Custom license plates offer car owners a unique opportunity to showcase their individuality. By paying an additional fee, these individuals can personalize their license plates with unique messages or combinations of letters and numbers. Vanity plates allow people to express their creativity and convey something special about themselves. However, sometimes state governments and their departments of motor vehicles disallow certain plates because they find the language inappropriate or contentious.
Wendy Auger recently had this experience after proudly displaying her vanity plate for fifteen years. Her plate, which displayed the amusing phrase “PB4WEGO,” often brought smiles to many as she drove through the highways and backroads of her home in New Hampshire. A bartender from the Gonic neighborhood in Rochester, New Hampshire, Auger was startled by the DMV’s classification of her plate as offensive.
To Auger, it felt like the state was infringing on her freedom of speech, an essential right. She argues that the expression “pee before we go” is common advice parents give to children and sees nothing inappropriate about it.
Acquiring the plate was not a spur-of-the-moment decision for Auger. After a long search, she was thrilled to see that it became available. She immediately chose “PB4WEGO” for her New Hampshire license plate, especially because the state had recently increased the character limit for vanity plates from six to seven.
The state clarified that these changes were implemented years ago due to a court order from the NH Supreme Court, which resulted in stricter rules for vanity plates.
So, should Auger be forced to replace her fifteen-year-old license plate?
