License Plate Changes Start This Month

WETHERSFIELD — On January 1 the Department of Motor Vehicles began issuing newly designed and highly reflective license plates which will be required for most vehicles in the state as part of an initiative to enhance public safety.

The new plates will be issued through the state’s Plate Safety Program, which will start in January with new registrations and in September for vehicle owners with registration renewals. Legislation enacted earlier this year mandated the program in which 2.5 million existing plates will be replaced during the next two years. Except for specialty and special interest plates, all other types of marker plates will be changed to a gradient blue background with blue lettering.

“This is the first wide-scale change in many years. We’re excited to start it. It provides many safety aspects, in addition to assisting with registration enforcement,” said Commissioner Jose O. Salinas of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The plates will have no additional costs to vehicle owners beyond the usual registration fees, which depend on the classification (such as passenger, combination, commercial, motorcycle) of plate obtained. For passenger and most other types of registrations, each person will be issued two plates, with one required on the front and one on the back of the vehicle. Those receiving new plates when renewing their registrations will retain their same marker numbers and letters.

An example of some of the plates can be seen at the DMV Internet homepage at http://dmvct.org.

Changing the plates is the result of a recommendation of a special legislative task force that reviewed DMV’s current program. It found that public safety could be enhanced. One aspect focused on boosting registration compliance by forcing off the road cars illegally driven with unregistered or expired marker plates, or plates issued by other states. Someone using old plates would be easily seen and obtaining a new one would require the vehicle owner to register legally.

Registration is important for many public safety reasons, including the tracking of vehicles used in crimes and the requirement for insurance to safeguard financial payments in instances of accidents with vehicles.

“We consider compliance with our registration laws important for many reasons. Since people are required to register their vehicles, then we should be working to see that everyone complies with the law,” Commissioner Salinas said.

Another aspect of public safety centered on the fully reflectorized plates being easier to spot on cars, making the marker numbers and letters easy for police to read. These kind of plates help motorists who may be stopped on the roadside to be seen easier. The plates illuminate more than 700 percent  better compared to the current dark blue standard issue plates the DMV uses now.

The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association has supported the replacement program. Its president-elect, Chief Anthony J. Salvatore of Cromwell, was chairman of the special legislative task force that suggested the changes.

“This program is definitely in the interest of the motoring public. It will help in many ways and it will also get many of those faded and illegible markers plates off the road,” he said, adding that the two-plate requirement has long been favored by the state’s police chiefs and this will help officers in clearly identifying vehicles.

Most registrations in Connecticut now have the dark blue marker plate, with white lettering. With the exception of a change in the mid-1970s, the state has used that color combination in passenger and other kinds of registrations since 1957. The highly reflectorized plates came into use in 1992 with the introduction of specialty plates, beginning with the Long Island Sound plate.

As more specialty plates developed, each had the consistent theme of a gradient blue background. Yet, the DMV issues more passenger, truck and combination plates than specialty markers, so an inconsistency in plate design and recognition for police developed.

The new program eliminates that disparity by making the gradient blue background consistent on nearly all marker plates the DMV issues. The only exceptions will be plates issued to dealers, repairers and recyclers (junk yards) and for Early American or antique cars.

Dealers, repairers and recyclers will have a silver reflective background with red opaque lettering. This series will continue to have the expiration month stamped in the upper left corner and the expiration year in the upper right corner of each plate. These plates will bear expiration dates of January 2002 through December of 2003. Issuance to these businesses will begin on January 1. The “Early American” (antique) registration plate will continue to have a white background with black lettering.