do you want to go for a drive?Here’s the history of license plates and what’s new for Californians – Daily News

We see them every day and every vehicle has them. Today we bring you a little news and history about license plates.

With people driving the most miles during the summer months, there are a few things to consider when driving on the road.

When the Ministry of Motor Vehicles was established in 1915, gasoline was 8 cents a gallon and a new car cost about $500. You might think it’s a long line now, but the first DMV office had him two employees and the registration fee was $2 for him.

In 1901, New York State required all vehicles to be registered and plated for the first time. The California Secretary of State’s office began mandating vehicle registration in 1905 and issued the first state-made license plates in 1913.

Many variations of the plate have been made over the years.

Early plates were dated and changed frequently in size and color. Some plates were revalidated over multiple years with metal plates in place.

Plates that have been in use since 1963 are still in use today. Here are some of the changes.

plate is still available

1963: Last year, all vehicles were issued with completely new plates (the plates had a black background and chrome yellow lettering). This plate has been revived, so please look forward to it.

1970: Changed the basic plate to yellow characters on a blue background. It was also the last year black/yellow plates were issued, and the first year in California to allow personalized plates.

1976: Year-round registration has started. A month expiration sticker should be placed on the upper left corner of the plate.

1982: The standard plate was changed to a white background with blue letters and a sun graphic and CALIFORNIA written in red blocks. It was also the last year the blue/yellow plate was issued. This is the only California license plate to win “Design of the Year”. Automobile License Plate Collectors Association. Plate of the Year he has been awarded since 1970 and the organization has members in every state and her 19 countries. The latest winners for 2022 were the Hawaii Plates below.

1987: A reflector was issued with CALIFORNIA written in red block letters. The sun graphic has been discontinued.

1991: Only the reflective plate was issued.

1993: The letters CALIFORNIA have been changed to red letters.

1997: I made a sticker with letters printed in black with a background color that changes every year.

1998-2000: The basic plate issued contains the words “SESQUICENTENNIAL – 150 YEARS” in red block letters on the bottom of the plate.

2001: The basic plate is white with blue letters, and CALIFORNIA is red letters. Nothing is written on the bottom of the plate.

2011: The department’s web address, dmv.ca.gov, is added to the bottom of the basic California red letter license plate.

2015: Gold letters appeared on legacy black plates. These are some of the most popular specialty plates on the market. The fees collected will be donated to the Environmental License Plate Fund to benefit environmental projects in California.

2023: Digital plates are available to all drivers in California.

California, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, and Michigan have approved the rollout of digital license plates. Commercial vehicles are permitted in Texas.

Only one company sells digital plates. Reviver offers his two versions of RPlate. A battery-powered model that requires a $20 monthly subscription fee, and a wired model for commercial vehicles that costs $25 a month.

Learn more about Reviver.com

You can find a list of California specialty plates here.

You can find a list of California Special Interest Plates. here.

Some of the differences between states

California: Standard passenger car plates contain both letters and numbers. Since 1980, California has followed the same sequence: one number, three letters, and he three numbers. This process he started at 1AAA000 and has reached 9EWZ000 to 9EWZ999 as of May 2023. The system is projected to end in 2027. Different systems are used for trucks, vans and special license plates.

Texas: One of the few states to omit all vowels along with the letter Q on license plates.

Connecticut and Illinois: A combination of two letters and five numbers.

Iowa: Beginning in 2012, we began using a slashed zero on all standard passenger plates to distinguish it from the letter ‘O’, which is also used.

Arizona: A license plate has six characters, which can be either letters or numbers. However, the fourth character will always be a digit.

become personal

In 1970, California’s first vanity plate was “AMIGO”. Since then, the state has received millions of applications.

The DMV’s four-person team reviews approximately 100,000 personalized plates each year. If you work 5 days a week, it will be more than 380 cases per day. The group rejects about 25 things a day that it deems inappropriate.

In the world

The world’s first license plates were issued in France in 1893 by the Paris Ordinance. Three years later, in 1896, the first car license plate was registered in Germany. In 1898, the Netherlands introduced national license plates.

practice

For the first few years when license plates began to be issued in the United States, car owners had to create their own license plates, and New York State did not issue the first official plates until 1909. bottom.

Since 1947, inmates at Folsom State Penitentiary have manufactured California license plates for the DMV. About 100 inmates work in a factory run by the prison. prison industry authorities. As of January, more than 35.6 million vehicles (and 848,332 motorcycles) were on California’s roads, 1.1 million of which had special interest plates.

Source: DMV, Privateauto.com, reviver.com, Auto License Plate Collectors Association, SEMA Action Network, license plate room.comontheroadtrends.com