FAQS ABOUT VNTY LCNS PL8S
By STEFAN LONCE
What, exactly, is a "vanity license plate"?
A "vanity license plate" has a message created by a motorist, of four to eight characters, depending on the jurisdiction.
Except in Illinois, "vanity plate" is a colloquialism; most DMVs use the term "personalized plate," for a plate with a motorist's message, but other terms are also used (e.g., "initial plate" in New Hampshire, and "prestige plate" in New Mexico and Wyoming).
Why are they called "vanity plates?
It's uncertain who coined the term "vanity plate," but it appears to have originated in the U.S. in the mid 1960's. The Brittanica Book of the Year 1967 included "vanity plate" in its new words and meanings section. The Los Angeles Times published a story on September 17, 1967 about a California man who had a Massachusetts vanity plate, without defining the term, suggesting that "vanity plate" widely understood in 1967 even in California, which didn't begin issuing vanity plates until 1970.
What's the difference between a vanity license plate and a specialty license plate?
Specialty license plates are the first cousins of vanity plates; they are the plates that promote causes and organizations, and the sponsors of specialty plates usually receive part of the additional fees that motorists pay for the plates. Each specialty plate contains a unique design referencing the cause or organization sponsoring the plate.
The most prominent "cause" specialty plate is the CHOOSE LIFE plate, issued by 24 states, which promotes a pro-life, antiabortion message, and raises funds for "abortion alternatives."
Specialty license plates can usually be "vanitized" with a message created by the motorist (but not in South Carolina). Many universities and sports teams sponsor specialty plates.
How much do vanity plates cost?
In the United States, Iowa chages the lowest vanity plate fee ($10/year) and the District of Columbia charges the highest fee ($100)
How much do specialty plates cost?
Many DMVs charge $25 or less per year for specialty plates.
How do DMVs screen vanity plates?
Every DMV screens vanity plates, to prevent "offensive" vanitized messages. For example, New York bans vanity plates that are "obscene, lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic or other group, or… patently offensive…."
Every DMV has its own list of proscribed vanitized messages. DMVs, however, do not have carte blanche to ban particular vanitized messages. That's because the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment's right to freedom of speech applies to license plates.
Invoking their constitutional rights, motorists often sue DMVs to get or keep their vanity plates, and they frequently win. For example, a New York motorist sued after the DMV revoked his GETOSAMA vanity plate: The motorist is angry that Osama bin Laden is still apparently alive and free; since it's obvious that GETOSAMA is constitutionally-protected political speech, the DMV settled the litigation rescinding its revocation of the plate.
How many vanity plates are there in the U.S. and Canada?
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators-LCNS2ROM [LICENSE TO ROAM] Vanity License Plates Survey found that there are 9.3 million vanitized motor vehicles in the U.S., about 4% of registered motor vehicles. The five states with the highest percentage of vanitized registered motor vehicles are: Virginia, New Hampshire, Illinois, Nevada and Montana.
Canadians have vanitized 440,000 motor vehicles, about 3% of registered motor vehicles. The top three vanitized provinces are: Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
What are the most popular subjects on vanity plates?
There is only anecdotal evidence of the most popular categories of vanity plate messages. Some motorists vanitize with their names or initials, or the names of their cars. But motorists vanitize with messages about a myriad of subjects, as these actual vanity plates demonstrate: families [DAD X3], love stories [4MYLOVE], vocations [WHISTLR], political messages [MPEACHW], hobbies [GYM SWIM], and pets [COWMEOW].
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