License plates are issued in the U.S. state of Ohio for several types of vehicles by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, part of the Department of Public Safety. Most types of plates are issued in pairs, to be displayed in the front and rear of the vehicle. They are made of galvanized steel and manufactured by inmates at Ohio Penal Industries at the Lebanon Correctional Institution. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles issues a new license plate design about every five years, or with each new administration in the state government.
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History
On May 19, 1902, Cleveland became one of the first cities in the country to require motorists to display government-issued registration numbers on their vehicles. In the following years, various local governments in Ohio issued standard metal plates of varying design or numerals (to be mounted on a dark background), including:
In 1906, the state attempted to take over auto registration under the Ward Automobile Law, but litigation delayed the program until the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of the law. The Ohio Secretary of State's Automobile Division, precursor to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, was established in 1907. The Ward Law went into effect on June 11, 1908, but the Automobile Division did not begin issuing plates for another 30 days due to a manufacturing defect. The first state vehicle registration was issued to Cincinnati resident Thomas B. Paxton, Jr., for his Franklin automobile. Locally issued and owner-provided license plates were phased out by 1909 for automobiles, but local plates continued to be used for motorcycles until 1914. One effect of the Ward Law was to eliminate a significant revenue stream for cities like Cincinnati, which took in about $5,000 a year (equivalent to $136,000 today) from auto registrations.
Various Ohio license plate designs from 1908 to 1921 used distinctive monograms instead of a fully spelled-out state name.
Passenger plates have always been issued in pairs with the exception of 1944-46, when only rear plates were issued due to metal conservation for World War II. Like many other states, Ohio issued single-year plates until the 1970s, except in 1943 and 1952 when windshield stickers were issued to revalidate the previous year's plates (due to metal conservation for World War II and the Korean War respectively). In 1953, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles commemorated the state's sesquicentennial by issuing a special front plate bearing the state shape and the word "sesqui-centennial" [sic] instead of the passenger serial, which was carried only on the rear plate. The 1973 plate was the last single-year plate; the 1974 plate was revalidated for 1975 with a sticker placed at the bottom right corner. The first undated, multi-year plate was issued in 1976, while staggered registration was introduced in 1979.
From 1935 through 1979, serials were allocated in blocks to each of the state's 88 counties. Serials were originally up to five characters in length and featured one or two letters. Increased demand resulted in the introduction of six-character serials in 1949, followed by all-numeric serials in 1962. The scheme was finally abandoned in 1980.
Since 1983, plates have carried the county of issuance on a sticker. Originally, this was a long sticker centered at the bottom of the plate, displaying the county name. In 1992, the state introduced a numerical county-coding scheme (see the County Coding section below), with the county number being displayed on a red sticker at the bottom left corner of the plate; this scheme was initially used only on specialty plates before being adopted on standard passenger plates when the Bicentennial base was introduced in October 2001.
In 1956, the U.S. states and Canadian provinces came to an agreement with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Automobile Manufacturers Association and the National Safety Council that standardized the size for license plates for vehicles (except those for motorcycles) at 6 inches (15 cm) in height by 12 inches (30 cm) in width, with standardized mounting holes. The 1956 (dated 1957) issue was the first Ohio license plate that fully complied with these standards: the state had been issuing plates 6 inches in height by 12 inches in width since 1926, and all plates of the 1952 (dated 1953) and 1955 (dated 1956) issues were to these dimensions, but none had had standard mounting holes.
In 1967, the state began issuing special plates to DUI offenders with limited driving privileges. Judges in Ohio, however, rarely issued them until a 2004 state law made it mandatory for all DUI offenders with limited driving privileges to have them.
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Passenger baseplates
1908 to 1973
1974 to present
All Ohio passenger plates issued since August 1996 are valid for display today, provided they have been continuously registered.
Alternative passenger plates
Non-passenger plates
From 1976 until 1996, license plates for pickup trucks and other light truck-related vehicles (SUVs and conversion vans aside) were issued truck plates that said "Non Comm" (for "non-commercial truck") while semi-trucks were issued plates that said "Commercial". Since 1996, however, the more consumer-oriented truck plates now say "Truck," instead of "Non-Comm."
Vehicles purchased from a dealership are given a 30-Day Temporary Tag. The paper tag is filled out by hand. Since March 2001, it has featured a hologram.
County coding
Ohio uses a numerical county-coding scheme to indicate the county of registration. The scheme assigns a two-digit number to each of the state's 88 counties in alphabetical order, beginning with 01 for Adams County and ending with 88 for Wyandot County.
The county number is displayed on red stickers placed on the lower left corner of both the front and rear plates. The stickers also display the county name, in small print below the number.
List of county numbers
Reserved series
On recent seven-character baseplates, the state has reserved certain letter series to be issued in coordination with specific car dealerships or leasing agencies.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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