You’re driving down your favorite drag when you come up to a red light. After about four seconds the license plate on the car in front of you changes from the standard image plate to a bulletin posting the latest lost milk-carton child or other public service announcement. You look around and another plate is displaying an ad for a local pizza joint. Damn, now you’re hungry.
Sound crazy? Well, it’s the latest proposal to raise revenue for the state’s dwindling coffers and it comes from Democratic Sen. Curren Price of Los Angeles. According to Price, California would be the first state to use such technology as electronic license plates, called Smart Plates, to provide advertising on the already distracting roadways. The special plates would display a normal electronic version of the current California plates when the vehicle is in motion. But when the vehicle stops for more than four seconds, the electronic billboard kicks in. The license plate number would still remain visible in some portion of the plate, but an advertisement would be displayed as long as the vehicle remained stationary.
“The idea is not to turn a motorist’s vehicle into a mobile billboard, but rather to create a platform for motorists to show their support for existing good working organizations,” says Price.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I want to advertise for anyone on my car, and I certainly don’t need the distraction while I’m cruising down the strip. If you think this deal sucks, contact the Department of Motor Vehicles and let them know. Better yet, why not contact Price’s office and voice your displeasure over your vehicle being turned into a billboard for the state.
