When you buy a car, obtaining a license plate is mandatory. Sometimes, car dealerships handle this process with the DMV to ensure the car is properly registered.
While many people are content with a random combination of letters and numbers, others prefer customized vanity plates. These personalized plates can feature nearly any name, phrase, or word the owner desires, but there are specific guidelines that must be followed.
If a desired plate combination is already taken, the DMV will deny the request. Additionally, if a requested plate is deemed offensive, the request will be rejected. At least, that’s how the system is supposed to work.
Matt Pacenza, an English teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah, recently encountered a vanity license plate he found extremely offensive.
Reflecting on the incident, Pacenza told The Salt Lake Tribune: “It jumped out at me because of how aggressive and confrontational and political the message was. I’m used to personalized plates being whimsical or playful or personal: GOUTES or DOGMAMA or SKILOVE or something. This felt significantly different.”
Disturbed by the plate, Pacenza took a picture and posted it on Facebook and Twitter. He wrote: “Hey @utahdld, how does this plate I just saw not violate your guidelines?”
The tweet caught the attention of Senator Daniel Thatcher, who wrote on X: “Thank you for highlighting this. I’ve reached out to DLD. I’ll let you know when I have an answer.”
Thatcher later provided an update, explaining why he thought the license plate shouldn’t have been approved.
A final update from Thatcher revealed that the DMV was currently investigating the plate, saying: “I think we win this one.”