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McCook Gazette
Editorial

New license plates: What were they thinking?

Thursday, May 21, 2009
The winning design.

Could this be what they had in mind?

While Americans were surprised that the underdog won in Wednesday night's American Idol finalé, Nebraskans were absolutely nonplussed about the winning design for the state's new license plate.

The top Internet vote-getter is just as boring as most Interstate 80 drivers mistakenly think the state is, with black fading to gray and "Nebraska" twice, once in red as part of a Web site and the other, well, apparently there to make the plate readable when cars have rolled onto their sides after the driver has swerved to avoid a deer.

To be fair, the winning plate beat out three other "been there, done that" designs little better than the current covered wagon version -- does Nebraska always have to be known for people trying to get somewhere else?

The state swears the winning design had nothing to do with a college humor Web site's campaign to punk Nebraska by having visitors pick the most boring design.

The fading-gray design received 38 percent of about 109,000 online votes cast.

Now comes word that the State Patrol is using a mobile grocery scanner-type device to zap the license plates of every passing car with an infrared beam and use the information to find out if the vehicle is stolen, if its registration is up-to-date or if the driver is wanted.

The state has only two of the $20,000 machines, which it is using in Lincoln and Omaha, but probably will buy more as more troopers are trained to use them.

In hindsight, the new design does look like something designed to make for an easier trip through the checkout line.

Perhaps the next design should just be a big bar code ...

Comments
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  • Nebraska could start issuing multiple license plates like many other states. If you don't like the standard plate then you can get a different one. Sometimes for a higher fee that goes to an organization such as a children's hospital or one of the many colleges and universities or even a fire department.

    Then you don't have to feel like you've been cheated on a design you don't like.

    -- Posted by npwinder on Thu, May 21, 2009, at 5:47 PM

  • This was all a joke! See the attached link

    http://www.ketv.com/cnn-news/19539641/detail.html

    "With the discovery made, DMV officials tossed out all votes that had come from the humor site. The remaining votes tallied favored the plate featuring the state bird and the state flower, which will be the plate design adorning Nebraska vehicles in 2011."

    -- Posted by FNLYHOME on Fri, May 22, 2009, at 1:45 PM

  • Granted, the past plates had more color, but this plate should not "Wash Out" at night when headlights shine on it. I miss the old number style that showed the county the plate was from. "Black and White", like it or not, it is Bold and to the point.

    That's all I have to say..... fade to grey...

    -- Posted by DouglasB75 on Fri, May 22, 2009, at 2:51 PM
  • *

    I just don't understand why it must have 2 labels of "Nebraska" vertically and horizontally. The ".gov" is a bit disturbing as well. I do have to admit I enjoy the color scheme though.

    -- Posted by cplcac on Sun, May 24, 2009, at 12:40 AM

  • Yes, your right cplcac, Why not have Nebraska, once, instead of it twice. I'm suprised it dont also have Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles on it too. I guess Nebraska Gov is advertising or wants everyone to know we have Goverment here.

    YES,Rural Citizen Just another Joke from Lincoln.

    -- Posted by Just a reader on Wed, May 27, 2009, at 10:25 PM

  • What is all the uproar about? License Plates do not define the people or the state of Nebraska, they are for indentification purposes only. They let law enforcement know if you have registered the car, paid your fees, can tell if the plates belong to the car and etc. THAT IS IT! The bar code is a great idea, it will help the police and generate a lot of revenue.

    -- Posted by Oh what a wonderful day on Thu, May 28, 2009, at 11:21 AM
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