Wisconsin group seeks to prevent number plates censorship
A lawsuit filed in Wisconsin, USA seeks to prevent the state's Department of Transport from banning or rejecting personalised vanity plate applications. At present, like many places in the USA and in other countries, Wisconsin declines applications for number plates that are deemed inappropriate.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative organisation, filed the challenge this week in the Western District U.S. District Court. The group described the Department of Transport's decisions regarding personalised plate applications as "subjective and arbitrary", and claimed that decisions refusing applications were in violation of The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The First Amendment protects American citizens' freedom of speech.
An estimated quarter of a million Wisconsin drivers use personal number plates. The Department of Transport's Division of Motor Vehicles may disallow license plate applications due to vulgar language, gang references or other offensive or harmful messages. In 2023, the Wisconsin DMV declined around 350 applications out of 27,000.
The department declined to comment on "ongoing litigation".
Fluorescent green number plates hit luxury car sales in South Korea
The South Korean government has been accused of causing a decline in luxury car sales after it introduced rules forcing company cars worth more than £46,000 to display fluorescent green number plates. Apparently the measure is intended to combat tax evasion by deterring people from using company cars for personal journeys.
A reported 70+ per cent of luxury cars from brands like Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce purchased in South Korea in 2023 were bought by corporations. Since the introduction of green number plates, in January, the number of these cars costing more than £46,000 bought as company cars has fallen by 27 per cent.
South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, “We consulted the public, experts and the industry. They raised the issues of personal use and tax evasion of corporate vehicles so the new licence has been adopted to address these problems.”
Car manufacturers and dealers remain concerned as sales drop.
15 arrests in Taiwan fake plate crackdown
A suspected middleman and 14 buyers were arrested as authorities swooped to foil the widespread falsification of number plates in the country. In addition to the arrests, 12 vehicles were found to have fake plates and were consequently seized. The operation took place in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Kaohsiung, and Changhua and Chiayi counties.
The use of fake number plates in Taiwan, become a big problem, with cases from January to July increasing to 450 compared to just 281 for the whole of 2023.
Faking number plates is an offence under Article 212 of the Criminal Code and the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act. Penalties include up to a year in prison and fines up to the equivalent of £300.
