New York drivers push the plate boundaries

A New York motorist is being mistaken for a 'porn' merchant because he has the registration XXXPERT on his car.

78 year old Henry DeRossi, from Long Island, purchased the plate to promote his business, Expert Metal Slitters, but says "You'd be surprised how many people stop me when I am at a light and want to buy porn".

Even his local garage insists that he park round the back when he needs his car serviced.

Henry doesn't mind the attention the plate receives: "I'm kind of a free spirit. I like it when I'm stopped and asked, 'Do you sell DVDs?'"

Many New Yorkers have private plates which they use to promote their jobs, professions, hobbies or interests. For example, there are 9METS and H8BSOX and lifestyle badges' like YBENORMAL, BLUZMAN, PMS247 and ISTOP4SEX.

Daniel Bahno from Staten Island has 7D1NOVA on a prized 1971 Chevrolet Nova - which he helped to restore and which he considers to be: "like the end of the muscle-car era".

LUVNYC gets lots of 'thumbs up' from pedestrians and other motorists. Andres Henriquez and his wife, Janet Goldstein of Manhattan , registered the plate on a Toyota following the September 11 attacks.

There are more than 450,000 personalised plates in New York State . The licensing system is far more open than here in the UK and, for a one-off payment of $43 plus a $25 annual charge, motorists can create their own registrations to order.

Applications are vetted by computer to avoid the representations of obscenities or offensive words and applicants must give their reasons for wanting a particular plate.

As a result, many are refused and even some of those initially allowed can become the subject of controversy. For example, The authorities received complaints for allowing ADK LUVR - seen as crudely pertaining to part of the male anatomy by some, although actually a reference to Adirondack Mountains, according to the registrant. Conversely, GETOSAMA was rejected at first but allowed following strong criticism of the decision.

Some naughty plates have, however, managed to slip in through the back door: XTC4UNME has nothing to do with drugs: The applicant, Patrick Jingool, claims that he innocently wanted to encourage more ecstasy in people's lives, but admitted: "I had too much time on my hands,"

Although there has been a slight fall in new registrations recently, this may not be a consequence of the current economic situation. Ken Brown, a spokesman for the licensing authority DMV, thinks it may have more to do with the city's recent poor showing in the baseball world series!

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