A Nevada resident saw his 20-year license plate revoked by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for defamation after someone filed a complaint. The plate read “GOBK2CA” which stands for “Go Back To California,” according to KOLO TV.
Nevada state law prohibits license plates from making libelous references to an individual or group of persons, and it seems like, after two decades, someone picked up the phone and called the DMV to report an cryptic combination of characters.
“Several local law enforcement officers have pulled over to me … to tell me they like my license plate,” said Adam Steelmon. “In 20 years I’ve had one person say: I don’t think your license plate is very precise.”
The Nevada driver who received a recall letter in his mailbox has appealed the DMV’s request to surrender his plates and a judge will decide whether or not he can keep them after he makes his case.
The DMV is constantly reviewing requests for new customized license plates and many of them are rejected, such as the confusing “GGGGGGG” and the very early “U 1D1OT”, but there are some combinations that are finally approved after review, such as “DANK”, “RNECK”, and “BUCK UP”, according to 8 News Now.
However, even if certain combinations are whitelisted, the DMV may reassess them upon receipt of a complaint.
“All it takes is one person to issue or file a complaint,” said Eli Rohl, Public Information Officer for DMV Nevada in Carson City. “If it is against the law, we have an obligation to implement it and take it back.”
And here’s what by law one cannot put up license plates:
“No points scored backwards, no more than 7 points, no insults, ridicule or superiority of race, ethnic heritage, or gender. Cannot have anything sexual, derogatory, or obscene. It must not contain direct or indirect references to drugs, or drug paraphernalia, or gangs and must not make defamatory references to any person or group,” Rohl said.
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