Department of Motor Vehicles issues new Nevada license plates

Used to be, you could tell how long Nevada drivers had lived in the state - and even what county they came from - just by looking at their license plates.

Thick silver figures against a cobalt blue background meant real longevity. Thinner, sharper letters and numbers placed a motorist somehwere in the mid '70s.

The first letter or two signaled the county - HU for Humboldt, WA for Washoe.

Then came color changes and pretty designs, and, along with that, anonymity.

Nevada motorists, brace yourselves.

The Department of Motor Vehicles, following the directives of the 1997 and 1999 Legislatures, will be mailing out new license plates starting this fall. The DMV will replace the existing "Bighorn Sheep" plates with a new "Sunset" design.

The new plates will be mailed with registration renewal notices and will have the same numbers and letters as the plates they replace.

The "Sunset" plate will be issued to people registering their vehicles starting in 2001.

Holders of the old blue plates may keep them, but the DMV is asking people to make a note of that on their renewal notices. Specialty plates and veterans plates will not be reissued.

Motorists will be getting a questionnaire in the mail about 90 days before their yearly expiration date, said Kim Evans, public information officer for the DMV.

"People need to pay attention to that notice in the mail so we can get our data base squared away," said Evans. The reissue will let the DMV clear up outdated files and improve accuracy.

The new design was created through the joint efforts of Vonne Chowning, an assemblywoman from Clark County and a design team at 3M.