Comments on: License plates should be banned

By: Jacklyn Lucion

Jacklyn Lucion — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:42:17 +0000

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By: TR

TR — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:47:16 +0000

Where’s the money honey? Some U.S. stats on highway and bridge maintenance and construction for 2009. Total fed, state and local spent, $80B ($40B Fed Hwy Fund). Registered passenger vehicles, 250M. Average miles driven 21,100. Average gasoline tax $.50/gal. So at 25mpg each vehicle buys 844 gal and pays $422 of gas tax. That’s $105B. Somebody got $25B not to build or fix anything! I think CA put their piece into prison guard pay raises.

Same deal may be true for license plates.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:19:14 +0000

You know cops work in busy under staffed areas. I’ve lived all over the country and have experience, first hand, the penty anty nature of most cops. I’ve seen motor cops – just saw one a few days ago – slowly driving between cars in a traffic jam scanning for registrations.

I’m quite serious about this. Tags aren’t worth the bother. Most stolen cars are not found.

Registration and plates serve no real public purpose other than raising funds that should be raised generally.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:58:43 +0000

Some of your libertarian ideas are so far out there, I wonder if you are serious.
I personally would rather have the plate on a car so I can identify it as stolen or wanted. They aren’t switched out as often as you think. I have pulled over far more wanted cars with the correct plates than cars with switched or no plates. Even switched plates help, as they are generally reported stolen as well.

The money aspect of it is a different issue. its a state issue as well. Ontario gets little if any money from any tickets written for expired regitsration. You could still have the plates as vehicle identifiers, but change the fee to a nominal amount for administration purposes. I’m for that.

Plate readers- we have two. No one really likes taking them. Mostly they find parked stolen cars, which you then have to tow. Big deal. They don’t hunt for expired tags, so I’m not sure what you are talking about there. Even if they did, few cops bother with that- except in Utah, I guess.

You make a lot of assumptions about cops and police work. Guesses would be a more accurate term.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:58:20 +0000

Why? It’s my blog.

Why do you assume the state needs to administer vehicles. Some of my computers and guns cost more than cars, nobody administers them. I know why they want the money, but they could get it simpler without all the bureaucracy and especially the pain in the butt to deal with it.

Look, you claim to be an civil liberties guy and then defend instant identification while traveling. Consistency isn’t required to view this blog, but it is welcome occasionally!

We could get rid of license plates and registration and life would go on as before, BUT without the risk of government intrusion.

By: Carl Nelson

Carl Nelson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:52:48 +0000

Won’t you introduce your complaint with a short paragraph on why the license plate was invented, what actual roles it fills, where the money (over and above the cost of administering the system) goes, and how the revenue needed for vehicle administration would be collected otherwise. Although it is theoretically possible to change license plates to a fraudulent plate or stolen plate, such a change takes time and cannot be done on the fly when the vehicle is involved in some situation where it becomes a clue (hit and run, bank robbery, escape from a scene, etc). Let’s ask the family policeman about the value of license plates.