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Panel hears push for EZ ID license-plate symbols and other plate reforms to boost identification
Summary
Supporters urged the committee to adopt S.2451 (EZ ID), a program adding easily recognizable symbols to plates to help witnesses and law enforcement, and discussed related proposals on duplicate plates, distributor plates, and tinted plate covers; proponents cited endorsements from police groups and public-safety advocates.
Witnesses told the Joint Committee on Transportation that license-plate design can be changed to help witnesses and law enforcement identify vehicles more quickly.
Gary Richard and Jay Gardner urged favorable consideration of S.2451, the EZ ID bill, which would incorporate simple, universally recognizable symbols (for example, a star or diamond) into registration plates to improve human recognition. Gary Richard said a New England College of Optometry pilot showed 96% retention for a symbol and that adding a symbol plus two alphanumeric characters could reduce vehicle matches from thousands to a dozen in some scenarios. Jay Gardner, representing the Molly Bish Center, said "the key to abduction is the vehicle" and testified the program had broad endorsements including the District Attorneys Association and New England Chiefs of Police.
Other plate-related testimony addressed duplicate-plate problems and specialty-plate recognition (H.3747) and adding motor vehicle distributors to the list of businesses eligible for general registration plates (H.3791); Subaru of New England requested inclusion of distributors to allow demonstrator vehicles to receive general plates in-state. Representative Ayers asked the committee to back a bill banning tinted license-plate covers, citing lost toll revenue and enforcement problems in other states.
Sponsors and witnesses asked the committee to consider these measures to improve eyewitness identification, reduce out-of-state tolling errors, and resolve registration conflicts caused by nonstandard plate designs. The committee accepted testimony and written submissions; no votes were taken at this hearing.
