Virginians Choose Personalized License Plates on the Web

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has added a new application to its Web site that allows state residents to select a personalized message for their license plates over the Internet. Residents checking the site, located at www.dmv.state.va.us, can look through the DMV's database for available license plate messages and then display their personalized message on one of the agency's 149 designs.

"Roughly one-fourth of Virginia's vehicle owners personalize their license plates," said DMV commissioner Richard Holcomb. "That's why we chose the personalized license plate message look-up feature as our first interactive application." The personalized message look-up feature, accessible by clicking a scrolling ticker at the top of the site's home page, presents a form for users to fill out to find out whether their preferred message is available.

Once reserved, residents must still come into a DMV office to place the order and pay for the plate. "We plan to offer interactive electronic forms this fall for transactions such as responding to DMV requests for insurance verification, and we are beginning work on vehicle registration renewal via the Web," Holcomb said. DMV's site already offers information on titling, registering a vehicle in the state and obtaining a driver's license or photo ID card. "DMV's presence in cyberspace is just one more way that we're using technology to serve Virginia's citizens better," Holcomb said.