Digital License Plates

[kalvado]

New York has used window stickers (inside lower drivers' side corner) for many years now, too.  The stickers are the 'official' registration, the conventional plates are only there to make it easier to identify the car from a greater distance away.

Mike

Nope, official NY registration is yet another piece of paper which is kept in glove compartment. Windshield sticker is only good for a quick glance - missing sticker or past due date are a reason for police to investigate further.

[formulanone]

This is really cool to look at and yet a nearly-pointless invention for the complexity involved. It's just going to break, become hard to read in certain conditions, allow itself to be hackable, or run out of batteries at an inopportune time.

I guess some sort of central law enforcement could get a plate color changed for wanted criminals or remotely denote expired tags.

[Rothman]

Every time I get pulled over here in NY,  they ask for the paper registration despite my perfectly legible sticker.

[SSOWorld]

Every time I get pulled over here in NY,  they ask for the paper registration despite my perfectly legible sticker.

To make sure you keep your registration in the car.

[Rothman]

Every time I get pulled over here in NY,  they ask for the paper registration despite my perfectly legible sticker.

To make sure you keep your registration in the car.

Sort of defeats the purpose, then.

[Roadwarriors79]

If you're a California resident and decide to get a digital license plate, you still have to get at least one standard plate for the front of your vehicle. Might as well stick to the conventional plates. It seems to me that most of the "benefits" of digital plates don't really benefit the general public. Maybe that will change as time goes on.

[abefroman329]

You think SWATing is bad now, just wait till someone finds a way to hack their enemy gamer's digital license plate to read, say STOLEN CAR or ARMED HOSTAGE SITUATION IN CAR.

[ZLoth]

I heard that the plates are around $700 a pop, although the city of Sacramento just announced that they are getting them for $300 a pop. Plus, there is going to be a monthly fee. 

As much as I'm a technogeek, what we have here is a first generation product. It looks good in the testing phase, but real-world experience is going to be another matter. As far as I can see, the cost/benefit ratio isn't there for most users. Give it a few years and a few generations.