Banned Personalized License Plates

In October 2010, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission dispatched a letter [PDF] to a resident who had received a personalized license plate that read 33MTA3. The letter informed the driver that the plate was issued in error and could not be granted due to the fact it violated Title 39, which stipulates that a vanity plate “offensive to good taste or decency in any language” is prohibited.

If you’re wondering how 33MTA3 might be considered offensive, look at it in a mirror.

Personalized license plates are a bane of each state's motor vehicle division, as drivers can sometimes request a combination of letters and numbers that might prove problematic for the reasons described above. The resource site GovernmentAttic.org wrote to state offices in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, and New York to get some examples of the types of vulgar plates prohibited by law, and you can take a look at the highlights below. (If you notice that common expletives or slurs are omitted, rest assured they’re part of the list. We’re not going to repeat them here.)