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All of the vehicle license plates available in America

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Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#11

Post by blamazon »

spiderice wrote: post #6
namdnay wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's so ... american. the vehicle version of public mugshots or perpwalk

I’m just wondering why they’re allowed to drive at all after 3 DUIs.

In Mississippi, one of those two aforementioned states, it's perfectly legal to drink and drive (with an open container in your hand!) as long as you stay below 0.08 BAC.

(Nit: it's legal at a state level but municipalities and counties are allowed to dictate more rules on drunk driving - most don't, but YMMV)

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#13

Post by ryandrake »

Scoundreller wrote: post #3

A relative had an immigrant colleague that was intrigued by different US license plates. One day their manager had one that had a new colour scheme that he never saw before. The intrigue overtook him and in a big group he had to ask how he got this new beautiful plate. And how could he get one themself? Turns out the state required you to “wear” this license plate after your third DUI or something. Oops. Edit: looks…

> Turns out the state required you to “wear” this license plate after your third DUI or something.

This doesn't make much sense because the license plate is attached to the car, not the driver. Couldn't the manager just drive his wife's or friend's car or something? What purpose does the plate serve? "Warning everyone! A serial drink driver might be in this car, but might not be, and if he's in it he might be driving, or might not!" Totally useless. As someone else mentioned, wouldn't it make more sense to permanently revoke someone's license after 3 DUIs?

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#14

Post by mistrial9 »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #2

Ah so this is the plates not the numbers . Just for moment I was kind of confused... I've always been surprised that there are so many licence plate number formats in use across the US. And some of the plate designs are pretty elaborate: I wonder to what extent they affect readability at a distance?

manufacturers of red-light cameras do not wonder, they have quietly made fortunes in the past 20 years.. more recently "mandatory license plate scanners at major bridges and toll roads" it seems. edit

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#16

Post by OJFord »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #2

Ah so this is the plates not the numbers . Just for moment I was kind of confused... I've always been surprised that there are so many licence plate number formats in use across the US. And some of the plate designs are pretty elaborate: I wonder to what extent they affect readability at a distance?

It probably is largely familiarity, but I find them all a lot harder to read than European numberplates, at any distance. The font (family), colouring, spacing, etc.

Sometimes when they're in a film or something and seem significant (the shot hovers on it, or zooms in on it or something) I've had to pause or go back to read it.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#17

Post by fps »

Ekaros wrote: post #9

As coming from country with actually working IT, I always wondered about those year and month tags... I get my yearly tax directly as bill to my bank...

It's to notify police to stop the car if they see it on the road. The US has a lot of infrequently used or unused cars that gradually transition to a sedentary life in a garage or yard. It's not illegal to let your registration or inspection lapse if the car isn't being driven. If you drive a car with a lapsed registration or safety inspection sticker, police will notice, stop you, and issue a ticket.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#18

Post by Scoundreller »

Ekaros wrote: post #9

As coming from country with actually working IT, I always wondered about those year and month tags... I get my yearly tax directly as bill to my bank...

Ontario Canada finally did away with them.

Lots of people decry the loss of government revenue, but I’m happy to see some red tape/bureaucracy cut down for the consumer. I thought governments only did that for big business.

Would have made more sense to just increase gas tax by 0.1 cents/litre.

Tho you’re still supposed to register for free online every year or two, which I’m sure 90% of the population is going to forget to do.

Re: All of the vehicle license plates available in America

#19

Post by mikhailfranco »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #2

Ah so this is the plates not the numbers . Just for moment I was kind of confused... I've always been surprised that there are so many licence plate number formats in use across the US. And some of the plate designs are pretty elaborate: I wonder to what extent they affect readability at a distance?

Traffic cameras usually have to recalibrate for every single one (e.g. for AI, retrain with new designs in the training set).

In the future, I might expect designs (and fonts) to converge towards AI legibility, but these plates raise money for states, so that will provide a dampening effect.

I know at least one other country that has recently initiated a program to redesign plates for AI legibility.

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