A reader question, left in the comments section:
What caught my eye was the Maine license plate with the lobster. Not sure what I think of that design. I've never understood why most states have plates somewhere between mediocre and bad.
I'd be curious to know which New England license plates readers think are best and which are worst.
I'd nominate the green Vermont ones for the best (simple, iconic, clear), and probably put both New Hampshire and Rhode Island at the back of the pack (unclear background printing mucking the whole thing up). Massachusetts and Connecticut are both just plain and functional, but not even clearly identifiable from a significant distance.
My attitude is quite pragmatic. Just use the basic design for the state in which your car needs to be licensed. If you have some snappy custom plate, people will agree you are an overanxious fool. Save the money. If you do not like what living in Rhode Island says about you, move. If you cannot move, no one will notice. I am reminded of Schitt's Creek, "Nobody cares."
ReplyDeleteVermont’s beautiful plates are classic. Connecticut gave up something when they went from a similar to Vermont look, but white on blue, to the current design. Of course the animal, the environmental plates, what have you, generate revenue for the state beyond the usual registration fee. There are so many of these. They are somewhat out of control. It’s now hard to distinguish from which state the car does originate. It must now be impossible to play the game we did as children - riding along counting plates from different states. Face it, there are a lot of miles to cover on this issue, beyond a discussion of basic design elements. There are “vanity plates.” What does the community think of them? And how important is it, really, to own a low number license plate, one with just five, four, three, or even two digits? If you own such plates, does it change your life? Rhode Island has a secondary market for low number plates. They are aspirational, traded for thousands of dollars. Is there value in sporting plates that have been in your family for many generations? Does everyone, you know where, really believe they ought to “Live Free Or Die?”
ReplyDeleteI detest vanity plates. They are a warning to steer clear of the cars that have them. In Texas that includes almost all Teslas. I like simple, easily read plates, like bright white numbers and letters on black. If you drive a white or black SUV, legible plates really help you to find your car in the grocery store lot. State mottos and outlines, along with background pictures, can make the plates harder to read with a quick glance. As to living free or dying, that depends how you define freedom. For me it embraces supporting the common good.
ReplyDeleteI'm against anything other than the name of the state and the necessary numbers and letters in a bold color on a plain background. I'm tired of seeing license plates that look like they were designed by a committee of teenagers who were torn between emulation of Edvard Munch and Reggie Jackson.
ReplyDeletePerhaps modern license plate design is a good example of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." I assume the move from solid colored plates to all sorts of printing happened due to new technology that made it feasible to print anything and everything on a license plate.
DeleteGood examples of sticking with the monochromatic approach beyond Vermont are the solid yellow Alaska plates, and the jade colored plates New Mexico used until recently. The jade New Mexico plates are a good example of a distinct color doing the work of identifying the plate, an approach I wish more states would take.
Kaaterskill: Greetings from New Mexico, here are the actual facts of the year 2023: What are the colors of the New Mexico license plates?
DeleteA person who has a vehicle registered and titled in the state can acquire the traditional yellow plate or the Centennial Plate (Turquoise).
No special application is required, and either of these plates can be requested at the time of initial registration of a qualified vehicle.
New Mexico is the only state that specifies "USA" on its license plates, so as to avoid confusion with the country Mexico, which it borders to the southwest.
Glad to hear the turquoise plates are still available in NM. They're great.
DeleteI agree that Connecticut should return to the white lettering on dark blue. The light blue they use now is just bad. There are way too many weird iterations of license plates, with wild graphics etc. Maine should just stick with black letters on white, with a simple pine tree graphic. New Hampshire - green letters on white background. Rhode Island - dark blue on white. Massachusetts - red on white. Clean and neat - fuss free, easy to read.
ReplyDeleteIn Virginia they offer about 200 different specialty plates so I can't actually remember the last time I saw a plain VA plate on a passenger car.
ReplyDeleteThe VT plate is the best in the entire US, not just New England. Simple, classic and instantly identifiable. Vanity plates are vile.
ReplyDeleteSaw a while ago a car with plates framed by one of those car dealer frames. The dealer was from Torrington CT. Don’t know where the car was from. But the vanity plates identified the owner as someone with big ideas. For, if you saw the dealer location first you could add the plate afterwards.
DeleteThus, “first to Torrington,” then the plates, “ON2MARS.”
The plates on our Sunday car have been handed down in our family from generation to generation for almost 100 years. I wouldn’t give them up for all Cadillacs in California.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is a Georgia girl, but she got her first car when in college outside Boston. She registered it here in Maine where she spent the summers and was able get PEACH for the plate, something he wouldn't have been able to do in GA. Her car was very common, a tan Buick Skylark, but she became popular in town because of the plate. People would call out to her "Hey Peach!" as she drove by. Fifty years later people she's known for decades ask why she doesn't have that plate anymore. It would probably be a good idea. Blue Foresters are as common as gulls here and it would make it easier for me to know when we pass on the road. I've waved to a lot of women who aren't my wife.
ReplyDeleteI like the Cape Cod Lighthouse ones.
ReplyDeleteClassic Maine plates!
ReplyDeleteWe have an insane number of specialty license plates in California; the CHP hates them. Too difficult to read with all of the background gunk on them. I wish we'd go back to the classic gold letters on the black background; easy to read and it looks good.
ReplyDeleteNew Hampshire “Live Free or Die” plates win on message. We’ve kept our old low # Mass plates for fun - back in the days when relatives held office.
ReplyDeleteEvery state ought to strive for a message plate. Wisconsin’s might be “Eat Cheese or Die.”
ReplyDeleteNot New England , but my Michigan lighthouse plate message is ‘Save our Lights’
ReplyDeletescotmiss