Vehicle registration plates of the United States – GPS Car Tracking ...

Vehicle registration plates of the United States – GPS Car Tracking Device Manufacturer

Article by hi joiney

Designs and serial formats Main article United States license plate designs and serial formats The appearances of plates are frequently chosen to contain symbols colors or slogans associated with the issuing jurisdiction Formats for license plate numbers which are usually alphanumeric are designed to provide enough unique numbers for all motor vehicles a jurisdiction expects to register For example the small states Delaware and Rhode Island are able to use formats of 123456 and 123 456 respectively while California uses the seven character format 1ABC234 and several other populous states and provinces use a seven character ABC 1234 format Other formats include those that utilize a county coding system or month of expiration is incorporated into the plate number as in Massachusetts which uses the last digit and West Virginia which uses the first digit New Jersey currently uses a ABC 12D format which is nearly ready to run out of numbers so officials decided to switch to a A12 BCD format when the existing format is exhausted Maryland which used to have a ABC 123 format on their license plates now has a 1AB C23 format The District of Columbia changed a few years ago from a 123 456 format to an AB 1234 format Non passenger vehicles tend to have their own special format and often have the vehicle type listed on the plate In the United States many states and provinces distinguish their license plates through distinctive color schemes and logos which historically have been changed annually For example the cowboy logo often associated with the state of Wyoming has appeared on that state s license plates continuously since 1936 Some early Tennessee plates were produced in a parallelogram shape approximating that of the state Vermont license plates have frequently featured a green and white color scheme while Alaska has preferred yellow and blue Arkansas California Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Virginia and Wisconsin all have plain white license plates with little decoration Florida Georgia Indiana Maryland Michigan Nebraska Pennsylvania South Carolina West Virginia and Washington D C have placed the address of the state s official or tourism web site on their general issue plates Most plates in Washington D C contain the phrase Taxation without representation to highlight the District s lack of a voting representative in the United States Congress Issues only embossed plates Issues only flat screened plates Issues embossed standard issue plates and flat screened personalized plates and optional types and in some states non passenger types Mostly issues embossed plates but issues one type of flat screened optional plate Previously issued flat screened plates but subsequently reverted to embossed plates Typically the registration number is embossed or more rarely impressed onto the license plate Other identifying information such as the name of the issuing jurisdiction and the vehicle class can be either surface printed or embossed Virginia for example does the former for passenger cars and the latter for most non passenger vehicles However it is increasingly common in the U S for the registration number to be surface printed using digital printing technology Colorado Mississippi Missouri New York Ohio Oregon Texas and Washington do so only for certain types of license plates such as vanity plates and special issues Alabama Arizona Indiana Iowa Minnesota Montana Nebraska Nevada South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Wyoming and the District of Columbia have switched to the so called flat plate technology for all their license plates Delaware license plates have not been embossed for several decades License plates originally were not embossed but were merely flat plates in various forms typically rectangular It was found by the 1930s that they could be easily forged and subsequently plates were embossed as the equipment to do this was not easily available to criminals wishing to create their own plates In 1956 the U S states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the Automobile Manufacturers Association that fixed the size for all their passenger vehicle plates at six inches in height by twelve inches in width although these figures may vary slightly by jurisdiction citation needed In North America only Saint Pierre and Miquelon has not adopted these standards citation needed Although the Northwest Territories and Nunavut plates are cut in the shape of a polar bear their overall size and mounting holes are compatible with those of the rest of Canada and the U S citation needed Smaller sized plates are used for motorcycles and in some jurisdictions mopeds and certain types of trailers and construction equipment citation needed Showing current registration on plates Line for automobile license plates Los Angeles Department of Motor Vehicles 1940 Historically many U S and Canadian plates were replaced every year although the most common practice in modern times is to send new validation stickers to vehicle owners every year or two to indicate that the vehicle registration is still valid Tags that are not up to date quickly attract the attention of law enforcement because registration renewal is a transaction that can usually be undertaken only by the car s registered owner once certain requirements have been met and because registration fees are a source of government revenue A delinquent registration tag is often an indicator that the vehicle may be stolen that the vehicle s owner has failed to comply with the applicable law regarding emission inspection or insurance or that the vehicle s owner has unpaid traffic or parking tickets Even with the tags most states previously required that all license plates be replaced every few years that practice is being abandoned by many states because of the expense of continually producing large numbers of plates Maryland for example formerly mandated that all license plates be replaced every five years except for apportioned trailers which were registered on an eight year schedule but has not done so since 1986 The sticker is usually placed on one corner of the plate while the month of the year in which the plate would expire is printed in an opposing corner Some jurisdictions combine the year and month on one sticker In others the plate s validation is a decal displayed from the inside of the windshield The color of plate stickers and windshield decals often change annually to allow for easier detection by police Most validation stickers are either serialized with the serial number recorded on the registration or are printed by a special printer at the time of registration or renewal with the vehicle s license plate number on them to discourage fraudulent sticker use as the sticker will be valid only for the plate for which it was intended In the District of Columbia the license plate is validated with a windshield sticker that indicates the expiration date the license plate number the year and make of vehicle and part of the vehicle identification number thereby allowing easier detection of fraudulent use as well as serving as a parking permit for neighborhood residents New York Texas and Washington D C use windshield stickers exclusively rather than plate stickers for most vehicle classes Connecticut switched to this method in September 2006 New Jersey required the use of plate decals for a few years beginning with November 2000 expirations but has not required them on passenger cars since October 1 2004 New Jersey passenger vehicles do not display any registration information other than the license plate itself Pennsylvania issued validation stickers for Philadelphia residents that were displayed in the lower left corner of cars rear windows for a few years ending in late 2003 with the last stickers issued bearing January 2005 expirations due to problems with theft of stickers attached to the license plate In Hawaii the case of vehicle registration dues are a heated debate between the counties Vehicles are purchased at a discount on Oahu compared to the neighboring islands where there is usually only one dealer per vehicle make Because the outlying counties issue plates starting with M Maui County K Kauai or H Big Island of Hawaii the source of the vehicle can be identified Life cycle Under U S law citation needed when a person moves to a new state he or she is required to establish residency in the new state which includes registering the vehicle with that new state s government it will then issue a new plate or plates that must be attached to the vehicle One prominent exception is active duty military service members under federal law they do not change their legal residence when they move to a new posting and are not obliged to re register their vehicle with the state in which they are newly assigned Undergraduate students attending college or university in a state other than their own are also typically exempt from transferring their registration while graduate students are typically not exempt citation needed A few states consider all students to be residents for purposes of vehicle registration Accordingly they must register and insure their vehicle in that state as well as obtain that state s driver s license citation needed A few other states such as New York allow although do not require out of state students to register their vehicles in state citation needed When a vehicle is sold the disposition of the license plates depends on state law and varies by state In some states license plates are transferred with the vehicle to its new owner In other states the license plates remain with the seller who may for a fee transfer the license plates and any unused portion of the current registration to a new vehicle Some states issue a new plate whenever the car is sold The various states have different schemes for reissuing license plates a process known as replating In some jurisdictions plates are issued on a permanent basis and are not replaced unless the owner requests a new plate or that his or her existing plate be remade These jurisdictions include California Delaware Massachusetts Oklahoma and Oregon Other jurisdictions replate on a rolling basis replacing a particular motorist s plate when it reaches a certain age Jurisdictions employing a rolling replate program include Arkansas plates reissued every eight years Florida ten years Idaho seven years Minnesota seven years Texas seven years and Washington seven years due to the five year warranty on the reflective coating Pennsylvania recently repealed its legislation which required a replate every ten years just in time to avoid the replate which would have been mandated by law for 2009 Yet other jurisdictions may recall a particular series of plates for reissuance at regular or irregular intervals This is particularly common in jurisdictions in which only one license plate series or design is valid at any given time Optional issue plates may or may not follow the same rules for replacement as standard issue plates depending on the jurisdiction New York usually replaces the plates every 15 years However in 2009 due to the states fiscal crisis Governor Patterson has decided to replace every plate in the state with the oldest being only 8 years This mandatory replacement comes with a 35 00 fee Patterson has been sharply criticized for his unlegislated fundraising via the Department of Motor Vehicles Front Rear Mounting Many American states are now strictly enforcing laws that require vehicles to display two license plates on the rear and front of the vehicle One possible benefit of front license plates is to increase the effectiveness of red light cameras which work only if a vehicle can be linked back to its registered owner Opponents of two license plates usually do not like front plates on certain sports cars and historic cars because of their visual obtrusiveness from the vehicle For example a Car and Driver reader wrote in to the magazine to point out that the Mazda RX 8 looks like Bugs Bunny when so equipped citation needed They argue that they add cost to production use resources metal create double the amount of waste and do not give police any extra tool in recovering stolen vehicles citation needed California is one of an increasing number of states whose law requiring a front license plate on all vehicles is being petitioned The petitions are traditionally the result of effort put forth by motorists and car auto enthusiasts who prefer the clean unobstructed viewing of the front fascia and grille of their vehicle and see little or no practicality in having a front plate on display Some argue that the presence of a front license plate means unnecessary damage when mounting hardware comes into contact with the bumper of another vehicle Others argue about whether or not the U S front plate interferes with the vehicle s cooling system when mounted in the traditional location versus for example a slimmer European plate Variations on placement include displaying the front plate inside the vehicle between the dash board and front windshield having both a state issued and vanity plate insert on display and having only a vanity plate insert on display Police officers frequently cite motorists whose vehicles do not comply with California Vehicle Code section 5200 giving the offender the opportunity to correct the offense citation needed The petition originally drafted by William Shaw argues that not having a front plate on display does not interfere with law enforcement and states Law enforcement officials might be opposed to a measure abolishing the front license plate requirement because they might believe that losing the extra plate will make it more difficult for them to do their jobs in the best possible manner However in the 20 or more states that have abolished the front license plate requirement there is no evidence of a decline in public safety as a result of the plate removal In the U S the states of Alabama Arizona Arkansas

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