California Is Trialling Bizarre Digital Number Plates

California and the city of Sacramento are trialling digital number plates that not only cost a small fortune, but, bizarrely, can also display advertising to passers-by.

The technology, which works in the same way as Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite, is hooked up to the Internet and is designed to make the processes of registering cars and changing number plates easier. We imagine that tech-savvy car criminals are laughing into their morning Cheerios.

At present the digital plates are a $699 option with participating dealerships in the West Coast state. You also have to pay a $7 per month fee. For your trouble and expenditure, you apparently also have to agree to be location-tracked and have unspecified advertising displayed on the plate when the car is parked.

Yep, you could return to your ride to find an ad for El Pollo Loco in place of your registration number. The number itself shrinks to the top corner until you start the car again. Alternatively, traffic info can be displayed, presumably telling people walking back to their own cars that there’s a jam somewhere nearby.

A maximum of 175,000 cars can be fitted with the new plates, but we have to admit it all seems a bit of a waste of money. Traffic apps and sat-navs can already warn of congestion, and these plates don’t even look difficult to steal. The UK’s Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) says it has no plans to even look at the scheme.

Source: Autocar