E Plates Are On the Way

[Crabcake Johnny]

Depending on your source of stats, between 1 out of 10 to 1 out of 6 drivers on the road are uninsured.

Enter E-plates, being proposed in SC but IHMO, will become the norm in every state.

New Electronic License Plates Could Be Controlled By DMV, Law Enforcement Agencies

No insurance, suspended? The MVA controls your tags which will display a "suspended" message.

When it's taken it to the next level, which is not discussed in this article but will be coming down the pike, if the car isn't supposed to be on the road it'll send a signal to local law enforcement. Coming? Absolutely.

 

[Norwayguy]

Depending on your source of stats, between 1 out of 10 to 1 out of 6 drivers on the road are uninsured.

Enter E-plates, being proposed in SC but IHMO, will become the norm in every state.

New Electronic License Plates Could Be Controlled By DMV, Law Enforcement Agencies

No insurance, suspended? The MVA controls your tags which will display a "suspended" message.

When it's taken it to the next level, which is not discussed in this article but will be coming down the pike, if the car isn't supposed to be on the road it'll send a signal to local law enforcement. Coming? Absolutely.

I wonder how much the new registration fee will be to cover the cost of the technology.

 

[BlockO]

Yeah, they call it LPR (licence plate recognition). A friend of mine attended a seminar about LPR, and said the technology is amazing.

This will definitely be a game changer once it's fully implemented.

 

[Norwayguy]

Wonder if the plate requires a power source (they talked about it blinking) and how long the people that don't pay now figure out how to get around it. Let's be honest I see expired plates everyday address exist on these people and it should be easy to catch them (assuming the priority is there to do this).

 

[b61mack]

Many NJ, police cars have a computer plate reader in their cars that automaticly reads plates as they go by. they also have a computer that they have to manually enter, your plate number. Big brother is watching.

 

[Norwayguy]

I drive behind these cars all the time that clearly show they expired months ago....I doubt some people will care unless the cops or more vigilant in pulling people over.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

If you're driving with expired tags, you're risking that a cop doesn't get behind you. That might be an acceptable risk for some people.

But change that to a blinking "expired" tag and those same people wouldn't think about driving it - too much risk.

A power source seems to be a rather large hurdle. I guess you would be required to change your tag battery - and now you have people getting pulled over if the battery goes dead while they're driving?

Regarding insurance, beating the system would seem difficult. Right now they game the system by getting insurance, getting tags, then cancelling coverage the next day - roll the dice. That'll be difficult when your tags read "suspended."

But the real game changer is GPS. It's when your insurance lapses, GPS senses the vehicle in motion which then alerts area cops. Then it's game, set and match.

 

[VolAgent]

From the article I read, it only requires power to change what it shows. Once it changes text it no longer requires power. So only if it is blinking would it need a constant source of power.

Also, the article stated that they would probably be either solar powered or powered by the vibration of the car as it drove down the road. I'm guessing they will use a RFID as well, so when you drive by an antenna it can be queried and the plate updated if necessary.

 

[BlockO]

I don't think power is an issue at all. As I understand it, these plates could run on a watch battery and run for several years.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Then....we hit the day where GPS in the tag reads your speed and a ticket is mailed out when you're over the limit by a certain percentage.