By Kayla Wamsley, Capital News Service
Monday, March 28, 2011
RICHMOND – Want to show your support for the James River Park System? Or tell other people “Don’t Tread on Me”?
You’ll soon be able to do that on your license plate.
The General Assembly recently authorized six new special license plates for Virginia motorists:
• “Don’t Tread on Me,” the slogan of the tea party movement
• “In God We Trust," the national motto
• A plate to raise money for Friends of the James River Park
• A similar plate to support the Blue Ridge Parkway
• A plate celebrating the centennial of Fort Belvoir
• A plate marking the bicentennial of the American War of 1812
Those plates will be added to the list of more than 200 special license plates available from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
Most, Least Popular Plates
The best-selling special license plate in 2010 in Virginia was “Wildlife Conservationist.” The least popular special plate was “United We Stand.”
Virginia has 90 plates that benefit colleges and universities, ranging from Auburn to West Virginia. In that category, Virginia Tech was the best seller: About 259,000 vehicles have Virginia Tech plates. Ferrum College had the fewest plates sold with 1,335.
For more information on special license plates, click here.
“All special plates must be introduced by a legislator and approved by the General Assembly,” said Melanie Stokes, the public relations and media manager for the DMV.
Before the DMV creates a special license plate, it must receive 350 or more prepaid applications. (Under a new state law, that minimum order will rise to 450 for future plates.)
Virginia has two kinds of special license plates: revenue-sharing plates, in which a nonprofit group shares in the proceeds, and non-revenue-sharing plates, such as “In God We Trust” and “Don’t Tread on Me.”
According to the DMV website, non-revenue-sharing plates normally have an annual fee of $10, and revenue-sharing plates cost $25.
After the sale of 1,000 plates, the DMV shares $15 of the $25 fee with the organization affiliated with a revenue-sharing special plate. So the plates generate income for groups such as Friends of the James River Park. Motorists who buy such plates can get a charitable tax deduction of up to $15.
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I say we all get 'em & take back the slogan! It irks me to no end when a new group (whatever it may be) takes up the image/cry of another & distorts it for their own cause. How LEFT of me? Well, use the "rainbow=gay rights" analogy if you need one for the RIGHT. It's not a political statement I'm making, just a comment!
Unfortunately the tea party movement has commandeered it http://tinyurl.com/6h7hp2z . and pushed for these plates. Might get one anyway, it's a pretty cool plate.
The only way this is forgivable is to realize that we don't live in an area with Revolutionary or Colonial history. Wait!
It is for cars that failed inspection - "No tread on me"
If you witness something involving cars, the first thing an officer will ask, is did you get the license plate.
The number of options in VA, coupled with the number of out-of-state plates in this area, make it tough to tell.
Really, it is that critical to drive around with your identity summed up on your back bumper?!