Beginning this week, Texans have a little more leeway to get personal with their license plate.
Vanity plates may now contain seven characters, rather than the traditional six. The only catch: the first letter must be a "T."
The so-called T plate gives drivers a second chance to nab names and words claimed long ago by other drivers.
A lot of Texans have told us that the plate message they want is already taken - they've checked. Texas has had personalized plates since 1965, so if you want a popular message or a common name like Steven, your plate likely has been long gone. But, look what happens with the new T plate. Notice above that to the passerby the black T plate reads STEVEN, but the legal combination on that registration would be TSTEVEN. So that plate is legally different from the fella who’s likely had STEVEN on his car for a few decades.
The T can also be used in the spelling of a word, like the word TROUBLE.
Kim Miller Drummond, a spokeswoman for My Plates, the company selling the plates for the Department of Motor Vehicles, said 43 were sold on Monday, the first day they were offered. Among them were T GOLDEN, T RANCHR and T MIZZOU.
But plates bearing an extra character won't come cheap. Expect to pay $95 a year, or as much as $495 for 10 years if you want to keep the plate that long.
