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Published on Wednesday, September 3, 2003
in the Miami Herald
Since the space shuttle Challenger explosion led to Florida's first ''specialty license plate'' in 1987, the state has added dozens more, making its car bumpers among the most colorful in the nation.
While the plates -- likely to reach 94 soon -- have raised money for scores of causes, police say they are squinting to keep of track of them.
Witnesses are less and less able to provide helpful information from their fleeting glances at tags. Making matters worse is a growing problem of license tag frames that sometimes cover the word ''Florida'', authorities say.
''I am sympathetic to the causes they support. I even have a manatee tag on my truck,'' said Joe Mosca, 18-year veteran Florida Highway Patrol trooper in Miami, ``but as these tags continue to evolve, it gets harder and harder for us to tell even what state they are from.''
''Tags have become a fashion statement,'' Mosca said. ``Are we concerned about the fashion statement or about bringing wrongdoers to justice?''
The tags are a problem not only on routine traffic stops, but also in situations when a car is suspected of being involved in a crime, police say. Every second counts when an officer is trying to radio in the license number and keep his eyes on the car's occupants.
In a crime like a hit-and-run, said Lt. Julio Pajon, spokesman for the Miami-Dade troop of the Florida Highway Patrol, every piece of information a witness gives can be crucial. The harder the tag is to identify, the less information police have to solve the crime, he said.
''I see them and I don't even know if they are Florida tags,'' said the Florida Highway Patrol's commander, Col. Chris Knight.
If law enforcement feels specialty tags are a problem, said State Sen. Ron Klein, a Delray Beach Democrat, the issue needs to be addressed.
Klein, outspoken on specialty tag issues, said he has heard nothing officially, but informally police have told him ``it's really getting out of hand, and enough is enough.''
Car owners pay an additional $15 to $25 for specialty tags, with the surcharge going to the cause, institution or professional sports team each tag supports. The panther tag is the most popular, with 108,000 issued in 2002. Next is the manatee, the lumbering, lovable poster child for the environment, with 95,400 new tags or renewals in 2002.
Since 1987, specialty tags have raised more than $236 million. In 2002, the most recent year for which records are available, there were 1.2 million Florida specialty tags on the road.
As of June 30, there were 54 specialty tags available for purchase. Forty more have been approved by the Legislature and await presentation to the governor and Cabinet or final processing by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
At their Sept. 18 meeting, members of the Florida Cabinet will act on three new specialty plates. One raises funds for child abuse prevention, another for heart disease research and the third for Nova Southeastern University. Other new tags raise money for hospice care issues; a retirement home trust fund for former members of Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and paratroopers; the Florida Foundation for Responsible Angling; and several colleges.
Six more were presented to the Legislature but didn't pass, said Robert Sanchez, spokesman for the the motor vehicles department.
''As you can see, there is no shortage of ideas,'' Sanchez said.