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I recently noticed that the State of Illinois has changed the font of the *stamping* on license plates.
The design is the same, but the stamped text is a bit thinner and the glyphs are blockier.
I am surprised how much this change is bothering me, to be honest. It has never occurred to me how much that is a defining feature. The first one I saw I assumed had to be fake!
But - I'm relieved they're still being stamped.
Shame on all the states that just print them now. Cheapskates.
@TechConnectify Cheapstates*
@TechConnectify yeah I was disappointed that mine wasn't stamped
@TechConnectify given that about 80% of all us licence plates that are stamped are created using legal slavery, it might be a good thing to change away from that.
@Unxif @TechConnectify
Those could be good jobs if we didn't allow the slavery part
@RnDanger @Unxif @TechConnectify we should get rid of the slavery part in general
@TechConnectify Maybe the new font is a little easier on the presses? Would be interesting to know why this changed.
@gudenau My guess is that it is slightly more legible, especially for cameras using OCR. Some of the letters were very similar to numbers (like Q and 0) and the old font was fairly dense.
Of course, there's lots of reasons it's bad to cater to that, but so many tollways across the nation are moving to pay-by-plate. I'm kind of fascinated by that, to be honest - last family trip on the Florida Turnpike resulted in a ~$20 bill showing up in the mail some weeks later.
@TechConnectify Oh yeah that happened to us too, somehow we ended up with three separate bills a few years ago when using a pay by plate toll road twice in Texas.
@TechConnectify @gudenau here in Seattle the tolls can take up to six weeks to get mailed. Once they mail it you only have like a week to pay before they start adding late fees.
@TechConnectify Does stamping them do anything for durability? Honest question.
I’ve seen vehicles with the old Illinois design peeling off portions, so the stamping might help with that?
@jterhorst I don't think the intent is for durability, I think the intent is more of an anti-counterfeiting measure.
It's a lot harder to make a fake plate look legit when real plates have texture to them. But, a side bonus is that if paint is flaking off the plate, you can at least see the lettering by the remaining shapes. By the time a plate gets that bad, though, you've probably been flagged for replacement.
@TechConnectify @jterhorst Being flagged for replacement? Quebec should take notes - it seems half the plates here are peeling!
@vorboyvo @jterhorst well, I probably shouldn't have used the word flagged. As far as I know, there wasn't a mechanism for that but there has always been an easy* way to request a replacement.
*there was probably some bureaucracy involved but there are posters about it at the registration offices. A run of bad plates years ago was particularly susceptible to premature wear so it was A Thing
@TechConnectify true. although given the increasing prevalence of cars covering their licence plates with something like dark cellophane to avoid paying tolls or traffic violation camera fines, it seems like leaving it up to the car owners isn't necessarily the best policy
@TechConnectify meanwhile, here in Ireland they’re not actually printed by a government entity at all, nor is the design fully standardised, so depending on where you got your plate from you might get a metal stamped one, or a plastic printed one
or one of many not-exactly-regulation ones, i see quite a few with cursive script
@TechConnectify I just remembered I love old Portuguese plates. So bold. And I’m not sure if the characters are “mounted” or stamped.
@TechConnectify What's bizarre to me is that Washington still embosses their standard plates, but only prints custom plates. Like, why are they running two separate production lines?
@SDWolf Missouri does this too! I do not get it, how hard can it be to stop the machine for a bit and have it do some specific sequences?
@SDWolf @TechConnectify Do the embossed plates have the retroreflective helices on them? (part of ALPR helpers)
@TechConnectify @SDWolf Well, there goes my sole idea for why they'd use different production lines. :-)
@TechConnectify Can confirm Mississippi DOT is cheapskates. Probably doesn't help that half the cars have the cheaper "antique" plates.
@TechConnectify Yeah, but look at all the REALLY COOL plates you can get in Arizona now! Seriously, I do think some are awesome and it's an easy way for the state to make money.
Now if only the other states could catch up and get rid of the front plate too!
I'd like to see something replace plates altogether. They have a lot of flaws.
@weiln I disagree so hard on the front plate thing.
Several hit-and-runs get solved every year because the front plate fell off and was left at the scene. I really do not understand the aversion to putting another $1 piece of metal on the front of your car other than aesthetic preferences, and when we're dealing with machines that can kill people aesthetic preferences like that can go eff allllll the way off.
@TechConnectify Hence my desire to replace, or complement, plates.
I argue that if safety was the requirement then we'd require plates on the sides. The number of times they would be more useful as a pedestrian is greater than the number of times I wish there was a front plate. I don't deny that front plates aren't useful, but they're not THAT helpful or all states would have them.
But seriously, there should be a better way to manage this now. Especially if cops don't enforce anything.
@weiln but why, specifically, does one more plate on the front bother you? If you think there should be a compliment to the one rear plate, and there is one (it's called the front plate) your argument feels incredibly inconsistent.
Would another identifier on the sides be a cool idea? Sure! But why specifically do you think putting another copy of the identifier we put on the back on the front is such a problem?
@TechConnectify Honestly, I really don't have a problem with them. If Arizona implemented them I'd put one on. I used them in IL, ID, and UT.
My bigger issue is actually how automakers implement front plates. It makes me sick to have to drill permanent holes in my bumper.
And still, plates aren't working. The number of vehicles I see in a week with no plates, or expired plates, is shocking. There needs to be a better solution, or complement, to plates. Especially if cops don't care.
@weiln there is a backup system, though. It's called the VIN.
And like, while I agree that lack of enforcement is a problem, when actual issues occur that could be solved by there being a front plate, I'm not very sympathetic to the notion that it doesn't matter.
@weiln @TechConnectify that seems like an over the top reaction to mounting a legally mandated piece of equipment.
@TechConnectify Also, there is some vanity. Vehicles without front plates do look better. 
But as I've matured, the vanity has taken a back seat to safety.
@weiln @TechConnectify
I feel like this is touching on a much bigger point: what problem are plates trying to solve, and are they doing it well? And if not, what would do it better? The first is obviously quick vehicle identification, and there I think rear plates have a lot of advantages: you're already looking out your front window at the bumper behind you whether you're a cop or someone looking for an Amber Alert (or similar).
@weiln @TechConnectify
It's much less good for:
- dashcams trying to ID a hit and run (resolution, front end collision)
- cops trying to get detailed vehicle info (requires lookup for most things)
- toll-by-plate (doesn't account for towed vehicles, transponders are more accurate)
That last point: we already have devices that wirelessly send information on a fixed frequency from a moving vehicle. This could solve all the above problems fairly nicely.
@ndm13 @TechConnectify Honestly this is where I was going with the comments about a complement to plates. So many things should be automatic at this point, and RFID in plates would be an interesting test case.
My thoughts also went to treating a car differently, in that each needs an ID, NOT the VIN, that would be associated electronically with the plate. Expired plates? No go. Reckless driving? Easy to identify.
But, IMO people REALLY want the ability to break the law without consequences.
@TechConnectify The one downside I’ve seen with front plates in Portland, because they also have registration stickers, is that they get stolen and re-used as illegal back places on similar-model cars. But that seems like a minor downside and ultimately fixable if the front/rear plates had distinctly different design elements.
@BrianEnigma you know what's funny? There have been actual solutions to this.
GM had a Buick I think where the rear license plate went in a slot that was only accessible from the trunk. So someone would have to break into the trunk to remove the license plate.
Something like that could be done on the front, too, if integration were considered something that needed to be done. But because of states that don't require front plates nobody bothers.
@TechConnectify @BrianEnigma seems like back and front plates could also be made visually distinct (a different colored blank) making it super obvious if they were installed in the wrong place. It would likely take a little education but seems like it might not be that hard.
@mark @BrianEnigma @TechConnectify Nice. The challenge I could see with it in the US is that our license plates are almost state branding a lot of the time which I could see leading to some opposition. That's not a good reason not to do it though.
@BrianEnigma @TechConnectify The US system for plates is weird. replacement plates or stickers every year? That seems just a bit dumb and backwards. It's all on computer already, so why not deal with it there? You didn't pay this year? They'll already know, and could flag your number.
@fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma I don't know. It seems pretty reasonable to me.
Here, the sticker changes color every year. So when you see a car with a sticker that's two colors old, you know at a glance that driver hasn't renewed their registration. No need to look anything up.
In fact, I would rather have mechanisms like that then require a bunch of cameras and or manual lookups.
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma Yea, but you have to balance that against the cost (non-zero) and the expectation of whether that sticker is ever going to catch anyone at all. PA gave up stickers several years ago, but I don't have data on whether that's a net plus or minus.
@mhkohne @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma The way Illinois does it, the cost is pretty close to zero.
The stickers are part of a pre-made form that goes through a laser printer. That same form then becomes the thing you keep in your glove compartment with your information about registration and stuff.
Granted, I don't know what the actual cost is, but it's been cleverly integrated into a thing they already have to do and it's a standard laser printer doing the printing.
@mhkohne @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma (although, funnily enough, there was a supply issue last year and the sticker for some reason wasn't printable. So they all just said "Illinois 23" but the color mechanism is the most important part.
It's not like the month on the sticker helps anyone out but the owner to know when their car is about to expire (or I guess maaaaybe parking lot enforcement)
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma That's a good setup. PA's stickers were, I think, done separately, and I think they had a serial # on the sticker, so presumably they could figure out whose sticker it was, should the occasion arise. I suspect it never did.
I'd still love to see data on this subject - I think MD dropped the front plate some years ago? We had them when I was growing up, but I think they don't anymore, and I'd love to know the whys and whether anyone followed up.
@TechConnectify @mhkohne @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma The UK way of doing this *used* to be that there was a separate registration form that went inside on the windshield; not on the plates. Small paper form, and being inside it didn't have any problems like that. We gave up about 10 years ago and it's now entirely electronic.
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma in the UK car receive a registration plate when it's initially bought. It identifies the car until it's scrapped, unless an owner gets it changed for a vanity plate. Mandatory front and back, front and back are different colours white front, yellow back). As they don't usually need to be removed, anti tamper screws are used. Doesn't stop them being removed, it happens, but I guess makes it harder.
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma Tax and yearly mandatory vehicle testing information stored in databases. Vehicles that aren't taxed need to be declared as off road. Registration information held on cars which must be updated to the new owner when sold. Information such as vehicle colour, make and model also held on the registration database. If you respray the car a different colour, you'd legally need to get the info updated.
Not sure if it's better or worse, maybe just different...
@MWelchUK @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma personally, I would say that something that exists only in a database doesn't functionally exist.
For many things this doesn't matter. But for something like, say, this car is driving around unregistered and you don't know for sure whether or not the driver of that car should actually be driving that car, having a flag for that that's immediately visible without needing to look something up seems important.
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma Um, enforcement vans have cameras with OCR and a network connection to the database. I believe any officers stopping a suspicious car can call in a check too.
@MWelchUK @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma and we want more of these?
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma there's definitely a very different social acceptance to databases of "things that can kill people" in our countries. Since there's a legal requirement to tax and have vehicles pass a yearly road worthiness test here, I personally have no issue with a database that attempts to make sure all vehicles are complying with the rules in an as efficient way as possible.
@TechConnectify Common Technology Connections W 
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma
Curious as to what registration means in a US context.
To drive on a public road in the in the UK you must have have a licence, be correctly insured, pay a road fund tax and have a valid MOT.
MOT is an annual vehicle road worthyness check.
You used to have to display a (road fund) tax disc with an expiry date on it. Now you still pay the tax but enforcement is mostly thru automatic license plate recognition cameras with hefty penalties if you don't pay.
@raymierussell @TechConnectify @BrianEnigma You also should be notifying the licensing department that a vehicle is off the road, thus not taxable. and undoing that when it's not.
@raymierussell @TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma it's a mess, some have basic road worthiness tests other have environmental checks, some have both, because there's no federal standard the states are free to regulate as they choose.
@raymierussell @TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma the biggest challenge in the US is that registration regulation is delegated to the 50 states and territories so we have 50+ different rules on everything
@TechConnectify @fuzzysteve @BrianEnigma
Do the stickers really mean anything other than the vehicle tax being paid? We we used to use coloured paper discs in the windscreen in the UK for this - it's not really the same type of information as the number on the plate, it doesn't need to be in the same place.
We no longer use them but I think it was a mistake - we seem to have more cars without valid tax now (though I haven't checked if we actually do).