California Proposed Bill for GPS Tracking License Plates
24 Apr 2014The California Department of Motor Vehicles goes digital after signing a GPS tracking license plate bill.
The bill in question is theSenate Bill 806, which proposes using GPS tracking and modern technology for improving the speed and processes of registration renewal. Since the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California renews about 10 million vehicle registrations each year, it is hoping to speed up the process, shorten lines in local DMV offices, and make it a more convenient process for everyone involved.
This bill involves an electronic license plate pilot program using global positioning systems (GPS) technology. GPS has been aiding various industries all over the world, from mapping and navigation benefits to tracking behaviors in wild animals and domestic pets. Now, the DMV wants to try it out with this new pilot program. After signing the bill, the pilot program will need to be established by the beginning of 2017.
Instead of having a static metal license plate adorned with registration stickers, the license plate would wirelessly display messages concerning the vehicle’s registration status, such as “expired”, “current”, or “stolen”.
Through further analysis of this bill, it proposes a pilot program that lowers the cost of vehicle registration services and lessening the processing step. Every year, 10 million registration renewals take place in the Golden State, where it involves long lines in the DMV office and a lot of manpower completing them, followed by issuing stickers for the plates each year. With this new GPS program, the state of California and the DMV hope to be able to electronically issue the stickers and new registration cards without residents going into the office.
The pilot program should cost the DMV $50,000 or less to get started with evaluating, according to Assembly Appropriations Committee. It will test evaluation and road tests on about ½ percent of the registered vehicles throughout California, and only for vehicle owners volunteering for this program.
The digital electronic license plates will be provided to the DMV by Smart Plate Inc., which has a patent for this technology. It involves a computer screen looking just like a typical California license plate. For this testing phase, it is only for registration information, though the technology can also show other information, such as a stolen vehicle or Amber Alerts.
When signing the bill, the California DMV agreed to provide results of the completed pilot program by July 2018, when they must show a full report of their findings and whether or not it proved beneficial to them with updating registration digitally. They also need to provide information about unauthorized access or additional security features needed.
Within the Senate Bill 806, it is noted that the pilot is voluntary so all vehicles being tracked must have volunteered to do so. It also notes that the DMV won’t retain the GPS data, and will have to report all results and tested features with GPS tracking to the Legislature. Additionally, the bill says the DMV has to provide recommendations for personal information being maintained and managed under the vehicle owner’s rights.
As of now, this pilot program is only for personal vehicles, and not intended to be used for or tested on commercial fleets. Other states, such as New Jersey and South Carolina, are investigating similar bills.
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