Have you ever driven west down Interstate-12 at night?Since my parents live right off of Millerville Road, it’s a usual drive for me heading back to campus after a visit at home.Driving home in the dark, something always seems to catch my eye — well, catches both of my eyes and partially blinds me for an instant.For those who don’t regularly drive down I-12 toward campus at night, I’m speaking of the large electronic billboard right before the Drusilla/Jefferson exit.The thing is extremely bright when it flashes certain ads. I don’t know how they are legally allowed to be displayed when they are such a distraction to drivers.Now picture this billboard, but imagine it on the back of every car on the highway.Sounds like a big distraction, huh? Well, it seems like California is a big fan of distracting drivers then.The California Legislature is considering a bill to begin research replacing traditional metal license plates with shiny new digital versions.Democratic state Senator Curren Price, the bill’s author, believes the Golden State would be the first in the nation to use digital plates if a go-ahead is eventually authorized.The way the plates work is somewhat simple in concept.While the driver’s vehicle is in motion, the plate would display the traditional license number as usual. However, once the vehicle is stopped for more than four seconds, whether at a light or in traffic, it would begin flashing digital ads or other messages with the license number still displayed somewhere on the screen.The plates could also be used in case of emergencies – broadcasting Amber alerts or displaying traffic information, for example.Drivers may also customize their plate with personal messages or show support for their favorite sports team (insert USC suspension joke here).Price believes this new form of ad revenue would help pull California out of its $19 billion defecit.I’m all for advancing technology and moving things into a more advanced age, but not at the expense of making my truck a moving billboard for a company I may not even support.Don’t forget what hackers will be able to do with this thing.Sure, the government can say all it wants about it being “hack proof” and claiming no one will be able to crack it, but if something is out there, there is always someone out there who can hack it. It just reminds me of last December when hackers took control of digital construction road signs in Texas, changing them to read “ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN!” and “CAUTION! ZOMBIES! AHEAD!!!”Plus, like I mentioned earlier, there is the talk of distractions. California was a big proponent of hands-free driving and outlawing cell phones to distract drivers. So instead, they’ll just put bright advertisement plates on cars instead.It seems a bit hypocritical to me. But as long as it makes the state money, it must be OK.With the plate being electronic, another concern is how it will be powered. Sure, it could easily be tied into the car’s existing battery, but what happens if my car battery is drained because of the plate?Will the Government issue me a new battery? Most likely not.Also, for cars already on the roads today, it would take a lot of man power and money to retrofit existing cars with these new plates.And let’s not even bring up what happens during malfunctions or even theft. Who will cover the cost for that?It seems like this will only drive California into a bigger deficit, rather than help pull the state out of its current debt.Since advertisers would contact the DMV directly, people driving around with Luke Wilson’s smug face on their car would see no money from AT&T at all. It would all go to the state.I don’t like the idea of being a mobile advertisement for a company and seeing no profit it from it myself.This just seems like some half-baked, rushed idea to make a quick buck and will hopefully be shot down by the Governator.But if not, we can expect more wrecks and more horrible advertisements from Progressive and Enzyte.
—-Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected].