In California, license plates might go electronic

In California, license plates might go electronic

www.sfgate.com

As electronic highway billboards flashing neon advertisements become more prevalent, the next frontier in distracted driving is already approaching — ad-blaring license plates.

The California Legislature is considering a bill that would allow the state to begin researching the use of electronic license plates for vehicles. The move is intended as a moneymaker for a state facing a $19 billion deficit.

The device would mimic a standard license plate when the vehicle is in motion but would switch to digital ads or other messages when it is stopped for more than four seconds, whether in tr

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I will not support this. I avoid being bombarded with advertising as it is, by not watching T.V. I never read advertisements in the paper, and I use flash and ad block when browsing on line. I have noticed the difference in myself as well as my children.
I do not want to be subjected to this, nor do I want to be a walking billboard.

www.sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This would have issues with power supply to start with. Who's going to replace the batteries? If they die in mid transit, would they pull you over and fine you? Also, the companies that advertise this way would more than likely be legally bound to compensate the owners of the cars, not the state, since the drivers ultimately are the ones advertising.

Only in California.....

I wonder if they are going to do away with the road tax that license plates and registration brings in based on this new ad policy?

This stinks of a new form of control to me as well. Just think about this.
New digital license plates can be outfitted with sensors that identify your vehicle. Then, police and even intersections can be outfitted with digital scanners that pick up that signal. If you have unpaid parking tickets, they could flag your location as you pass through or by the scanner and boom. Arrested and off to jail.

I think this wreaks of a pending new invasion tactic by the state that could be designed to be abused and intrude into your life without consent.

Oh, and I dont know how CA law reads, but in my state, your vehicle is considered an extension of your home and you are legally allowed to protect yourself and your privacy while you are in your vehicle, just like if you are in your home.

Hahaha, sounds almost like April's fools day.
How crazy is that?
I thought this was about a device that would make plates unnecessary.
Something like the RFID, there would be no longer a need for these and no bloody commercials. Indeed, big brother is lurking either way. I do think that the plates will get a RFID, just a display is easy to hack.

Originally posted by wheresthetruth

This stinks of a new form of control to me as well. Just think about this.
New digital license plates can be outfitted with sensors that identify your vehicle. Then, police and even intersections can be outfitted with digital scanners that pick up that signal. If you have unpaid parking tickets, they could flag your location as you pass through or by the scanner and boom. Arrested and off to jail.

I think this wreaks of a pending new invasion tactic by the state that could be designed to be abused and intrude into your life without consent.

You use a bad example here. When Is tracking offenders an invasion of privacy? If you break the law you should be slowly stripped of your right to privacy. But I do think digital plates are not the way to go.

[edit on 21-6-2010 by Sanity911] Because I am new and have no idea how to work this thing.

[edit on 21-6-2010 by Sanity911]

[edit on 21-6-2010 by 12voltz]

i guess it would give drivers something to think about while waiting in traffic like how they can lose weight or how to get fit or how much they need a hamburger right now ,at least they will be watching the car in front instead of the pretty girl in the car two lanes over.

Interested advertisers would contract directly with the DMV, thus opening a new revenue stream for the state, Price said.

I don't see how this could be legal, the state would in essence be mandating that vehicle owners advertise for companies. How would they contract with the state to advertise on something that does not belong to the state ?

Price said the devices also would cut costs by streamlining the distribution, activation and registration of license plates.

And will they pass the savings down to the owners of the vehicles, I seriously doubt it. Just another way to get even more money from the citizens.

This seems like a dangerous thing to do. If they place such distracting things on vehicles they're bound to see a significant rise in accidents.


www.sfgate.com.../n/a/2010/06/20/state/n100017D07.DTL

Want a horrible idea?

Leave it to California....

Nuff said..

Isn't this distracting drivers from paying attention to other important stuff, like say, DRIVING? The ads flash while your car is not moving, sure, but that doesn't mean other cars around you aren't moving and drivers may be potentially distracted by the ads.

Not only this, but how are these ads loaded in the plate? Wirelessly? Does this mean our cars will now all be tracked wherever we go? Will we also be monitored automatically for traffic violations, gas usage, etc? No thanks.

This is why if I ever drive to california i will have out of state plates, with an older car, all the freedom in the world haha. Yep, my car is really old, cant change my plates hehe, no electronics runs to my plates, its gonna be old fashioned lit by the light, yep. So there is no way I could ever change my car to run new plates, they would have to make auto manufacturers make a built in electric capability for new plates and whose to say hackers wont change the plates in the commision of a crime to something else and then once the crime is done, change it back to their own plates. California is one idiotic state, serioulsy, get rid of the illegals and this problem of budget gets solved.

A large number of cities in Calif have there police department equipped with plate readers in some police cars that allow the units to drive through parking lots looking for stolen. unregistered or other decreases that tickets can be written for or the cars can be towed for.

Since the number of cities using this system has gone up the number of people finding there front plates on older cars with the old blue or black non reflective plates missing or damaged have increased 10 fold.
this means you have to go to the DMV and get new reflective type plates.

This new systems plate reader can not read the older non reflective plates.

With the ads flashing will this system be able to read the plates.

And how long before some joker running from the cops rewires the plates so all the cops see is the flashing ads.

or some one doing a drive by shooting rewiring so no one can get there plate number as the take off.