Why Digital License Plates are a Great Idea

Oh, they're really not a good idea you know.

All technical and safety issues aside, ultimately The State can't force citizens to display advertisements or statements about something in a manner which trumps their free speech rights. Using the article's "Got Milk" ad example, this might seem harmless enough to most folks but to a Vegan or animal-rights activist its appalling.

Consider all the people who'll take offense to something or other and pretty soon it becomes a huge mess of trying to customize everyone's plate messages to only things that individual agrees with or letting people opt-out with the old metal tags.

And that's just one legal aspect that arises -- there are more.

And since when would numbers and letters be considered as analog rather than digital?

I think it was George Carlin who likened Californians to granola: Them that ain't fruits or nuts is flakes!

I suppose we could digitize people, too, such as with numbers tattooed onto their forearms, or barcodes onto their foreheads. [See "Melting Pot" cartoon in Chaz Bufe's The Devil's Dictionaries.]

C'mon guys ......... How about taking your creative mind out of that dark pocket where it hides while you feast on the latest talk show rant, sitcom or "reality" show?

Look at it for what it really is, an electronic controller with a public display the government would put on your vehicle. It would do things like tell the world who is driving, control what they can and cannot do while driving, exercise external control when necessary and generally put Big Brother into our personal escape pod. Not to mention the $200 or whatever cost they'll hit you for before they hand it to you as well as the cost to have it wired up to the car's electrical system.

No I'm not crazy about the idea, either. Loooks to me like a government Trojan horse.

But there could be some serious plusses if we are forced to put up with this.

1. A digital plate could signify that you completed an advanced driver training course that qualifies you to drive above the speed limits legally under prescribed conditions assuming that electronic ID of the driver is part of the technology. (Providing the vehicle is designed to be safe for such high speed driving). This would be a great motivator to get people into some serious driver retraining, something a lot of the guys would willingly pay for.

2. This ID, along with GPS would make it possible to restrict new drivers and drivers with poor driving records like DWI's as well as mark their status via the plate display for others to see. (for many a punishment worse than a hefty fine)

3. The uique electronic signature for the vehicle would enable a system whereby fuel taxes discounts are given at the pump based on the actual pollution performance of the vehicle as measured by internal sensors and tested during periodic smog inspections.

No, I don't know how you'd apply this to motor cycles with their tiny license plates. Or to my old Flathead Ford with its dual Stromberg 97's.

And I haven't yet thought through how this would work if you're towing a trailer or the thousand other possible driving situations.

Ed Weldon