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Old 11-05-2020, 03:18 PM   #21
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Yes, of course it is about $$$. We have a car with a vanity plate. We got that special plate in 1989 (31 years ??) and it is now on its third car. I have trouble reading it from 10’ away. We went to a wedding on Long Island, NY last year. We did not receive one invoice in the mail for the toll roads, bridges and tunnels. Same thing with the local toll road here, although I hardly ever drive it, I never get a bill.
I am sure I will one of the first to get a new plate.
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Old 11-05-2020, 03:29 PM   #22
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I am sure I will one of the first to get a new plate.
My wife was give a new plate for her car back in May of this year. I think they have been doing this a while now. When you see one that says In God We trust it is the new kind. When you see one that says First In Flight it is an old one. Not sure about any others.
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Old 11-05-2020, 03:54 PM   #23
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Police now outfit cars with cameras that auto scan all license plates it sees as the LEO drives down street. System is fast enough to notify LEO about registration, parking citation still open and even if owner has open warents and i have heard some even supply ccw info to LEO. The new plates help cameras read better.

Phila started using these years ago for parking violaters.

But this is nothing. In China they use cameras with facial recognition to track people Walking through crowds
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Old 11-05-2020, 04:05 PM   #24
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License Plates

In many states prisoners manufacture the plates. Poor quality workmanship but it’s cheap labor and keeps them busy. In the 70’s I worked for the State of Arkansas and the prison system was one of my assignments. For a couple of years the inmates put chemicals in the plate paint that made the paint flake off in 2-3 years. They only did it on the plates for the state agencies...inmates aren’t smart but they are sneaky.
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Old 11-05-2020, 04:09 PM   #25
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I find it odd, that as a resident of guilford county and around greensboro being able to view the License plate more clearly is a priority, while road striping is not. Around here I swear they put the road markings on with chalk they bought at a toy store, so dim, barely visible and forget it if it starts to rain,and yes I have good eye sight. Everyone I know around here complains about the road markings, especially on the newer light gray highways.
Here in Wisconsin they have ground glass on the stripping. The stripping trucks have a sand blasting tank that blows the sand-size particles on the wet paint. It's all worn off in 3 to 6 months.
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Old 11-05-2020, 04:22 PM   #26
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But this is nothing. In China they use cameras with facial recognition to track people Walking through crowds
China uses the cameras for more than tracking people walking through crowds.

China uses the facial recognition to touch a database to determine whether you are a "good citizen" or not. If you are not a "good citizen", you are restricted from traveling outside of your local area. Of course, if you are bad enough (or of the wrong religion), they let you travel to a re-education camp and/or be an organ donor.

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Old 11-05-2020, 04:22 PM   #27
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I have many family members in law enforcement and I'm in technology. In New York (mostly downstate) many of the police cars have been fitted with plate readers for years. All of the bridges and tunnels have had them covertly for more than 20 years. Many of the area arenas have them at the entrances to their parking lots and garages. On Long Island, some of the local Villages and Gated Communities have them. One of my home security cameras has a plate reader built in. The camera automatically zooms in on any vehicle and scans the plate. I then get a picture of the plate and vehicle sent to my phone. If I had access to the DMV database, which I don't, the security system could send the plate number to them. Another camera does the same for people (automatically pans and zooms on faces). These cameras run around $300 each and have been available to the public for a few years. They'll work with the most basic DVR recording systems.



Now all states are sending their Drivers License Pictures and driver information to Federal Data Bases for use with facial recognition. All booking pictures go there too. If you have gone to an NFL or MLB game you were scanned for facial recognition and run against the database of known terrorists and in some cases selected felons. This is all legal since 9/11.



Personally, I'm not a criminal. So I don't care if the government knows where I am (this includes OnStar technologies, and Cell phone location). This does make us all safer.


Now, back to the plates. Some plate designs are better for scanning than others. But some states are using that excuse as a money grab. EZPass is also tracked, even on non toll roads to use for traffic and speed reporting. It's way past 1984.
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Old 11-05-2020, 04:44 PM   #28
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I just renewed the "tabs" for two of my three vehicles in the last couple weeks. Here in WA we get "dinged" every year for a license plate fund. Was less than a buck as I recall but it's every year on every vehicle licensed in the state so it all adds up. Then, after a few years, they issue new plates whether you like it or not and charge a replacement fee that is a whole lot more.

Never have figured out why a plate is required on the front as it is here in WA. Can't read it when traveling from the opposite direction yet the Police claim it's essential.

Only people that read them are the "Meter Maids" so go figure.


I've got another gripe. One of my vehicles is a Volt. I pay a flat $150/year as an "Electric Vehicle Fee". OK, so I don't buy gas very often, maybe once per year.

NOW they add ON TOP OF the electric vehicle fee another $75 for "Transportation Electrification". What does that mean? Free Charging Stations up and down the road?

I'm still waiting for the State to start adding licensing fees for bicycles operated on the roads. Would be nice to see those who use the bike lanes pay at least something for them.
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Old 11-05-2020, 05:20 PM   #29
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I just renewed the "tabs" for two of my three vehicles in the last couple weeks. Here in WA we get "dinged" every year for a license plate fund. Was less than a buck as I recall but it's every year on every vehicle licensed in the state so it all adds up. Then, after a few years, they issue new plates whether you like it or not and charge a replacement fee that is a whole lot more.

Never have figured out why a plate is required on the front as it is here in WA. Can't read it when traveling from the opposite direction yet the Police claim it's essential.

Only people that read them are the "Meter Maids" so go figure.


I've got another gripe. One of my vehicles is a Volt. I pay a flat $150/year as an "Electric Vehicle Fee". OK, so I don't buy gas very often, maybe once per year.

NOW they add ON TOP OF the electric vehicle fee another $75 for "Transportation Electrification". What does that mean? Free Charging Stations up and down the road?

I'm still waiting for the State to start adding licensing fees for bicycles operated on the roads. Would be nice to see those who use the bike lanes pay at least something for them.



NY is also a two plate state. The toll booths here read the front and back. If your two plates don't match you get a citation in the mail. Many people learn that their plate(s) were stolen/switched this way. If you back into a parking spot the police can't read your single plate vehicle without having to get out of their car. Front plates are easy to read in a city where the speeds are lower and the cars closer together. Police can read the front plates of vehicles approaching them and identify. Can't tell you how many Corvette drivers (other sports cars too) get tickets here for putting their front tag on the dash and not on the bumper.



Over the last few years there has also been a crackdown on the people who put the coated and/or reflective plastic over their plates to try to trick the flash photography of our Red Light Cameras. At first the police were giving warnings, then they'd break them with their flashlights, and now they're handing out tickets and then looking for other violations too (window tinting, lapsed inspections, registrations, etc.).


In NY you get to drive your clean vehicle (Volt, Prius, Tesla, etc.) in the HOV lanes with only one passenger. Didn't realize that they taxed the electric vehicles to recoup some of the use taxes included in the gas tax. Good to know as one of my next vehicles will be an all electric. Thanks for the info. Mike!
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Old 11-05-2020, 05:47 PM   #30
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When I first moved to The Great Land in 1982 they only had one plate, a white plate with a Grizzly on it. I loved it, as very appropriate. Every plate in the entire state began with the letter "A".

When they changed to the ugly yellow plate with no style or class every plate then began with the letter "B".

I recently saw one of your new Grizzly plates and I LOVE it, once again, VERY appropriate.
Actually, the new plate has the same Grizzly as the old plate, just a different background. The Grizzly is the artwork of a guy named Douglas Allen who designed the original plate for the Bicentennial (1976).
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Old 11-05-2020, 06:11 PM   #31
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I realize that every change is a conspiracy, but sometimes it's not.

With the original "raised letter" plates, a painted metal blank was hand inserted into a hydraulic press which had letter and number dies which were configured by the operator between each plate (error opportunity). After being pressed, they were run under a paint roller which applied a contrasting color of paint to just the raised part of the letters/numbers. Early plates were steel, but they have been aluminum for decades now.

I used to work with a manufacturer in the early 2000s who made all of the license plates for WA, OR, AK, HI, and ID. All of those plates were made by 4 middle-aged ladies running three 500-ton presses and a self-feeding paint roller.

When we started getting "cool designs" on our plates, the process was similar, but instead of the license plate blank being painted, it was covered with self-adhesive retroreflective vinyl that had been preprinted with the background design. The rest of the process was the same, where the letters and numbers were pressed into the aluminum, and paint was applied to the high points.

The newest "flat letter" plates use the same vinyl-covered blanks, but the letters and numbers are printed directly onto the surface by an inkjet printer.

The point here is that all current license plates use retroreflective vinyl. There are two characteristics that are important: 1) Retroreflectivity - this means that light is always reflected back toward its source (your headlights, for example). You see this on signs, safety vests, and the like. The way that they accomplish this is by embedding tiny glass spheres into the surface of the material . 2) Vinyl is a flexible plastic.

Plastics are generally inherently rigid. In order to make them flexible, they are mixed with oils and polymers called "plasticizers". Because the plasticizers are an additive, and not integral the plastic, they actually migrate to the surface over time. This makes the plastic less flexible/more brittle as they age (much like me!). As the plasticizers migrate out, they tend to take the glass spheres with them. Over time, the plates become less reflective, and the vinyl layer starts to crack and peel. Exposure to the elements accelerates this process.

Washington State used to have a requirement that plates be replaced every 7 years, and it added ~$10 to your renewal that year. They apparently rescinded that requirement in 2015. That means that the plates on my truck are somewhere between 6 and 13 years old. I noticed just this summer that the vinyl is cracking and has peeled off in several areas of my back plate. I'll probably request a new one at my next renewal.
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Old 11-05-2020, 06:17 PM   #32
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We, NY, have never had well designed plates. Our new one will cost us $25 for a basic random letter number combination. See last plate below.


Sorry, just lame. And with the little pictures of Niagara Falls, The Statue of Liberty, and the City Skyline without the Twin Towers is just sad.

Excelsior is a Latin word translated into English as a motto meaning “Ever upward!”..... Wow, even lamer!



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Old 11-05-2020, 06:36 PM   #33
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I noticed just this summer that the vinyl is cracking and has peeled off in several areas of my back plate. I'll probably request a new one at my next renewal.
My back plate isn't cracked but it does have a couple dings from my trailer's coupler

At least it's still readable but hard to see when my trailer's connected. That plate is pristine.
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Old 11-05-2020, 07:35 PM   #34
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When we got our utility trailer renewal, the paperwork said I needed a new plate. Its from 1996. Readable but faded. I went to the NCDMV in Craven County. I told the clerk what I needed and she said "do you want a new plate"? I said not really, it doesn't matter to me. She told me that I didn't have too. I just got my year sticker and left. So much for new laws.
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Old 11-05-2020, 09:21 PM   #35
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California has had white reflective for at least 20 years. My little town pickup, (a 2000), has had the white plates since I bought it. The reflective coating is wearing off and seems to be failing. The "NEW" black plates we have on new cars now seems NOT to be reflective. interesting. . .
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Old 11-05-2020, 09:47 PM   #36
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You can get almost anything you want for a license plate here in Virginia. Want Ohio State plates? Yep, you can get them, complete with the Buckeye logo.

Virginia has the distinction of being the state with the most personalized license plates. Approximately 1,065,217 of the state's registered 6,578,773 vehicles have a personalized vanity plate. And at $10 a plate it's a cash cow. Not sure if that's per year but for 10 bucks why not? BTW my two cars have the same license plate numbers I had in Ohio here in Virginia. Even I can remember then. Trailer tags are permanent.

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Old 11-05-2020, 10:00 PM   #37
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NC be a changing! I too live in NC (Guilford County) and find no value in new plates. And with all the northerners coming down here, I wouldn't be surprised if one day we'll see a requirement for front and rear plates as they have in NJ and other states. And....I bet the day will come when NC requires trailers (TT, 5th wheels, etc) to be inspected as they do in VA.

And as for those road lines.....with all the technology we have today one would think they would have better paint to reflect at night and during rain, etc. They probably do but NC is too cheap to buy it.
It's going in the other direction. This year Ohio became the 20th state to go to being a one-plate state. In Canada, every territory and most provinces issue only one plate. I'm hoping Alaska goes that way too. I hate drilling holes in a brand new vehicle and destroying its aesthetics with a license plate.
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Old 11-05-2020, 10:05 PM   #38
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When I first moved to The Great Land in 1982 they only had one plate, a white plate with a Grizzly on it. I loved it, as very appropriate. Every plate in the entire state began with the letter "A".

When they changed to the ugly yellow plate with no style or class every plate then began with the letter "B".

I recently saw one of your new Grizzly plates and I LOVE it, once again, VERY appropriate.
That was when we went to the ABC-123 format. Right now we use J for the bear plate, K for the old gold/blue plate and L for the Alaska artistic plate. H is reserved for handicapped plates and I was not used. It's taken us almost 40 years to use up half of the alphabet.
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Old 11-05-2020, 10:41 PM   #39
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A souvenir from my time at Camp Lejeune. They must be made out of steel, as they are much heavier than newer aluminum plates.

[IMG][/IMG]
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Old 11-05-2020, 10:48 PM   #40
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A souvenir from my time at Camp Lejeune. They must be made out of steel, as they are much heavier than newer aluminum plates.
Any time you see that raised border around the perimeter you are looking at a steel plate. The thin sheet metal needs it for added rigidity (and aluminum doesn't like to bend that tightly)
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