Airports And License Plates: A Twofold Requirement?

Do airports require two license plates? This question likely refers to the requirement for vehicles to display two license plates, one on the front and one on the rear, which is mandated by some states in the US. The answer to this query is dependent on the specific airport's location and the laws of the state in which it resides. While some states, such as California, New York, and Texas, require two license plates, others, like Florida, Arizona, and Delaware, only mandate a rear plate. This variation in regulations is influenced by factors such as public safety, law enforcement needs, and technological advancements, with states prioritizing either enhanced vehicle identification or cost-effectiveness and aesthetic considerations.

States that require two license plates

While airports do not require two license plates, 31 states in the US do. These include Washington D.C. and 29 other states.

The following is a list of states that require two license plates:

• Alaska
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Illinois
• Massachusetts
• Maine
• Missouri
• North Dakota
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• Nevada
• New York
• Oregon
• Utah
• Vermont
• Wisconsin

The remaining 19 states only require a single rear plate. These are:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• West Virginia

Enhanced vehicle identification for law enforcement

In the United States, 31 states mandate that vehicles have front and rear license plates, while the remaining 19 states only require a rear license plate. This discrepancy reflects varying regional legal traditions and priorities, with some states prioritizing individual freedom and aesthetic preferences over law enforcement efficiency and state revenue.

Having two license plates can aid law enforcement with vehicle identification, making it easier to identify vehicles involved in crimes or accidents, especially when only the front or rear of the vehicle is visible. This enhanced vehicle identification assists in various law enforcement tasks, such as traffic violation monitoring, toll collection, and surveillance. For example, in Colorado, a two-plate state, one-third of the revenue collected on the E-470 tollway around the Denver area, $23 million, came from capturing information from front license plates.

Additionally, two license plates make it easier to photograph and ticket drivers who run stop signs and red lights, don't pay tolls, or leave unattended parking lots without paying. Linking automatic license plate readers to databases also makes it easier to track down offenders electronically. This not only improves efficiency but also enhances community safety by increasing the chances of locating and recovering stolen vehicles and identifying vehicles involved in serious crimes.

Furthermore, license plates aid in uniformity and standardization in vehicle identification across different jurisdictions. They also help with toll and traffic management, as automated systems like toll collection and red-light cameras rely on license plate recognition, and front plates increase accuracy and efficiency.

Improved traffic violation monitoring

Traffic violations are a common occurrence, and with the ever-increasing traffic density on roads, effective monitoring and detection systems are crucial to ensure road safety and prevent accidents. Here are some ways to improve traffic violation monitoring:

• Utilize advanced technology: Leveraging advanced technologies such as image processing, computer vision, and deep learning can significantly enhance traffic monitoring and violation detection. These systems can be integrated with law enforcement to enable real-time violation detection and penalty imposition. For example, the YOLOv3 and SORT algorithms have proven effective in detecting violations like overspeeding, wrong-way driving, and driving without a helmet.
• Implement video content analytics: Video surveillance combined with video intelligence software can be a powerful tool for traffic violation monitoring. This technology, powered by deep learning and artificial intelligence, enables complex object extraction, recognition, classification, and indexing. It allows operators to conduct fast, filtered searches across multiple cameras based on various parameters such as object characteristics, size, colour, direction, and speed.
• Enhance license plate recognition (LPR): LPR technology plays a crucial role in traffic violation detection and tracking violators. By detecting and identifying license plates from surveillance cameras, law enforcement can easily search for and locate traffic violators, even with partial license plate information. LPR can also be used to calculate vehicle speed and track speed limit violations.
• Improve data aggregation and analysis: Aggregating and analysing long-term traffic data can help law enforcement identify patterns and trends in traffic and parking violations. This enables police departments to make data-driven decisions about resource allocation, signage changes, and officer deployment, ultimately enhancing public safety for all road users.
• Facilitate data sharing and collaboration: Sharing traffic violation data across different jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies can help create a more comprehensive view of traffic violations and enable more effective enforcement. This collaboration can lead to the development of standardised protocols and technologies for violation detection and enforcement.
• Embrace automation: Automating certain aspects of traffic violation monitoring can improve efficiency and accuracy. For example, automatic number plate recognition systems can be linked to databases, enabling electronic tracking of scofflaws, reducing the need for manual image review. Additionally, automated systems can be used to monitor and enforce speed limits, reducing the reliance on manual speed checks.

By implementing these strategies and embracing technological advancements, traffic violation monitoring can become more efficient, accurate, and proactive, ultimately improving road safety and reducing accidents.

Aid in recovering stolen vehicles

Having two license plates on a vehicle can aid in recovering stolen vehicles. This is because having two plates increases the chances of recovery. With a front and rear plate, law enforcement can spot a stolen car from more than one angle, whether it's parked or on the road. This is especially useful in densely populated areas or high-traffic zones.

The use of two license plates allows for greater visibility, helping other drivers recognise and report vehicles in the event of an accident or emergency. This also helps law enforcement officers to identify vehicles more efficiently, allowing them to spot vehicles approaching from the front or retreating from the rear. This makes it easier to identify stolen cars, track suspects, or identify vehicles involved in hit-and-run incidents.

Additionally, modern road systems and automated systems, such as toll booths and parking systems, rely on advanced technology like automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) to function efficiently. ALPR technology is also used by law enforcement to recover stolen vehicles and license plates. For these systems to work effectively, license plates need to be visible from both the front and rear of the vehicle.

Support for automated systems

Automated license plate recognition (ALPR) systems are being increasingly adopted by law enforcement agencies worldwide to enhance their enforcement and investigative capabilities, collect relevant data, and speed up the process of comparing vehicle license plates with lists of stolen, wanted, or otherwise suspicious vehicles. These systems can be particularly useful at airports, maritime ports, and other large sites with heavy vehicle traffic.

ALPR technology uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates and create vehicle location data. It can employ existing closed-circuit television, road-rule enforcement cameras, or specially designed cameras. The software uses a series of image manipulation techniques to detect, normalize, and enhance the image of the number plate, and then uses optical character recognition (OCR) to extract the alphanumeric characters of the license plate.

ALPR systems generally consist of a high-speed camera with an infrared filter or two cameras—a high-resolution digital camera and an infrared camera—to capture images of license plates; a processor capable of performing optical character recognition to transform the image of the plate into alphanumeric characters; application software to compare the transformed license plate characters to databases of license plates of interest; and a user interface to display the images captured, the results of the OCR transformation, and an alert capability to notify operators when a plate matching an agency’s “hot list” is observed.

ALPR systems can be used to monitor the travel patterns and hotspots in and around a community or facility, identify vehicle behaviors that could indicate a crime or terrorist attack, and search for vehicles by plate, vehicle attributes, date and time, and location. This technology can be particularly useful for airports in identifying suspicious vehicles and enhancing community safety through citywide surveillance.

One example of an ALPR system in use is in LaGrange, where PlateSmart LPR was implemented across the busiest intersections in the city. PlateSmart provided support in properly positioning and calibrating the cameras so that they could reliably capture plates.

Frequently asked questions