![\"150](\"http:\/\/www.regplates.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/150l.jpg\" "\\"150")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe proposal is the brainchild of Gary Richard, a Bay State businessman and inventor. After reading about several high-profile kidnappings, Richard dedicated himself to using his time and skills to prevent future abductions. What does that have to do with license number plates?<\/p>\n
\u201cI set about trying to analyze the dynamics of an abduction,\u201d he said. \u201cThe common denominator is a private vehicle, and how do you identify a vehicle? The license plate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, young children and anyone with limited literacy often cannot recognize some letters and numbers, especially if they go by in a flash. Hell \u2014 most adults can barely remember their own plate numbers. Armed with studies that show symbols can ingrain themselves in the minds of toddlers for more than a week, Richard set to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf such license plates are indeed easier to memorize or recognize, this could help, for example, a victim relay a license plate to law enforcement after an incident,\u201d said Cynthia Lum, a professor of criminology and director of George Mason University\u2019s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. \u201cMemorizing a plate is difficult in a stressful situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one\u2019s empirically tested the effectiveness of the new plates, but the math shows that fewer numbers on a license plate makes even a partially remembered registration more valuable. According to Richard, just the style and color of the car with a symbol alone would narrow it down to one of 360 cars, and more information would further focus the search.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you said it was a blue SUV and \u2018Diamond 5,\u2019 it\u2019s one of about 12 cars,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The ability to quickly narrow a list of suspected vehicles helps law enforcement track down the owner of a vehicle. Although the owner of the vehicle may have had nothing whatsoever to do with the crime, it is still an important lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy connecting with the owner, the police can determine who had the vehicle at a given time, or whether the car or license plate had been stolen,\u201d Lum said.<\/p>\n
Because there\u2019s no easy way to input a star or diamond on a computer keyboard (unless you\u2019re using a Commodore 64), EZ-ID uses a small two-digit code to indicate its symbol and where it\u2019s located in the character stream. For instance, a diamond in the second position would be entered as \u201cD2.\u201d Vanity and affinity plates would stay the same, so Bostonians could keep their coveted low-number or Red Sox plates, and the addition of symbols would open up a slew of personalized plates people may be willing to pay for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hoping to make it easier for crime victims and witnesses to recall personalised number plate numbers, Massachusetts may begin handing out plates with fewer characters and a symbol in place of one digit. The proposal is the brainchild of Gary<\/p>\n