BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1453|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1453
Author: Price (D), et al
Amended: 5/20/10
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/20/10
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Kehoe,
Oropeza, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman, Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 5/17/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Alquist, Denham, Leno, Walters, Wolk,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Corbett, Price
SUBJECT : Digital electronic license plates
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill permits the Department of Motor
Vehicles to investigate and develop a plan for the use of
digital electronic license plates in California, which
allows the plates to function both as license plates and
venues for advertising or other messages.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) to issue to each vehicle upon initial
registration two reflectorized license plates or devices to
identify the vehicle. Existing law prescribes the
appearance of these plates as follows:
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1. Each plate must display the word "California" plus the
vehicle's registration number and the year for which its
registration is valid.
2. Plates, other than those for motorcycles, must be
rectangular in shape, 12 inches in length and six inches
in width.
3. Characters on the plate must be at least two and
one-forth inches high and one and one-forth inches high
and have at least five-sixteenth inch of space between
them.
Existing law prohibits DMV from letting a contract to any
nongovernmental entity for purposes of manufacturing
license plates.
This bill authorizes DMV to consider the use and
development of existing or emerging technologies for the
creation of a digital electronic license plate for the
purpose of generating revenue for DMV and the state.
Specifically, this bill:
1. Defines "digital electronic license plate" as a license
plate that may be used secondarily as a mobile message
display unit and that complies with existing law above
on the appearance of license plates.
2. Authorizes DMV to issue requests for proposals,
memoranda of understanding, letters of intent, contracts
with private vendors, and other instruments it deems
appropriate to research, develop, report, acquire,
explore the use of, and evaluate digital electronic
plates. The contract must provide that the private
vendor pay for all the costs related to the report and
any additional related costs identified by DMV.
3. Requires DMV to submit to the Legislature a report by
January 1, 2013 on its investigation of the utilization
of digital electronic license plates. The report shall
include:
A. An explanation of how these plates could
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function as both vehicle identifiers and mobile
message display units with details on what
restrictions DMV could impose on the messages
displayed, and options for the driver to change
messages.
B. Information on the traffic safety effects of
using these plates, which may be considered in
consultation with the California Highway Patrol
(CHP) through on-road testing of these plates as
authorized by CHP.
C. Estimates of the revenues that the plates could
generate and the cost savings in vehicle
registration practices available with digital
electronic plates.
D. Information on the security and reliability of
these plates.
E. Recommendations on the future use of these
plates.
Background
Digital electronic license plates look and function like a
computer screen that displays a facsimile of a license
plate, but is capable of displaying other images. At least
one company, Smart Plate, is in the process of developing
such a plate but has yet to produce these plates for
demonstration or other purposes.
Smart Plate indicates it holds a patent on its digital
electronic license plate, which would take on the size and
appearance of a standard California license plate (i.e., a
12" by 6" white, reflectorized rectangle with blue
characters and "California" in red across the top) when a
vehicle is moving. Once a vehicle comes to a stop for four
seconds or longer, such as at a stoplight or in a traffic
jam, the image on the plate would be replaced with a
scrolling set of messages that the driver selects from a
menu of options, including advertisements for private
businesses, educational institutions, or other
organizations that would enter into contracts with DMV to
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display their messages on these plates. Vehicle owners
could choose which messages to display based on their
preferences, affiliations, and perhaps rewards from those
businesses or organizations. In addition, a driver would be
able to control which messages actually display when he or
she is driving via an on-dash control system. The plate
accesses messages from a computing cloud or other wireless
network rather than an on-board or on-plate chip.
In a 2004 federal court decision, Women's Resource Network
v. Gourley, E.D. Cal 2004, F.Supp.2d, 2004 U.S. Dist., the
court declared California's special interest license plates
unconstitutional because they violate the First Amendment
right to freedom of speech. The court specifically
objected to the state "picking and choosing" special
license plates that private organizations propose, in
essence promoting the message of some organizations while
denying this right to others. It is likely, therefore,
that DMV needs to accept any non-obscene message from any
organization that wants to advertise or promote itself
through the plates this bill contemplates, should they ever
enter general use.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/20/10)
Smart Plate
JJA:do 5/10/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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