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Raleigh, North Carolina – Although vehicle owners in North Carolina may keep their license plate numbers as part of a new state program to automatically replace old plates, there is a problem.
As of Friday, any ordinary license plate seven years or older will be replaced when the annual vehicle registration is renewed.
Previously, drivers in North Carolina were allowed to keep their plates indefinitely, and many are over ten years old. People who needed a replacement plate had to go through a process to request one from the Motor Vehicle Division.
State lawmakers last year approved a seven-year automatic replacement program because plate numbers can be discolored over time and over time, making them difficult to read.
A spokesperson for DMV said people can keep their same license plate numbers, but after a WRAL News viewer questioned him, the agency admitted that people renewing their registration online couldn’t get the same number.
Police officer Fergione grandmother, Jacqueline Fergione, was one of the first to be told she needed a new plate. He said he always helps her renew it online.
“She had an older license plate … than she’s had the entire time she’s been here, 20 years. She’s been on three different cars,” Bobby Fergione said.
Jacqueline Fergione memorized the number, and at 84 she didn’t want to learn a new one. But Bobby Fergione said he saw no options online to keep his tag number.
“I said, ‘Let me call the DMV and ask, ‘and the lady I spoke with at DMV told me this option is only available if you have a custom tag, “he said.” So I said, ‘I don’t think I can do anything, GRandmom. ‘”
DMV spokesperson John Brockman said the agency does not offer this option on its online portal, which accounts for around 40% of renewals, because the DMV doesn’t actually want people to keep the same number.
“We would prefer that customers not use the same plate number because of the higher risk of fraud,” Brockman said in a statement. “We chose not to add it online because the cost of reproducing the new plate with the same number is three to four times more.”
The 2019 law doesn’t require people to return their old plates when they are replaced, and DMV officials fear people will pass those old plates to others if the numbers don’t change.
PPeople who renew by mail or in person will have the option to keep the same plate number without paying for a toilet plate, Brockman said.
But Bobby Fergione said the form her grandmother received in the mail was also confusing.
“I guess their intention is that they want you to tick that box, but they’re not explicitly saying to tick that box,” he said.
“I would like to see them send him a plate with the same numbers and the same registration, and I like them to make this process clearer, ”he added. I just think we’re getting conflicting information. “
DMV officials plan to replace nearly 2.5 million older regular plates in 2021. The following year, DMV will replace some 500,000 older custom and special plates.
Also from 2022, the North Carolina plaques will be digitally printed on flat metal rather than engraved on it.
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