Quick Look at License Plates

Imagine that you have just been in a wreck.  You expect that the other driver will come over to your car and check on you, so you can exchange information.  Instead, the other car drives away.

For a fleeting moment, you get a look at the license plate, but it's just gibberish and you cannot recognize and remember it.

That scenario plays itself out daily.

Part of the problem is that states are making license plates that are hard to read.  Colorful backgrounds, eye-catching logos, state slogans, and an inconsistent numbering scheme all combine to make license plate numbers hard to see and remember when you only get a moment.

Here is what a good license plate used to look like:

This is clean. Three letters and three numbers.  TNF 990.  Even if you only get a moment as the vehicle flees, you can remember TNF 990.

Then the state started moving the letters and the numbers around.  Sometimes the letters and numbers were mixed in the same grouping.

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Do we really need the space shuttle, cowboy and the slogan to clutter up this license plate?

Now, let's really mess it up.  This is the current license plate with scrambled letters and numbers, as well as background color.

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Very pretty, but very hard to read and memorize. 

So, of the three license plates, which is the best for its intended purpose?  Which is the best for allowing you or a police officer to quickly identify a vehicle? 

For Texas License Plate history and images, take a look at http://www.15q.net/tx.html

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