State Posts List of Vanity Plates on Web
California drivers who want to personalize their license plates now have a way to find out quickly whether the name or clever saying they have in mind has already been taken, the state Resources Agency announced Friday.
The agency, which uses money from “vanity” plates to pay for environmental programs, has created a World Wide Web site with the Department of Motor Vehicles, enabling Internet users to search a database of 1.6 million existing personalized plates.
At the Web site, https://plates.ca.gov, users can type in the name they want and will be shown all issued license plates similar to that choice.
If a user wants his plate to say “Jeff,” for example, he can scan all plates with “Jeff” in them (464 as of Friday) and add numbers or letters to create a plate that hasn’t already been taken.
If the choice is available, the user can download a DMV order form and mail it in with the $41 environmental license plate fee.
Applicants are advised to list second and third choices on the application form in case their first choice is taken before their application is received.
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