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| - In much of the world, national or local governments fund public roadways and highways, in part, by charging an annual fee to every vehicle owner. To prove the vehicle owners have paid the fee, a metal plate with a unique identification is affixed to the rear or front bumper (often both) of the vehicle (this also gives a useful way of identifying each vehicle). Usually, the identification is a short string of random or semi-random figures, letters or both. Sometimes, the first few or last few digits may identify the sub-region where the car is registered, but usually the digits are assigned sequentially.
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| abstract
| - In much of the world, national or local governments fund public roadways and highways, in part, by charging an annual fee to every vehicle owner. To prove the vehicle owners have paid the fee, a metal plate with a unique identification is affixed to the rear or front bumper (often both) of the vehicle (this also gives a useful way of identifying each vehicle). Usually, the identification is a short string of random or semi-random figures, letters or both. Sometimes, the first few or last few digits may identify the sub-region where the car is registered, but usually the digits are assigned sequentially. However, always eager to express their individuality or the depth of their pocketbooks, some vehicle owners want to have cooler license plates than everyone else. Equally eager to charge rich idiots more money, most governmental units let them order custom plates, for a fee. As a result, many jurisdictions that issue license plates will, for an extra fee, allow you to choose the alphanumeric string on your license plate, rather than assigning you a random sequence of letters and figures. Outright profanity is usually banned, although some drivers manage to sneak things like PHA Q through the cracks. Writers and production designers will often include a vanity license plate as visual shorthand for the personality of the car's owner. A Corrupt Corporate Executive may have BIG BOSS on his BMW or Lexus. A Jerk Jock may have UR MY FAN or BEST QB. Rich bastards in general are likely to have a Cool Car with a plate along the lines of MY TOY. Heck, the Cool Car in general almost certainly has a vanity plate of some sort. For obscenely rich characters, '[Name of character] 1', '2', '3', and so on is also popular, as it gives the character a chance to bring attention to the fact that he has several cars, and has to keep them numbered to keep track of them. Any character with such a plate can generally be assumed to be a total dick. Of course, this trope is often Truth in Television. It inspired Wink Martindale to create the Game Show Bumper Stumpers for the USA Network. This trope is not to be confused with Vanity Plate, which was named after the same real-world phenomenon. Different cultural reactions to these kinds of plates come from how much they cost. In the USA, this is seen as "mostly harmless" (if a mite gauche) since most vanity plates cost within the range of $25 to $50 extra (with extreme ends of $10 in Virginia and $100 in Minnesota). One of the reasons Top Gear et al. are so dismissive of vanity license plates is that they cost more than 10 times as much across the pond. Not only are you an attention-seeking bore, but you also have more money than is good for you. Examples of Vanity License Plate include:
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