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But - I'm relieved they're still being stamped.

Shame on all the states that just print them now. Cheapskates.

@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 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 @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
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).

@justNickoli Essentially yes, but it also validated that someone looked at the registration within the last year.

This all varies from state-to-state, but in Illinois the sticker means your registration is valid (which includes a $150 annual registration fee, which is the only state tax on the car).

When the registration expires, it not only means that the owner hasn't paid the fee but it also indicates the information about who is responsible for that car may be out-of-date.