US and Canadian license plates
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
In the US and Canada, license plates are issued by the state or provincial government (or its equivalent, e.g., the District of Columbia). In the U.S., some Native American tribes also have their own plates. The federal government issues plates only for its own vehicle fleet and for vehicles owned by foreign diplomats.
Generally, the appearance of plates is frequently chosen to contain symbols, colors, or slogans associated with the issuing jurisdiction.
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Numbering and lettering
Generally, the appearance of plates is frequently chosen to contain symbols, colors, or slogans associated with the issuing jurisdiction. The format for license plate numbers (which often contain characters) will provide enough numbers for all the motor vehicles in the jurisdiction. So, for example, Wyoming, the smallest U.S. state by population, issues plates with the numbers in the format 12 3456 or 12 345A, with the first two numbers restricted to 1-23 and 99 (one code for each of the state's 23 counties, and 99 for rental vehicles); Rhode Island, the smallest state by area, uses the formats AB-123 and 12345; while California and certain other populous states use a seven-character format such as ABC1234 or 1ABC234. Plates on vehicles other than passenger cars, such as trucks and trailers, may have different formats such as 1A23456. In some U.S. states, information such as the county of registration or the month of expiration is encoded into the number. For example, the last numerical character on a license plate in Massachusetts indicates the month the bearer's registration expires (CI 234A would expire in April, the fourth month). A few states place the county of registration explicitly on the plate, above or below the number. In Indiana, the format is 12A2345, with the first numbers representing a county. The closest thing to a generic numbering format in the U.S. is ABC-123 or 123-ABC for passenger cars, AB-1234 for trucks, A-12345 for trailers, and either AB123 or 123456 for motorcycles.
Some other examples of passenger plate numbering:
- ABCD-123 (used in Ontario currently)
- AB-123C (used in New Jersey in the 1990s)
- ABC-12D (used in New Jersey in the 1980s and currently)
- 1AB-234 (used in South Dakota currently)
- 1 A2345 (used in Idaho currently)
- 12 A3456 (used in Idaho currently)
- 12A B3456 (used in Idaho currently)
- 1A B2345 (used in Idaho currently)
- 1-A23456 (used in Montana currently)
- 12-A34567 (used in Montana currently)
- A12-3CD (used in Florida currently)
- 1AB-C23 (used in Maryland currently)
- 12A B34 (used in Massachusetts currently)
- 1234 AB (used in Massachusetts currently)
- AB 123 (used in Prince Edward Island currently)
- ABC12 (used in Yukon currently)
- A12-BCD (used in Texas currently)
- ABC-123 (used in Minnesota currently)
While it is popularly believed that license-plate numbers are assigned randomly, the usual practice is to assign them in ascending order, beginning with a starting point such as AAA-001. Thus, someone familiar with the sequence can determine roughly when the license plate was issued. In a few cases, numbers are assigned in descending order. For example, when Virginia switched to a seven-character for its standard issue in 1993, numbers beginning with AAA-1000 were already in use for extra-cost ornamental plates; therefore, the new standard license plates were issued in descending order from ZZZ-9999. Special "400th Anniversary" license plates, issued since 2003, are numbered in ascending order from JAA-1000.
Sometimes, there is a problem with unintentional profane or inappropriate messages. Thus most numbering sequences do not include lettering such as FUK, DIE, KKK, BTK, or USA; and numbering usually does not include 911 or 666, except in California. However, the District of Columbia recently issued license plates with the first two letters "BS", despite the connotation of the letter combination.
In 1986 Waldale, a Canadian license plate manufacturer, due to a production error, produced an entire batch of New Brunswick plates that began with ASS. The plates were never issued, and were officially scrapped, but they found their way into the collector market.
In the United States and Canada, special plates are issued to persons with disabilities having the International Symbol of Accessibility on them, which entitle them to special parking privileges. Alternately, a placard, which in some jurisdictions can be hung from the rear view mirror is issued and has the advantage of being transferred easily from vehicle to vehicle.
Appearance
In the United States and Canada, many states and provinces distinguish their license plates through distinctive colour 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 for several decades. The license plates of the Yukon have featured a prospector panning for gold. Vermont license plates have frequently featured a green and white colour scheme. Other states, such as California and Louisiana offer a simpler scheme, often with a white background and little decoration (although Louisiana has recently switched to a graphic design with a graphic of the state bird, the pelican). In recent years, states such as Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have begun to put the address of the state's official web site on their general issue plates. In Canada's Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the license plates are cut out from the sheet material in a bear shape.
Showing current registration on plates
Historically, many U.S. and Canadian plates were replaced every year, although the general 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. A delinquent registration tag is often an indicator that the vehicle may be stolen. Even with the tags, many states used to require that all license plates be replaced every few years, although that practice is being abandoned due to 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 tags are usually placed on one corner of the plate, while the month of the year in which the tags 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 colour 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 (the sticker will be valid only for the plate for which it was intended).
Lifecycle
In the United States, plates typically stay with vehicles throughout their useful life, unless owners move to another state and bring their vehicles with them. In American law, 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 new plates that must be attached to the vehicle.
When a vehicle is sold, the disposition of the license plates depends on state law. In some states, the license plates are assigned 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.
Mounting
Many American states are now strictly enforcing laws that require all vehicles to have two license plates (one mounted on or near each bumper). This is to increase the effectiveness of red-light cameras, which work only if a vehicle can be linked back to its registered owner.
Temporary registration
When a person buys a vehicle from a dealer, the dealer is typically authorized to issue a temporary registration to allow the buyer to drive the vehicle until the government agency in charge of vehicle registration processes the registration forms. The physical indicia of such temporary registration can take a variety of forms, such as:
- a cardboard or lightweight plastic license plate, to be destroyed at the end of the temporary registration period;
- a standard metal license plate with temporary validation, in which case the government agency needs to issue only a validation sticker rather than a license plate; or
- a form or decal to be applied to a window of the vehicle.
Special plates
In Canada and the United States, there are several types of license plates that are issued to special passenger, non-passenger and non-private vehicles. Depending on the jurisdiction, such types may include:
- Ambulance
- Apportioned
- Auto dealer (for use on test drives)
- Bus
- Combination
- Commercial vehicle
- Commuter van
- Construction equipment
- Truck
- Emergency vehicle
- Farm equipment
- Fertilizer Truck
- Government vehicle
- Hearse
- Historic vehicle
- Implement of husbandry
- Livery
- Logging truck
- Mobile home
- Omnibus
- Recreational vehicle
- Rescue squad
- School bus
- Taxi
- Tow truck
- Tractor
- Trailer
- Vehicle manufacturer
- Wrecker
Vanity and specialty plates
In almost all US and Canadian juristictions, people can pay extra and get vanity plates: licence plates with a custom number (character set). For example, a vanity license plate might read "MY TOY". Generally vanity plates are not allowed to have profane or obscene messages on them, and of course they must also be unique.
Normally such specialty plates can be purchased without proof of any particular status or affiliation, the obvious exceptions being plates which indicate membership or abilities of use in an emergency (firemen, police, EMT, etc, etc). Also, some states require that the university plates be ordered through alumni associations. All U.S. states and Canadian provinces offer specialized license plates for licensed amateur radio operators. The owner's radio callsign is used instead of a standard license assignment.
In California, it is possible to have certain symbols on a vanity plate. The available symbols are a heart, hand, or star.
In New Jersey, people convicted of drunk driving are banned from using vanity plates, while in Ohio they are given special plates which are yellow and red in colour as sort of a Scarlet Letter.
Professional and Governmental Licence Plates
In many states, such as New York and New Jersey, issue license plates to members of certain professions who require some sort of special privileges, such as parking or going behind police lines. Examples include plates for members of the press, doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics, volunteer firemen, judges, medical examiners, and elected officials.
In the United States, all states issue some special sort of license plate for vehicles which are owned by state and local governments, and the Federal government issues plates for vehicles owned by it. For the most part, the plates look close to the regular passenger plates, except with a separate numbering sequence and with something like "official", "state government", or "municipal" replacing the slogan. Some states use a distinctive colour scheme to differentiate the plates from the regular issue. For example, in Virginia, state government license plates have a number suffixed with S and a light blue background, while local government license plates have a number suffixed with L and a tan background.
In New York State, local police vehicles are not issued license plates. In some cases, such as New York City the fleet number of the vehicle is put on a flat license plate using heat transfered letters. In Yonkers there is a special plate that looks similar to the specialized optional plates with the Yonkers Police logo and the fleet number. Other communities in the state have a license plate that looks like the regular issue vanity plate, but with the word "POLICE" on it.
