Regarding the controversy about the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles processing “vanity” license plates with potentially offensive messages, I have a modest proposal: Just eliminate vanity plates altogether.
Why should the state of Utah sponsor any personal messages, especially political ones? Eliminating vanity plates creates no First Amendment problem because the policy would be content neutral, indeed, more neutral than a system relying on the discretion of individual state officials.
Anyone who wants to use their vehicle to make a political statement can use that old favorite, the bumper sticker. State officials would be freed from the burden of vetting proposed language.
Does the $58 fee for vanity plates generate significant net revenues considering additional labor costs to DMV? Even if that’s an issue, based on my quick calculation, it could be offset by increasing all vehicle fees by less than $5 per vehicle.
Let’s get the state out of the business of facilitating personal political messages.
Bob Adler, Salt Lake City
