6 ms·

I have a family member who's license plate started with "&". The DMV accepts it, plates were ordered online fine, but police systems can't handle it apparently,

I have a family member who's license plate started with "&". The DMV accepts it, plates were ordered online fine, but police systems can't handle it apparently, to my family members ultimate discomfort. I commonly joke it probably gets the individual out of automated tickers for speeding and red lights, but when an officer pulls them over we sometimes need to explain that the "&" is dropped in the system (or so we've been told) and that seems to clear up issues

vinay427 7y ago
Any word on whether the plate without the preceding '&' is in circulation? I'd be curious if your records in the police systems would be merged with the records of the owner of that plate.
- toast0 7y ago
  The rules for california are the special symbols (which don't include &) are non-significant. Everything but the plate itself ignores them. Washington doesn't have special symbols, but does have an optional dash, which is also not significant.
  - netsharc 7y ago
    I guess it doesn't happen a lot, but they'd have a crazy time if they had to deal with Arabic license plates..
reaperducer 7y ago
I sometimes see California tags with a heart character in them. Does anyone know if those considered part of the number, or are they just ignored as decoration?
- tdiggity 7y ago
  They're a special vanity style plate in CA. They probably just are ignored/not entered when searching. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/online/elp/elp https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/online/elp/elp
- java-man 7y ago
  I recall the heart and plus symbols are being ignored in the system.
paulborza 7y ago
Looks like you can't have the character '&' on a personalized license plate in WA: https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon/_/ https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon/_/
- chipperyman573 7y ago
  That link redirects to the DOL homepage.
  - paulborza 7y ago
    Thanks for letting me know. Here's the proper link: https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon?Link=PersonalizedPlate https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon?Link=Persona...
    - dwyerm 7y ago
      Just out of curiosity, how do you think you missed the rest of the URL? I have a suspicion that the trend towards browsers being 'helpful' with the URL field is contributing to mistakes like these.
gaucheph 7y ago
Would this be an example of a bug that could have been detected with contract-style testing? https://martinfowler.com/bliki/ContractTest.html https://martinfowler.com/bliki/ContractTest.html
kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
I had a standard 8-digit Indiana TK series truck plate which would get flagged as "unregistered" by the broken ALPR systems in other states.
olyjohn 7y ago
In Washington State, you can register period-correct plates for your car. The problem is that you can't register the actual digits that are printed on the plate. The cops and cameras can't pull up your information, and you get stopped and questioned all the time. Explaining how the plates work to the Police gets pretty tiring.
pedrovhb 7y ago
Well, in their credit, they're the ones whose system won't go down from an XSS payload on a plate.

vinay427 7y ago

Any word on whether the plate without the preceding '&' is in circulation? I'd be curious if your records in the police systems would be merged with the records of the owner of that plate.

toast0 7y ago
The rules for california are the special symbols (which don't include &) are non-significant. Everything but the plate itself ignores them. Washington doesn't have special symbols, but does have an optional dash, which is also not significant.
- netsharc 7y ago
  I guess it doesn't happen a lot, but they'd have a crazy time if they had to deal with Arabic license plates..

reaperducer 7y ago

I sometimes see California tags with a heart character in them. Does anyone know if those considered part of the number, or are they just ignored as decoration?

tdiggity 7y ago
They're a special vanity style plate in CA. They probably just are ignored/not entered when searching. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/online/elp/elp https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/online/elp/elp
java-man 7y ago
I recall the heart and plus symbols are being ignored in the system.

paulborza 7y ago

Looks like you can't have the character '&' on a personalized license plate in WA: https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon/_/ https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon/_/

chipperyman573 7y ago
That link redirects to the DOL homepage.
- paulborza 7y ago
  Thanks for letting me know. Here's the proper link: https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon?Link=PersonalizedPlate https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon?Link=Persona...
  - dwyerm 7y ago
    Just out of curiosity, how do you think you missed the rest of the URL? I have a suspicion that the trend towards browsers being 'helpful' with the URL field is contributing to mistakes like these.

gaucheph 7y ago

Would this be an example of a bug that could have been detected with contract-style testing? https://martinfowler.com/bliki/ContractTest.html https://martinfowler.com/bliki/ContractTest.html

kevin_thibedeau 7y ago

I had a standard 8-digit Indiana TK series truck plate which would get flagged as "unregistered" by the broken ALPR systems in other states.

olyjohn 7y ago

In Washington State, you can register period-correct plates for your car. The problem is that you can't register the actual digits that are printed on the plate. The cops and cameras can't pull up your information, and you get stopped and questioned all the time. Explaining how the plates work to the Police gets pretty tiring.

pedrovhb 7y ago

Well, in their credit, they're the ones whose system won't go down from an XSS payload on a plate.