Raleigh, NC – Although vehicle owners in North Carolina can maintain license plate numbers under a new state program to automatically replace old license plates, there is a problem.
As of Friday, any regular license plate aged seven or older will be replaced when the vehicle’s annual registration is renewed.
Previously, North Carolina drivers were allowed to keep their license plates indefinitely, and many are over a decade old. People who needed a replacement plate had to go through a process to order one from the Motor Vehicles Division.
Last year, state lawmakers approved a seven-year automatic replacement program because license plate numbers can fade over time and time, making them difficult to read.
A DMV spokesman said people could keep the same license plate numbers, but after a WRAL News viewer questioned this, the agency acknowledged that people who renew their online records cannot obtain the same number.
Bobby Fergione’s her grandmother, Jacqueline Fergione, was one of the first to know that she needed a new dish. He said he always helps to renew online.
“She had an older license plate … which she has had all the time she has been here, 20 years old. She has been in three different cars,” said Bobby Fergione.
Jacqueline Fergione has the number memorized and, at 84, she didn’t want to learn a new one. But Bobby Fergione said he saw no option online to keep his identification number.
“I said, ‘Let me call the DMV and ask, ‘and the lady I spoke to at DMV told me that this option is only available if you have a custom label, “he said.” So I said, ‘I don’t think there’s anything I can do, Grandmom. ‘”
DMV spokesman John Brockman said the agency is not offering this option on its online portal, which accounts for about 40 percent of renewals, because the DMV in fact, he doesn’t want people to keep the same number.
“We prefer not to have customers using the same license plate number due to the increased risk of fraud,” Brockman said in a statement. “We chose not to add it online because the cost of reproducing the new license plate with the same number is three to four times more expensive. “
The 2019 law does not require people to hand over their old dishes when they are replaced, and DMV officials fear that people will pass these old dishes on to others if the numbers do not change.
PPeople who renew by mail or in person will have the option to keep the same license plate number without paying for a personalized license plate, Brockman said.
But Bobby Fergione she said that the correspondence form her grandmother received is also confusing.
“I guess their intention is that you check this box, but they don’t say explicitly check this box,” he said.
“I would like them to send her a plaque with the same numbers and the same record, and I like them to make this process clearer, “he added.” I just think we’re getting conflicting information. “
DMV officials hope to replace some 2.5 million older regular plates in 2021. The following year, DMV will replace around 500,000 older custom and special plates.
Also from 2022, North Carolina plates will be digitally printed on plain metal, instead of stamped on it.