Posted 06.21.2010 at 11:31 am
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More Than Just Vanity Like the Great Communicator himself, the state of California may allow LED license plates to communicate messages like advertisements and PSAs when vehicles are not in motion.
Randy
Like an early, static version of Twitter, license plates have long allowed drivers to stamp a statement right onto their bumpers, as long as that statement is of extremely limited length. But lawmakers in California are deliberating a bill that would allow electronic license plates that would display advertisements and other messages when cars are not in motion, turning every car on the road into a moving billboard.
When cars are moving, the electronic registration would display the usual numbered and lettered identifier. But when parked or stopped for more than four seconds in traffic or at a red light, the plate would display anything from advertising messages to emergency information or Amber Alerts.
For the highly insolvent state of California, such ad-bearing devices could generate a good deal of revenue. For drivers, they could generate a whole new source of distraction on our already media-saturated roadways. But in heavily gridlocked places like California, it could provide a fast means to disseminate important information quickly and even provide emergency instructions to drivers who regularly deal with natural disasters like mudslides, wildfires, and earthquakes. And don’t worry, Los Angelenos: You’ll still be able to advertise your ride as “SMOKN” in between the paid messages.
[CBS5]
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CLAY.
YOU SAID "KIKE AN EARLY". PROOF READ MAN, PROOF READ.
Ya, ouch at the first word in the article.
HURRY UP CLAY. BEFORE MORE PEOPLE NOTICE.
Yeah no kidding... pretty bad typo to have as the first word of the article.
The main danger w/ electronic plates would be this:
How long do you think it will take some people start selling illegal electronic plate devices that let's the driver change the plate displayed anytime?
Think about this scenario:
A guy is running from the police and keeps changing the plate randomly.
Sure they can do this as long as i can charge them 1,000$ per advertisement displayed on my property. Otherwise stay off my car! I dont even like the autmotive manufacturers emblem on it.
Agreed Moe, if the owners got some gratuity, that'd make it soo much better.
SJak,
Proofread not proof read.
Having adds show up every time "when parked or stopped for more than four seconds" sounds like another distraction for drivers on top of the bloated list of them that we already have:
- Cellphones (talk or text)
- Reading
- Eating
- Drinking
- Smoking
- Radio
- Music
- On and on and on
We can't keep doing this!
If we want to do all these things instead of concentrating on driving then we better hope those driverless cars come around soon.
this is the stupidest idea I've ever herd
The nightmarish corporate dystopia always begins with something innocuous, huh?
So tough on cell phones, yet allowing this what a hypocritical government they have there. Cali is off in lala land anymore. Had some old Russian guys I worked with tell me he had to leave Cali because their laws became more communist than that in Russia during the cold war. I just hope sanity bleeds into that state and the insanity doesn't continue to bleed over into my state. Come to think of it forcing you to advertise on your properties to keep the government in power while they strip your rights away does kinda jive with that theme.
It's great, too, that the entire reason for such a technology (an expensive little device, I should imagine) is to manipulate and abuse the provision already in place for vehicle registration. I mean, imagine a program like this: if you all agree to stick up an ad poster in the back window of your car, our state won't go bankrupt. That's what this is, beyond the tech stuff.
I'd find it terribly irritating to have to advertise companies I'm opposed to, or to panic when my plate malfunctions.
(What part of this is a good idea? Oh, right, the safety-related advantages of piping advisories to squinting-tiny displays on the backs of cars to tell people behind you what ... okay, lost it again.)
I don't buy that this could become a driving distraction, though. Most highways are already ad-supported. They've always had banner ads. Now they could have pop-up ads, too.
"...display advertisements and other messages when cars are not in motion, turning every car on the road into a moving billboard."
How can the cars be "moving billboards" when the advertisements can only display "when cars are not in motion"?