Keep it in good taste, people. That's Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias' message to Illinois drivers thinking about requesting a personalized or vanity license plate.
Giannoulias revealed that nearly 400 of last year's 54,236 Illinois vanity plate requests were rejected by the state "due to their tawdry, lewd or offensive nature or because they were difficult to read."
Examples? "There will be no PEEPEE, SUKIT or DUCKYOU for Illinois drivers," Giannoulias' office wrote in a statement.
"We love the creativity and pride Illinoisans take in choosing their personalized license plates,” said Giannoulias in the statement. “Most plate requests are approved, but a small percentage fail to meet the standards of good taste and decency and are rejected because they violate the state’s vehicle code."
Apparently the Illinois Secretary of State office maintains "an ever-growing rejection list" that sits at "more than 7,000 license plate combinations deemed offensive or difficult to read."
More examples: GOTPOOP, SUCKER, KISSASH, BITEU, COKAIN, HAIILNO, WHTHFUK and WMWWWMW.
Here's how the Illinois vanity plate process works: "The Secretary of State’s Office oversees the process by which Illinoisans may request specific vanity or personalized license plates for their vehicles," Giannoulias said. "Many use the office’s popular Pick-a-Plate feature on the website – ilsos.gov – which allows the applicant to type in different combinations of letters, or letters and numbers, to see if they are available for purchase."
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A request doesn't just automatically go through, though. A panel reviews license plate requests to prevent offensive language, the office said.
Plenty of requests do become a reality. The office has issued a total of 922,147 vanity or personalized license plates to Illinoisans. Of those, 312,399 are vanity plates, or plates containing all letters.
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Thinking about giving it a go? A standard passenger vanity license plate costs $245 at initial purchase with a subsequent annual renewals cost of $164.
