news

Emoji number plates could soon be coming to the United States

Drivers in the US state of Vermont may soon join Queensland in legalising number plates featuring emojis.


If passed, draft legislation currently before the Vermont House of Representatives could make Vermont the first American state to allow drivers to customise their plates with the digital smileys.

The bill, introduced by Democrat Rebecca White, proposes allowing motorists to choose one of six emojis to add to their plates.

The emoji will be in addition to the number they are assigned by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, or the "numerals and letters selected by the registered owner of a vehicle as a vanity plate".

It makes no mention of the six available emoji options, nor of the price associated with the custom plates.

Emoji licence plates have been available in the Australian state of Queensland since February 2019.

Queensland drivers can choose to add one of five emoji faces to their plates: a classic smiley, a 'laughing cry' face, a 'heart-eyes' face, a winking face or the sunglass-wearing emoji.

The emojis sit at the end of a sequence of five numbers and letters at maximum, with the custom plates ranging in price from $85 to $475. 

The emojis are purely decorative and not part of the vehicle's actual registration number.

According to Wired, the first emoji was designed by Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita in 1999.

Since then, emojis have developed into their own global language, with Emojipedia recording 3178 registered emojis as of late 2019.

 

Modified image based on original by Jaycarlcooper (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Susannah Guthrie

Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and two-year-old son.

Read more about Susannah GuthrieLinkIcon
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent