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Rear-end makeover: Texas DMV announces a return to classic license plates
Tired of your current license plate? Sad to look at the tiny (de-funded) space shuttle launching across the open expanse of Texas sky behind your individually issued alphanumerical combination?
Luckily, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has released its latest license plate design to circulate into effect as the aeronautics-themed "Lone Star Texas" plates go the way of NASA.
"Texas Classic" plates are a throwback to the simple Texas plates of the 1960s, with a plain black and white color palette that lacks the vibrancy of the last design.
In case you want to get a jump on the rest of the state, 11 of the 254 counties in the state have already begun issuing the new plates. Perhaps a drive to Cameron, Matagorda or Ector Counties is in order?
Produced by the happy inmates at the Wynne Correctional Unit in Huntsville, the new "Texas Classic" plates are a throwback to the simple Texas plates of the 1960s, with a plain black and white color palette that lacks the vibrancy of the last design.
The 1-inch by 2.5-inch numbers and letters will now be separated on either side of a miniature state outline, in order to make the code easier to remember for car owners, law enforcement agents and civilian witnesses.
According to the DMV's License Plate FAQ page, "Some citizen witnesses who observed a crime called us to say they just couldn’t catch the seven-character plate number because of the busy design, and we heard the same thing from law enforcement officers, who are professionally trained to read plate numbers. Other Texans complained the current plate colors clashed with their vehicle color. The Texas Classic is the solution to these concerns."
Phew! Because not matching your license plate to your car will haunt you far longer than not identiying a hit-and-run driver.
The DMV also boasts the existence of two "high-visbility security threads" that run along either side of the plate, which make it easier for law enforcement to identify counterfeit plates from further away. These are surprisingly the first license plates in the country to include such a design feature.
Some might appreciate the simplicity and nostalgia of the new plates. But for those who prefer to express themselves plate-wise, you still have all the nonprofit, university and military plates available through the DMV. Perhaps we may suggest the Freebirds World Burrito license plate?
