BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1453
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1453 (Price) - As Amended: May 20, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 25-0
SUBJECT : Electronic license plates
SUMMARY : Allows the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
explore the utilization of electronic license plates.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations regarding DMV's interaction
with millions of California drivers and vehicle owners each
year vis-?-vis the budget reductions, furloughs, and other
cost-saving measures being implemented to alleviate the
current and expected budget financial crisis of the state.
2)Allows 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 itself
and state.
3)Allows DMV to enter into request for proposals, memoranda of
understanding, letters of intent, or other appropriate
instruments for this purpose.
4)Allows DMV to enter into a contract with a private vendor for
the purposes of researching, developing, acquiring, and
exploring the utilization of a digital electronic license
plate.
5)Requires DMV, on or before January 1, 2013, to submit to the
Legislature a report on its investigation of the utilization
of digital electronic license plates containing all of the
following information:
a) An explanation of how digital electric license plates
could function as both a vehicle identifier and a mobile
message display unit, including all of the following:
i) Restrictions that DMV may impose upon the message
displayed on the digital electronic license plate;
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ii) The control that a registered owner may have over
the message displayed on the digital electronic license
plate;
iii) The control that a legal owner may have over the
message displayed on the digital electronic license
plate; and,
iv) Options for the driver of the vehicle to display and
to change the messages displayed on the digital
electronic license plate.
b) The effects of the use of the digital electronic license
plates on traffic safety, including, in consultation with
the California Highway Patrol (CHP), a consideration of the
onroad safety impacts of digital electronic license plates
through onroad testing of these plates authorized by the
CHP.
c) The revenues to the state that may be generated by the
use of the digital electronic license plates, if any.
d) Cost savings that may be realized by DMV through
improved efficiency in the registration of vehicles, if
any.
e) The security and reliability of the digital electronic
license plates.
f) Recommendations on the future use of digital electronic
license plates.
6)Requires the report to be financed by the private vendor as
part of the above-referenced contract.
7)Defines, for the purposes of this bill, "digital electronic
license plate" to mean a license plate that may be used
secondarily as a mobile message display unit and that complies
with statutory requirements regarding reflectorization of
license plates while in vehicle identification mode.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires DMV to issue to each motor vehicle, upon initial
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registration, two reflectorized license plates or devices to
identify the vehicle.
2)Requires each plate to display the word "California" plus the
vehicle's registration number and the year for which its
registration is valid.
3)Requires plates, other than those for motorcycles, to be
rectangular in shape, 12 inches in length and six inches in
width.
4)Requires characters on the plate to be at least 2 inches high
and 1 inches high and have at least 5/16 inch of space
between them.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis, the staff cost for the required report would be
approximately $200,000, which would be borne by the private
vendor.
COMMENTS : 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, including
advertisements for private businesses, educational institutions,
or other organizations that would enter into contracts with DMV
to display their messages on these plates. Electronic plates
would be used only on those vehicles where the owners have
agreed to use them and those owners would choose which messages
to display based on their preferences, affiliations, and perhaps
rewards from those businesses or organizations. The plate
would access messages from a "computing cloud" or other wireless
network rather than an on-board or on-plate chip.
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The author introduced this bill in order to allow DMV to work
with Smart Plate or other companies to investigate the creation
and use of this type of license plate and report to the
Legislature on that investigation. The ultimate goal is to
produce a revenue stream for both the plate manufacturers and
DMV while providing vehicle owners the opportunity to display
messages of support for organizations they favor and/or earn
rewards from commercial interests.
The bill raises a host of operational concerns, perhaps to be
addressed by the CHP's participation in the study. One is the
ability of law enforcement to identify the ownership and status
of a vehicle if the license plate is put into its advertisement
mode, either automatically or deliberately. Such identification
was, of course, the primary purpose for requiring license plates
in the first place. A second concern would be the ability of a
driver to disable the identifying numbers on the plate in an
effort to avoid detection during commission of a crime or while
going through a toll facility. Third would be the unintentional
disabling of the plates' numbers due to malfunction, accident or
vandalism. Fourth, should an electronic plate for some reason
remain in the advertising mode while the vehicle is in motion,
it would create a safety hazard by distracting the attention of
motorists following a vehicle so equipped. While each of these
issues can theoretically be addressed through technological
means, those solutions are only as sound and reliable as the
technology itself. It is likely that law enforcement agencies
would have other questions as well that might or might not be
addressed by the study envisioned by the bill.
It should also be noted that 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
would be required 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.
Finally, there is a generalized concern that in a society that
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is perceived by some to be vastly overcommericalized, this bill
represents the breaching of yet another barrier between public
and private functions.
All of these concerns aside, the bill does not by itself
establish an electronic license plate program or even mandate
that DMV study its establishment. It merely authorizes that
such a study take place.
Suggested committee amendment : This bill contains an internal
inconsistency in that it simply allows DMV to consider the
creation of digital electronic license plates, yet it requires
DMV to report on its investigation of this issue. If DMV
chooses not to consider digital plates (a choice implicitly
authorized by the bill), there would be nothing on which to base
a report. The bill should therefore be amended to make the
report requirement contingent upon the investigation actually
taking place.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Smart Plate (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093