DUI Offenders Spared Scarlett Letter License Plates in Virginia
A Committee of the Virginia General Assembly spared DUI offenders the embarrassment of displaying “scarlet letter” license plates. While several states have proposed bright colored plates (usually pink) for drivers convicted of DUI, these proposals appear to be going down to defeat in the state legislatures.
Virginia’s scarlet letter bill would have required drivers, convicted of DUI for the third time, to display a yellow license plate with red numbers, showing that they were repeat DUI offenders. The plates would have cost $500 and be required for five years.
Opponents of the law argued that many families share cars, so the whole family could be punished. The telltale plates could label an innocent driver as a habitual drunk driver.
The sponsor of the bill doesn’t care if family members are implicated by the plates; he has said he thinks the affective solution for drunk driving is humiliation.