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Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

npr.org

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Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#11

Post by raverbashing »

lgessler wrote: post #8
HenryKissinger wrote: post #2

The concept of physical license plates is completely outdated anyway.

Can you explain? As a cheap and pretty much failure-free means of visually broadcasting the identity of a vehicle, they seem pretty irreplaceable. Anything requiring electronics is much more prone to failure. Even airplanes have their call signs written clearly somewhere on their body.

A small nitpick: planes have their registration, not their call signs (which change based on the flight) printed on them.

Now for GA aircraft the call sign used is usually their registration no. (not sure it's mandatory for them, but that's what's used). For commercial, it's related to their flight number.

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#12

Post by nraynaud »

ropiwqefjnpoa wrote: post #10

Dark color font on light background, guess they didn't get the memo...

I think it's a bit more precisely that the new plate is entirely retro-reflective while the old one was not reflective at all on the letter, almost binary.

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#13

Post by catalogia »

HenryKissinger wrote: post #2

The concept of physical license plates is completely outdated anyway.

If I took off my license plate, that would be noticed quickly. If I were to disable my car's transponder, how long would it take for anybody to notice? Transponders would not be tamper evident at first glance and are therefore not, and never will be, an adequate replacement for license plates.

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#14

Post by 3pt14159 »

As the article states, it's in the same colour as the centre-right (by US standards) political party and to many of us here it feels like they're "trolling the libs" with these plates. One of the early plans of this government was to remove parts of The Greenbelt[0] and turn it into more suburban sprawl. Thankfully this was canceled after outrage from people here. So "A Place to Grow" seems extra rich in light of that. It's an economic message, not an environmental one.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenbelt_(Golden_Horseshoe)

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#16

Post by stanski »

Had the good fortune today to drive behind two cars, side by side, one sporting the old license plate and the other the old one. I could only read the old, white background plate but not the new blue one. And that was in broad daylight.

Anyone claiming that the blue plates are perfectly readable has either never seen them in action or is downright lying.

Incredible that vehicle plates are a political issue but there you have it. Nothing is too low in Ontario politics anymore.

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#17

Post by millzlane »

HenryKissinger wrote: post #2

The concept of physical license plates is completely outdated anyway.

Yep, I can take plates off of relatively anycar I see, preferably the same make, model, and color. Skip tolls, red lights, kill anyone, be a get away vehicle, collect parking tickets practically do anything I want where I didn't want to be identified by my license plate. License plates unless they're permanently affixed to cars is a bit outdated.

Identifying license plates on the vehicle should be more permanent. Similar to the VIN. Otherwise if they can be changed so easily they're kind of pointless. They operate on good faith.

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#18

Post by pszndr »

> The plates also had a new slogan – "A Place to Grow" – which drew the ire of some critics, who preferred the previous "Yours to Discover," which the plates had sported since 1982

Both are just as corny as they are useless in a license plate. Why put in novelty stuff? License plates are for identification, and should serve solely that function.

Re: Ontario's new license plates have a problem: you can't read them

#20

Post by Phillips126 »

Wow that is an awful design for visibility.

As a New York resident I noticed when the plates changed in 2010 I personally found them harder to read [0]. The white background with dark letters/numbers used from 2001-2010 seemed like the better option... I wonder what law enforcement thought of the change. Seems they are about to change again to something with better contrast starting April 2020 [1].

Also an interesting side note I've noticed that a lot of the new license plates are peeling causing them to look entirely metallic. I see NY dropped their contract with 3M likely due to this issue [2].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of...

[1] - https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/alb...

[2] - https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/08/new-york-ends-contract...

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