New driving law is in effect TODAY & license plates will change for good after ‘calibration’ issue caused ticket mixup

A NEW driving law has come into effect following a bizarre license plate mix-up that left motorists disputing unpaid parking tickets for cars they’ve never owned.

The rule, which went into effect on Monday, March 17, changes the way car tags appear in a bid to avoid confusion in the future.

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Earlier this year, Melissa Crowe, a resident of Broadwater County, Montana, received a letter from Olympia, Washington, about an unpaid ticket issued to her son, Jadon Schwartz, for a red Honda Pilot.

Schwartz, who doesn’t own a red car, hasn’t visited Washington in years and in fact owns a gray Toyota Rav4, and was left understandably confused by the charge.

Curiously, the license plate number on the ticket perfectly matched his own plate.

Furthermore, when his mother asked him to check if his license plates were missing, they weren’t.

The issue, it appeared, lies with Montana’s county license plates, which have a distinctive bullhead separator between the county and plate numbers.

Speaking previously to KTVH, Michael Walker, the Montana Department of Motor Vehicles vehicle services bureau chief, said: “We have 56 counties, and the bullhead traditionally separates the county from the plate number.”

But while distinctive, the plate’s quirk means that some license plate readers don’t pick up on the bullhead separating the county number from the rest of the plate number – resulting in what appears to be a duplicate plate number.

In Schwartz’s case, the plate reader in Olympia, Washington, misread a plate from Missoula County with a four-county number as the same as his plate from Broadwater County.

Thankfully, the state has a form that explains the situation and has been used by Schwartz to clarify the mix-up with officials in Olympia, Washington.

Frustratingly, he was still left with the fallout, as during the process, he was sent to collections for the unpaid ticket.

This could potentially dramatically harm his credit rating.

Crowe and Schwartz are working to resolve the situation with credit agencies while waiting for a permanent solution.

“He has great credit, and so, unfortunately, something like this could affect him,” Crowe said.

Indeed, Montana’s plate system has caused problems in other states where license plate readers don’t properly read the bullhead separator.

Walker added: “Eight years ago, it happened once every few months. Now, we see maybe one or two a month.”

Now, the issue has been fully addressed, with new license plates using alpha characters replacing the current system, making each plate unique and preventing future mix-ups.

However, it will take years for the new plates to reach all drivers, since plates are replaced only once every five years.

It’s not just cross-state confusion causing problems, as the DMV has warned people that they must remove the plates when they sell or dispose of vehicles.

Failure to do so often leads to parking tickets or toll violations being mistakenly sent to the vehicle’s former owner.

Until then, drivers in the state may have to deal with more of these frustrating errors.

This comes as a new enforcement program is coming to Virginia on April 9 that will bring steep fees to reckless rule breakers.

Drivers have been warned to think twice before passing school buses, as they could face an instant $250 fine.