Re: CHAT: postcodes

John Cowan wrote:


>Roger Mills scripsit:
>
>> A permanent number would certainly simplify life-- here in the US, we
have
>> to renew our plates every year, for a price of course;
>
>No, not everywhere.  In the Northeast, plates are only changed when the
>owner changes, and there is an inspection sticker on the windshield that
>changes annually.
Sorry if I wasn't totally clear. That's basically the system everywhere now,
I suspect.   I don't suppose many states give you a new physical metal plate
every year (though not too long ago that was the practice-- in Mich. and
South Dakota and many others, the colors changed every year too)....But we
do have to get an annual validating sticker (most go on a corner of the
plate), and that costs as much as a new set of plates.  $45 for a 1-inch.
square of self-stick stuff, outrageous.  (I forgot to get mine last year,
but the cop who stopped me was nice about it-- I guess he figured someone my
age was entitled to be a little forgetful.)

A few states require an emissions test, which friends in Florida find a
total inconvenience, not to say racket.  They call it the "fart test".
Judging from the number of clunkers on Florida's roads, trailing clouds of
smoke, it can't be administered too rigorously.  Trucks and busses, the
worst offenders, are exempt, of course.