California on the road to being the first state to use digital license plates

Last week the California State Senate approved a bill allowing for a pilot run of digital license plates.

Digital plates could display messages like this.
 
The bill has been in the works for years, but was first presented in February. Now, after months of amending, the bill will find its way to the governor’s desk for signing.

Why would you want an electronic license plate?

Digital license plates would be able to do a lot of things that your metal one can’t. For example, specific messages could be displayed across the plate such as “expired” for expired registration. The plates could receive updates when it was time for plate or registration renewal and they could even help criminal investigations. If a car was stolen, the system could be updated to display the word “stolen” across the plate, or if a child was kidnapped, it could broadcast the words “Amber Alert.”

According to the bill, California will establish a digital plate pilot program that will conclude by January 2017. The program must be limited to 0.5% of registered vehicles that have voluntarily chosen to participate. By July 2018, a report of the results will be submitted and it will be determined whether or not digital license plates will become a permanent fixture on California cars.

For an added bonus, using digital license plates, drivers could replace or renew their tags digitally, eliminating a trip to the DMV.

Not just in California

California is not the only state considering this. New Jersey has been mulling over a version of these digital license plates, and South Carolina is thinking about a digital license plate that just displays messages like “expired” or “uninsured.”

Example of a South Carolina digital plate created by Compliance Innovations. (Image via Compliance Innovations)

New Jersey’s version of the digital license plate has been in development for over 12 years. This plate is produced by REDFlag Digital Display License Plates.

An example of a New Jersey digital plate. (Image via REDFlag Digital Display License Plates)

One privacy group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is concerned that digital license plated would allow the authorities to know where we are at all times and infringe on our privacy.

According to ABC News, these license plates could one day display advertisements across them if the vehicle is stopped for a certain amount of time.

Keep an eye out for digital license plates, they could be coming to a road near you soon.