New Ont. licence plate an urban fiasco

Shot in a dark corner of a parking lot.

The CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reports "Ontario's new licence plates (are) 'virtually unreadable' at night. . . . A lot of folks agree. I know. Many of my friends have complained about the new provincial plates.

And yet, when I went out to take pictures of the "unreadable" plates, all my images were rather clear. Flash, dark parking lot at night, bright parking lot at night: all pictures in all situations were legible.

I've worked at two newspapers and once was the organizer of an annual photojournalism seminar. I know all too well how newspapers love a good story. I wondered how many journalists  actually went out and inspected the plates in use.

I also wondered how many journalists contacted folk in other regions who have also had to deal with problem plates. And plates can be a problem and not just in Ontario.

The same plate shot with an on-camera flash.

Modern reflective materials can, in the right situation, reflect too much light. The strong resulting glare can obliterate the lettering on a licence plate.

I'm sure the plates have problems and I'm sure 3M is working on a solution. As much as I detest the present provincial government, I don't think they can be faulted.

The Globe and Mail reported, "OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said that the OPP tested the new plates in three different lighting conditions with automated licence plate readers, which are used in Amber Alert child abduction cases. The provincial police force publicly declared last month that there were no visibility problems with the new blue-on-blue plates.

There's a story here but it is not the neat, clean one being reported in some newspapers and on television. As much as I dislike the Premier Doug Ford government, I think we can cut him some slack with this brouhaha. 

The last plates were not all the great either. You do recall the peeling paint issue, right? 


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1. Found on the Net: In some states, defective manufacturing of plates has been a problem. New York’s governor last year ordered that state’s DMV to replace peeling laminate on some older plates for free, when it became apparent that defective materials or workmanship was causing a rash of delaminations. A few years ago, Illinois recalled 1.1 million license plates because their reflective coating was bubbling and peeling.

2. One interesting claim I came across, but have been unable to substantiate, is that the new, flat licence plates are more environmentally friendly. The process requires the use of fewer nasty chemicals. Unfortunately, flat surfaces are more prone to glare, one of the problems that have done in the new Ontario plates.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/back-seat-driver/article28724602.html#storylink=cp