates (which I despise), because those are basically printed on by computers that can print anything. But I'm pretty sure that embossed plates are manufactured in batches of consecutive numbers, and the machines aren't set up to be able to skip numbers that are still in use.

Free plate update for those few who still has old ones?

That could work, but could also be problematic, like mailing plates to the registered address, which the owner failed to update when he moved, so someone else gets the modern dupes, and decides to use them to rob a bank.

[Scott5114]

There's also the fact that it's difficult to determine whether a plate hasn't been renewed in five years because the person who owned it moved out of state or sold off a car, or if they've just been driving around town with that license plate sporting a five-year-old sticker.

[kalvado]

Right. For instance, why can't a previous number be "reintroduced" if the car that previous had that plate isn't registered for five years?

That would probably be easy to do with screened plates (which I despise), because those are basically printed on by computers that can print anything. But I'm pretty sure that embossed plates are manufactured in batches of consecutive numbers, and the machines aren't set up to be able to skip numbers that are still in use.

Free plate update for those few who still has old ones?

That could work, but could also be problematic, like mailing plates to the registered address, which the owner failed to update when he moved, so someone else gets the modern dupes, and decides to use them to rob a bank.

Without knowing specifics of CA registration... In NY owner has to pay for the registration renewal, and provide an address where registration documents would be mailed. Combining plate update with the renewal... Depending on how many plates are out there.

[vdeane]

Right. For instance, why can't a previous number be "reintroduced" if the car that previous had that plate isn't registered for five years?

That would probably be easy to do with screened plates (which I despise), because those are basically printed on by computers that can print anything. But I'm pretty sure that embossed plates are manufactured in batches of consecutive numbers, and the machines aren't set up to be able to skip numbers that are still in use.

When NY introduced the current plate design, they offered people the ability to upgrade to the new plates (for more money, of course), including the ability to keep their current plate number when they do (for more money, of course).  I have seen new-style plates with plates numbers from before the K series, and they're embossed, so evidently they can emboss an older plate number on the new plates.

[Scott5114]

Right. For instance, why can't a previous number be "reintroduced" if the car that previous had that plate isn't registered for five years?

That would probably be easy to do with screened plates (which I despise), because those are basically printed on by computers that can print anything. But I'm pretty sure that embossed plates are manufactured in batches of consecutive numbers, and the machines aren't set up to be able to skip numbers that are still in use.

When NY introduced the current plate design, they offered people the ability to upgrade to the new plates (for more money, of course), including the ability to keep their current plate number when they do (for more money, of course).  I have seen new-style plates with plates numbers from before the K series, and they're embossed, so evidently they can emboss an older plate number on the new plates.

They can, but it's not particularly convenient, thus the fee for retaining the old number.

I have never seen a plate-embossing machine, but the way these sorts of things tend to work is that there's a stepper mechanism to advance the wheels by one each time it stamps out a plate. Think of it as being like an old odometer, from before they went digital. So if you are running off a set of specific out-of-sequence plates you have to manually set the machine to the first one, stamp it, manually advance it to the second one, etc.

Whereas with a digital printing machine you can theoretically just drop a list of numbers to print to the machine and it can print them all in the same amount of time, regardless of whether they're in sequence or not.

My question is who is so attached to their license plate number that they would pay extra to keep it during a reissue.

[pderocco]

I have never seen a plate-embossing machine, but the way these sorts of things tend to work is that there's a stepper mechanism to advance the wheels by one each time it stamps out a plate. Think of it as being like an old odometer, from before they went digital. So if you are running off a set of specific out-of-sequence plates you have to manually set the machine to the first one, stamp it, manually advance it to the second one, etc.

I'd bet that all non-sequential plates are made on a separate machine, where the operator sets up the whole number as though setting type, runs off two plates, puts them in an envelope, and moves on to the next number.

[kalvado]

Right. For instance, why can't a previous number be "reintroduced" if the car that previous had that plate isn't registered for five years?

That would probably be easy to do with screened plates (which I despise), because those are basically printed on by computers that can print anything. But I'm pretty sure that embossed plates are manufactured in batches of consecutive numbers, and the machines aren't set up to be able to skip numbers that are still in use.

When NY introduced the current plate design, they offered people the ability to upgrade to the new plates (for more money, of course), including the ability to keep their current plate number when they do (for more money, of course).  I have seen new-style plates with plates numbers from before the K series, and they're embossed, so evidently they can emboss an older plate number on the new plates.

They can, but it's not particularly convenient, thus the fee for retaining the old number.

I have never seen a plate-embossing machine, but the way these sorts of things tend to work is that there's a stepper mechanism to advance the wheels by one each time it stamps out a plate. Think of it as being like an old odometer, from before they went digital. So if you are running off a set of specific out-of-sequence plates you have to manually set the machine to the first one, stamp it, manually advance it to the second one, etc.

Whereas with a digital printing machine you can theoretically just drop a list of numbers to print to the machine and it can print them all in the same amount of time, regardless of whether they're in sequence or not.

My question is who is so attached to their license plate number that they would pay extra to keep it during a reissue.

I choose to keep old numbers on both our cars - while not even being required to to replace (pretty worn out, but still legal) plates. Cost of the semi-custom plate isn't high compared to registration due at the same time, and potential for some problems due to forgetting to update the number somewhere (work parking, ezpass..) isn't zero.
Same with worn out plates - misread can also cause some issues.  All on all, it was like a half of an oil change cost per car, on top of registration.

[OCGuy81]

It is kind of crazy to me that we have had the same base design for 30 years now, save for very small adjustments.

Yeah, like adding "dmv.ca.gov". That deserves a major design award.

So true!! 

I'd love to see them bring back the sunset plate!

[GaryV]

My question is who is so attached to their license plate number that they would pay extra to keep it during a reissue.

"It took me 27 years to memorize the plate I have now. I'm not going through that again!"
/s

[kphoger]

You can switch to only so many schemes. If license plates start looking like Canadian postal codes they get hard to read, remember and report. If there's a defined letter/number pattern, it's much easier to get them right.

Some letter-number sequences are harder to remember than others.

When certain states in Mexico started to exhaust the possibilities in their allotted serial number blocks several years ago, the new format switched from [ABC-12-34] to [ABC-123-D].  Trucks likewise went from [AB-12-345] to [AB-1234-C].  A whole new series, with an increased number of possibilities due to changing from final numeral to final letter, and it's still really easy to remember.

[mgk920]

Right. For instance, why can't a previous number be "reintroduced" if the car that previous had that plate isn't registered for five years?

That would probably be easy to do with screened plates (which I despise), because those are basically printed on by computers that can print anything. But I'm pretty sure that embossed plates are manufactured in batches of consecutive numbers, and the machines aren't set up to be able to skip numbers that are still in use.

When Illinois issued their new design plates (standard embossed) a few years ago, they actually re-issued the valid old numbers to existing plate holders.

Mike

[Scott5114]

My question is who is so attached to their license plate number that they would pay extra to keep it during a reissue.

"It took me 27 years to memorize the plate I have now. I'm not going through that again!"
/s

I've seen this argument used seriously before. I have no clue what my Nevada license plate number is, and I have suffered basically no inconvenience because of this. (Tying into my previous post about easily-remembered letter/number combinations, Nevada currently uses 123 4A5, which for some reason feels trickier to remember.) So I don't know why someone would go to the trouble to memorize it.

I only knew my Oklahoma license plate number was BZZ 100 because...well, look at it.

[Quillz]

My question is who is so attached to their license plate number that they would pay extra to keep it during a reissue.

"It took me 27 years to memorize the plate I have now. I'm not going through that again!"
/s

I've seen this argument used seriously before. I have no clue what my Nevada license plate number is, and I have suffered basically no inconvenience because of this. (Tying into my previous post about easily-remembered letter/number combinations, Nevada currently uses 123 4A5, which for some reason feels trickier to remember.) So I don't know why someone would go to the trouble to memorize it.

I only knew my Oklahoma license plate number was BZZ 100 because...well, look at it.

Mine is actually easy to memorize since the combination happens to also be the name of a well known rapper, so I remember it that way. But at some point, I just wrote it down on a file I keep in the Notes app and refer to it when I need it. Sometimes at work I need it for parking renewal, security renewal, some hotels want your license plate, etc.

[kphoger]

I only knew my Oklahoma license plate number was BZZ 100 because...well, look at it.

When I met my wife, her license plate was 417-SXR.  And 417 was her area code.