California, a state deeply in debt (about $19 billion), is considering making money by selling digital advertising on car license plates. They’ll remain static, just showing the usual license plate number and registration while in motion, but if the car stops for more than 4 seconds, it could show any number of things while the license plate number fades into the background or minimizes, but it won’t disappear.
Options include advertising sold through the Department of Motor Vehicles, emergency amber alerts or traffic information, or personalized messages like a favorite sports team or school affiliation. The device would be controlled from inside the vehicle, but of course, emergency updates would have to be sent using Wi-Fi internet speed.
While it certainly could be distracting, it might also help entertain people during stop-and-go traffic. People who commented on the article posted on Yahoo made some good points:
• “How hard is it gonna be to steal that identification and put it on yours? Now I have to worry about my license plate going out?”
• “Will these plates have their own power source? Just what I need, something else to drain power from my car’s battery.”
• “I would only be for such and idea if it would pay for license, registration fees and full coverage insurance for me and my vehicles. Why should only the government benefit from ads displayed on my vehicle?”
• “What about people that use a small truck to pull a trailer? I routinely dent up my plate…”
• “I can’t stand people tracking me as it is, and I’m not going to voluntarily let them track me through my license plate.”
Tags: Internet Speed, Wi-Fi