Starting Wednesday, Ohio motorists can finally join their peers in neighboring states and legally drive with just a single license plate — the one on their vehicles’ rear tailgates.
A new single plate, however, won’t be less expensive than two plates used to be. It’ll cost $6.50, and anyone who wishes to continue displaying a front plate as well will have to pony up $7.50 more.
Commercial tractor-trailers will be required to display a plate on the front, but not the back, where such a plate would usually be hidden between the tractor and the trailer.
Car dealers are among those strongly supporting rear-only plates on passenger vehicles.
Joe Mehling, the general manager of Dave White Chevrolet in Sylvania, said the change will make it easier to trade cars with dealers in other states.
“We swap a lot with Michigan,” Mr. Mehling said. “If we have front plates, they don't want the car. It makes it difficult. I have to pay to have the holes filled and painted on the bumper.”
Mr. Mehling said it’s a conversation that comes up “a couple dozen” times a year. It’s also difficult to sell vehicles to people who want a certain aesthetic, especially with higher-end cars.
“Try to tell someone you're going to put a $5 bracket on an $80,000 Corvette,” he said. “It used to be standard, so the brackets were molded into the bumper. Now they're all black and they all attach with a screw in the bumper. It's gotten to be an eyesore.”
Support for eliminating front plates, however, is not universal.
Legislation introduced by State Sen. Jay Hottinger (R., Newark) would have retained the front-plate requirement.
While no opposing testimony was presented, the bill did not get a committee vote, which Mr. Hottinger said was because senators knew it wouldn’t clear the Ohio House of Representatives.
“It's unfortunate,” he said. “I have become Public Enemy No. 1 for some car enthusiasts who have not taken the time to understand the great value of dual plates. Law enforcement's case has just been so convincing. I went from being ambivalent on the issue to being a staunch defender of the two plates, based solely on the overwhelming testimony of law enforcement.”
The front-plate requirement’s elimination was set in motion with the adoption last year of Ohio’s biennial transportation budget.
When Gov. Mike DeWine signed the budget into law, he pointed to a panel that was to further discuss the issue during the ensuing year, but that panel evidently never met and Mr. Hottinger now fully expects Ohio to permanently become a one-plate state.
“The people who are for the one plate tend to be car enthusiasts who don't like the aesthetics,” Mr. Hottinger said. “Some cars are not outfitted for the front plate. Some don't like drilling holes in the front bumper. All of our surrounding states have one plate.”
Besides making vehicles easier to identify out on the roads, law enforcement groups have pointed to front plates’ investigative value regarding vehicles picked up on security cameras at businesses and on mobile cameras aboard police and commercial vehicles that routinely capture plate images and dump them into databases for later review.
Such surveillance was credited with leading police to the abandoned car of Reagan Tokes, the Ohio State University senior and former Monclova Township resident who was kidnapped, robbed, raped, and murdered in 2017. The car led to the discovery of DNA evidence that identified her killer, Brian Lee Golsby, who is now serving multiple life sentences.
Front license plates have also been defended by school organizations and ride-share businesses Uber and Lyft.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn was among the law enforcement officers who attempted in vain to convince lawmakers to change their minds on this issue and retain the plate. While all of Ohio's neighbors have only one plate, a majority of states and many countries still require two.
“The excuse has been that manufacturers say it will get in the way of autonomous cars, that the front plate gets in the way,” he said. “But Texas and Cadillac have autonomous cars and they work great with front license plates. It's just been a big push by manufacturers and dealers.”
Front plates also have been a valuable tool for school-bus safety, the sheriff said, and Ohio will save only pennies for each plate not manufactured.
“If you think about a vehicle on a two-lane road not stopping for a school bus on the opposite side, the bus driver just has to look at the front license plate,” Mr. Wasylyshyn said. “Now they'll have to stick their heads out to see the back license plate, which is more difficult.”
First Published June 29, 2020, 12:00 p.m.
