California is Trying Out Digital License Plates, For Some Reason

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

California is Trying Out Digital License Plates, For Some Reason

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on June 1st, 2018 in the Car Culture category.

 

[SiriusR]

I see digital plates as an overly expensive license plates that also require electricity and are more likely to become dysfunctional.

Just... why?

 

[Just The Stig]

Another way to rob money from the consumer... I can already see people having to get their plates fixed because some pixels on the display stopped working. LOL

 

[Crazy Taylor]

What happens if someone starts nicking these 'kindle' licence plates worth $700 Dollars a pop.

 

[Oyashiro-sama]

Oh great, a new thing that can stop working in the car... how many of us got instrument displays that stoped being visible in our dashboards?

Plus the price plus, as said, more battery consumption... Plain great, all we needed.

What happens if someone starts nicking these 'kindle' licence plates worth $700 Dollars a pop.

Well, I hope you can't change the number on them... or else it would be useless...
So it wouldn't be resellable.

 

[Morgoth_666]

What a great idea for... no, my sarcasm tank isn't deep enough to come up with something for this one.
No idea who thought this would be a good idea.

Btw, living in Pennsylvania with a metal license plate I can still renew my registration instantly online. And even if I don't do it online, I still don't have to go to the DMV for it. Only time I have to go is to get a mug shot for the driver's license.

Kind of guessing this won't catch on, but you never know.

 

[Famine]

No idea who thought this would be a good idea.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Well, I hope you can't change the number on them... or else it would be useless...

Or astonishingly useful...

 

[daan]

Can these be hacked to display some other number?

 

[TheGeologist]

How long til they display ads tho?

 

[Robin]

I don't know how it works in the US, when you renew your registration every year do they give you a new metal plate? If not then why would this cut down on 'time at the DMV'?

It's funny, in the UK the government scrapped the tax disc because that tiny piece of circular paper was costing too much... can you imagine the cost of these!

I suppose it could be useful for displaying urgent public/road service messages, like what you currently see on motorway information boards.

 

[ImaRobot]

I don't know how it works in the US, when you renew your registration every year do they give you a new metal plate? If not then why would this cut down on 'time at the DMV'?

It's funny, in the UK the government scrapped the tax disc because that tiny piece of circular paper was costing too much... can you imagine the cost of these!

I suppose it could be useful for displaying urgent public/road service messages, like what you currently see on motorway information boards.

No, we keep the same plates.

Heck, maybe they'll connect wireless to the DMV so that way the current tags just update on the fly without having to go in? Considering our tags are just stickers, I'm wondering how it'll work with this.

EDIT: I should have read the article first lol, it basically said that.

 

[Famine]

How long til they display ads tho?

I mean, that's right there in the article and there's literally a picture of it.

 

[Robin]

No, we keep the same plates.

Heck, maybe they'll connect wireless to the DMV so that way the current tags just update on the fly without having to go in? Considering our tags are just stickers, I'm wondering how it'll work with this.

Oh I see, so you stick something on the existing plate to show it's up to date, so the US plate is in essence a tax disk and license plate rolled into one. So that makes sense as to why a screen might make things a bit more convenient.

Over here we already can renew our vehicle tax online, there is nothing we have to change or display on our cars, it's just logged online that it's up to date and any patrol cars using ANPR cameras will confirm its road legal.

 

[ImaRobot]

Oh I see, so you stick something on the existing plate to show it's up to date, so the US plate is in essence a tax disk and license plate rolled into one. So that makes sense as to why a screen might make things a bit more convenient.

Over here we already can renew our vehicle tax online, there is nothing we have to change or display on our cars, it's just logged online that it's up to date and any patrol cars using ANPR cameras will confirm its road legal.

Actually, now that I think of it, I'm almost certain that you can do it online currently. Not having a car in the past 5 years or so I'm not entirely sure anymore.

 

[TheGeologist]

I mean, that's right there in the article and there's literally a picture of it.

I saw that, but it wasn't immediately clear to me if they actually will display the ads. It sounded like it was possible, but not guaranteed (I only quickly skimmed the article).

 

[RocZX]

This is just stuipd.
That's the point, your license plate numbers don't change that often?
And if this a license plate why would you need to display messages or ads on it when the car is parked? Unless I'm parked on private property I cannot cover up my license plate so why can this block the plate number?

 

[Famine]

so why can this block the plate number?

It can't (or can, I guess, but won't). It moves the plate number to a corner of the screen for the message/ad mode. 'Cos, you know, nobody needs to see the plate on a parked car clearly, or something.

 

[Robin]

Regarding the ads I can just see the lawsuits now of people not agreeing with what is being displayed on their vehicle.

Last thing I want is 'Buy Penis Enlargement Pills!' flashing on the back of my car.

 

[Joey D]

I'm surprised this is even legal - especially in Cali where the laws are strange. For one, in many US states the license plate needs to be reflective. Also having anything around or on your plate that shouldn't be there is also deemed illegal in many states. Back in Michigan, I got pulled over for having a clear cover of my plate. Finally, once again, in many states, the plate needs to be completely visible when the car is parked because lazy meter maids don't want to get out of their vehicles. Another example of this from Michigan is that I'd frequently get a ticket because I backed into a parking spot and the meter reader couldn't see the plate while driving up and down the parking lot (we didn't have front plates in Michigan).

Although if I could allow ads to be played on my car and if it'd offset the cost of registration, I'd happily do it. Pay $300 a year for the privilege of owning a car is a bit absurd, so I'd be fine with someone else paying for it even if it made my car a billboard in the parking lot.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

How are they powered? Just hooked up to the car's electrical system? Cause if so, I'd love to know how much power that draws.

 

[witham]

Oh I see, so you stick something on the existing plate to show it's up to date, so the US plate is in essence a tax disk and license plate rolled into one. So that makes sense as to why a screen might make things a bit more convenient.

Over here we already can renew our vehicle tax online, there is nothing we have to change or display on our cars, it's just logged online that it's up to date and any patrol cars using ANPR cameras will confirm its road legal.

Actually, now that I think of it, I'm almost certain that you can do it online currently. Not having a car in the past 5 years or so I'm not entirely sure anymore.

I came here to start this discussion. As a country that sees itself as the centre of the planet the idea of this being a good idea because "digital plate cuts down on the line at the DMV. Using the plate’s connectivity features, users can renew their registration online, instantly." seems laughable

Please don't take this the wrong way American GTPlaneters but I often wonder whether the US is stuck in 20th century Heck the Police in the UK are working towards having all traffic cops having ANPR equipped cars meanwhile people are still queueing to renew tax in the US!

 

[winet]

They don't call it the land of fruits and nuts for nothing

 

[Auditore]

This is the final version of that movie cliché "change your license plate to get away from the cops",i can see james bond changing the numbers of his license plate by using his phone

 

[Famine]

Please don't take this the wrong way American GTPlaneters but I often wonder whether the US is stuck in 20th century Heck the Police in the UK are working towards having all traffic cops having ANPR equipped cars meanwhile people are still queueing to renew tax in the US!

They're not really equivalent though. Our police and security forces hinge on being able to actively monitor all people in public places at all times - something the US finds a little unpalatable, even if the state is rather firmly behind the idea, but thinks public places alone is too unambitious.

This is more about services that are offered to the public and I remember even a few short years ago having to visit the post office to get a tax disc for my car, and having to fax - yes FAX - my insurance company proof of no claims. And we won't even mention the mind-boggling juggling act of dumbness that was buying a new car then being unable to tax it without a V5, unable to insure it without tax, and unable to MOT it without insurance. Now most of that is electronic.

 

[Robin]

How are they powered? Just hooked up to the car's electrical system? Cause if so, I'd love to know how much power that draws.

E-Ink is one of the lowest power consuming display technologies out there.

It only uses a tiny amount of electricity to change the screen and none once the screen is static.

 

[witham]

They're not really equivalent though. Our police and security forces hinge on being able to actively monitor all people in public places at all times - something the US finds a little unpalatable, even if the state is rather firmly behind the idea, but thinks public places alone is too unambitious.

This is more about services that are offered to the public and I remember even a few short years ago having to visit the post office to get a tax disc for my car, and having to fax - yes FAX - my insurance company proof of no claims. And we won't even mention the mind-boggling juggling act of dumbness that was buying a new car then being unable to tax it without a V5, unable to insure it without tax, and unable to MOT it without insurance. Now most of that is electronic.

Fair point and we have come a long way in recent years, although I haven't been near a fax machine in 10 years (who was the insurer by the way?).

But I still feel the US gets away with a lot in some areas, my partner used to work for American Express and their systems were designed for Windows 2000! (I should add that this was last year) Their Scandinavian operations basically run as its own entity with in-house software as the US systems were so lacking compared to the capability of their European competitors.

The same has been true for both of my jobs, the first for a multination engineering consultancy. Our US site was like going back in time and it wasn't through lack of investment it was simply that what was sold and seen as state of the art over there was far from the quality in Europe and Asia. My current job is the same, with the addition that the documents and literature stateside look like they were made in Word 2003.

From what I see in a lot of cases not keeping up with the times will sink your business in Europe (there are of course exceptions) but in the US you can keep everything the same for a decade and no one bats an eyelid?

Still, every country has its flaws including us and who knows maybe America's (not the whole of America obviously) aversion to development will save them when the robot overlords take over and turn our CCTV against us

 

[CSMDuty11]

I love how America comes up with these before any country other than Japan even tries

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

E-Ink is one of the lowest power consuming display technologies out there.

It only uses a tiny amount of electricity to change the screen and none once the screen is static.

Fair enough, makes sense in hindsight. I kinda pictured a tiny, bright little billboard stuck on your car, draining your battery at all times.

 

[Danoff]

So many thoughts jump to mind:
- reflective at night?
- hackable?
- power off while committing a crime?
- how does that display hold up to mud and snow?
- equipped to work with red light cameras?
- how long will it take before someone puts porn on it?
- why even bother with a plate?

That last one is kinda key. What's really going on here is that california has an epidemic of "dealer tags", which are temporary ads from dealerships that people have between the time they bought the car and the time that they get the plates. People leave them on (especially on leases) until they get their next car, just never even put plates on. This is done to defeat red light cameras mostly. It's a side benefit of being rich and swapping cars often, no plates.

CA cops (and probably most cops) have pretty sophisticated in-vehicle sensors that look at all the surrounding cars, read their plates, and determine whether registration is valid, warrants are out for arrest, etc. But Why would you stop there when you could put an electronic device on the cars themselves that can broadcast all that information, including GPS location, even to the internet. Warrant out for a particular plate? Yea we have GPS on it, we know where it is.

Pedestrian sees a hit and run now:
"It was a grey.. uh... car."
"Did you get a plate number"
"Couldn't catch it"
"Ok... greeeeat".

Pedestrian sees a hit and run in a time of digital transmitters on cars:
"It was a grey... uh... car."
"Did you get a plate... oh wait cars don't have plates anymore"
"Hey Jimmy can you pull up a list of grey cars that were in this area 1 hour ago?"
"Thanks for your help sir, we'll have a word with the 150 people that this information corresponds to and find a car with blood and damage and make an arrest".

This is a move to phase out license plates in favor of a more direct tracking mechanism.