If there was an award for "Distinguished Reporting on Lewd, Lascivious, and Generally Offensive License Plates," we're certain The Smoking Gun would be on the short list of nominees for that honor. Heck, our coverage of this genre is so well known that we were recently cited in a letter of complaint to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation concerning the sighting of a plate in Madison sporting the tag "KOOTCH."
What follows is a collection of documents regarding those thought-provoking number/letter combinations on the bumpers of America's automobiles. Obtained from various state agencies, you'll find "red lists" of banned tags, letters taking umbrage at supposedly offensive plates, official letters notifying drivers that their plate is objectionable, plate holders's passionate pleas to keep their beloved tags, and more. Finally, we make our case for the License Plate of the Year.
RED LISTS
New York's Lascivious License Plates
LETTERS OF COMPLAINT, ETC.
2001 PLATE OF THE YEAR
