Los Angeles: California motorists who already feel bombarded by digital billboards, freeway advertisements and vinyl-wrapped buses say a new proposal to put ads on licence plates is a bad sign.
State lawmakers' flirtation with digital licence plates moved another step forward on Monday as the Assembly Transportation Committee endorsed a feasibility study to determine if advertising revenue from millions of digital licence placards would help close the state's $19.1 billion (Dh70.1 billion) deficit.
Besides bringing in revenue, electronic plates could streamline car-registration procedures and quickly notify motorists of hazardous road conditions and Amber alerts, some officials suggested.
Critics warn the ads would distract drivers and add to a growing clutter of intrusive signage. Others fear it would give the government one more way to track the public's every move and could lead to taxes on miles driven, or instant notifications to authorities when registration expires or insurance lapses. Some also say the computerised ads could be hacked by vandals intent on posting rogue messages.
Backers of the idea said the digital plates could be programmed to display the ads only after an auto has been stopped for four seconds. The car's licence number would be visible in small letters at the corner of the plate when ads are displayed, they said. The ads would disappear and the plate's regular numbers would pop up when the car started moving.
"It does offer some interesting possibilities," said Democratic state Sen Curren Price Jr, who introduced Senate Bill 1453, which calls for a feasibility study by the Department of Motor Vehicles, California Highway Patrol and other agencies.
‘Horrible idea'
The Senate passed the measure 25-0 in late May. Price said he proposed the study after learning of emerging technology that can create digital licence plates. One San Francisco-based start-up company, Smart Plate, has compared the digital plates to the personalised licence plates the state sells as a revenue-generator. The plates could also be used for personal statements, such as support for sports teams or colleges, according to M. Conrad Jordan, the company's chief executive.
But tech blogs have lighted up recently with warnings from commentators ridiculing the idea. The plates "will have to be wireless, which will entail a statewide wireless network: that is open to hacking," wrote one commentator on the Daily Tech website blog.
Others warned the technology could turn into a Big Brother-ish spy, clearing the way for state officials to issue speeding citations and "tax you based on when and where you drive."
And from a purely practical standpoint, a rear-end collision could wipe out a car's licence number; a digital plate on a parked car might drain the vehicle's battery. Price said these are all issues that officials will address when considering the digital plates — as well as various safeguards to protect the digital plates' "integrity."
Guidelines for advertising content, the feasibility of do-it-yourself messaging and the possibility of revenue-sharing with automobile owners will also be studied. The report will also examine whether car owners can drop out of the programme. Outside a DMV office in Los Angeles, motorists seem split on the concept. "It's a horrible idea. It will be just another distraction. They can find another way to make up the deficit," said Misty Madera.
But limo driver Farhad Nejadi said, "There could be advertising for restaurants and hotels I'm going to. A digital sign could flash the name of the person who is looking for me when I'm picking them up at the airport."
