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Comment by Phillips126 | Hacker News Reader

Wow that is an awful design for visibility.

As a New York resident I noticed when the plates changed in 2010 I personally found them harder to read [0]. The white background with dark letters/numbers used from 2001-2010 seemed like the better option... I wonder what law enforcement thought of the change. Seems they are about to change again to something with better contrast starting April 2020 [1].

Also an interesting side note I've noticed that a lot of the new license plates are peeling causing them to look entirely metallic. I see NY dropped their contract with 3M likely due to this issue [2].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of...

[1] - https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/alb...

[2] - https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/08/new-york-ends-contract...

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I don't think that the police had a problem with the black-on-orange color scheme. It worked fine for New York for what seemed like forever back in the 70's.

As for peeling paint, that's a problem that West Virginia has in the early 90's, too. The urban legend was that it was caused by the prisoners who made the plates peeing in the paint.

That is likely true and perhaps it is just my vision. I just find the contrast to be worse leading to me personally having a harder time reading it in moving-vehicle conditions.

All NY license plates are made in the Auburn Correctional Facility. Had they been made in multiple locations it would be interesting to see if all of the problems were stemming from a single source or if it is an issue with materials. That is an interesting urban legend.

it all went down hill when license plates became a money making proposition to the states. from all the special interest plates and college plates it is just too much.

then comes the fun in my state where EV plates come with a penalty, even higher fees on top of what I pay for yearly renewals hence I keep my Veterans plate.

Remember New York is where police or rather NYPD will intentionally bend or deface their license plates:

https://mobile.twitter.com/placardabuse/status/1229933601464...

https://mobile.twitter.com/placardabuse/status/1229276273106...

...why? Is it just to prevent them from being read? Or is there something symbolic about it?

There are also a lot of people putting a coating over the numbers to make them not reflective and unable to be read by red light cameras and other automated means.

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