DMV’s New Web Site Helps Drivers Step Up to the Vanity Plate

California wives are 10 times more likely to publicize their marital status on vanity license plates than are their husbands. Moms are more likely to brag about their parental status on their plates than are dads. And a lot more women than men tend to refer to themselves in terms suggesting attractiveness.

When it comes to another category, however, males show a marked preponderance: More than four times as many of the state’s personalized license plates--3,656, to be exact--describe their owners using some derivative of the word “boy” than “girl.”

“People buy vanity plates because they’re fun,” said Evan Nossoff, a spokesman for the California Department of Motor Vehicles. “It ranges from people getting corporate IDs to exhibiting their nicknames. It’s sort of like your own personal billboard.”

Now you can track those advertisements on the DMV’s new Web site (https://plates.ca.gov). A quick surf through the databank, for instance, reveals the existence on California highways of vehicles marked with the distinctive license-plate monikers of ATABOY, ACOWBOY and ALBOY. In addition to ABADBOY and BAADBOY, there are BADBOYs 1 through 9. And somewhere on the state’s freeway system lurk BIGGBOYY and BOYBEAR.

The Web site was not created, of course, to study the vanities of California drivers. Developed in conjunction with the California Resources Agency, the new site is designed to help drivers get personalized plates more efficiently.

Here’s how it works. Using your computer, go to the DMV Web page and click on “Search the ELP Database.” Then type two to seven characters to form the license plate you desire. The database then tells you whether someone already has the plate. If the plate is taken, the site provides a list of similar plates already registered so you can come up with one that isn’t.

In many cases, Nossoff said, the process takes less than 15 seconds--a dramatic improvement over the hours people used to spend at DMV offices poring through thick books of license plate configurations--often outdated--that were already taken.

Once you create the license plate of your dreams on the Web page, you can print an order form and send it to the DMV along with payment. The cost is $40 for a first-time order and $25 for renewal. Most of the money helps pay for environmental programs such as the purchase of land for preserves, studies of endangered species and public education. Since the program’s inception in 1970, Nossoff said, the sale of more than 2 million personalized license plates has raised more than $500 million.

Among the most popular license plates, Nossoff said, are those derived from drivers’ names, professions and favorite sports teams. “Some people do it to support the UCLA Bruins,” he said, “while others want to make affirmative statements of philosophical points of view.”

Still, it is difficult to resist the temptation to use the DMV database to spy on the exhibitionistic proclivities of one’s fellow citizens. An afternoon of browsing revealed some interesting facts:

Slightly more than 2,000 Californians have chosen to describe themselves to the world using some derivative of the word “fox,” while 406 want to be known as “studs.” Among those called “girls” are CWGIRLZ, DDYGIRL, CATGIRL, BLKGIRL and FSTGIRL. People are less likely to use professional designations than gender designations. Only 26 plates refer to lawyers, 11 to plumbers and a handful to dentists.

Perhaps more revealing, however, are the plates that take a stand. There is, for instance, one DEMOCRT, one REPUBL and nine derivatives of SATAN. Many people use the words “love” and “give.” There is FRGIVEN, GODGIVES, GIVEJOY, AGIVER, GIVELOV and GASGIVR. And almost 2,000 Californians have chosen love-bearing plates such as AMLOVED, ANYLOVE, BLKLOVE, FORLOVE, FNDLOVE, EZLOVE, DOGLOVE and BIGLOVE.

Unfortunately, though, there also seems to be lots of hate running rampant on the state’s roads and highways. Among the 85 so identified are IHATECA, IHATELA, HATE2BU, UHATEME and IHATEYU.

And as if that weren’t bad enough, there is also someone with the plate IHATEME. Hmm, perhaps the owner of that one ought to be referred to the plate called SHRINK.

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Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County Edition, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to (714) 966-7711 or e-mail him at David.Haldane@latimes.com. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.