What are California's rules for vanity plates? And how can I report an offensive one?

"The California DMV is required by law to review all requests for personalized license plates and ensure the configurations being approved are permissible under the California Vehicle Code and the California Code of Regulations, Katarina Snow, a DMV spokesperson, told Honk in an email. The majority of personalized license plate requests are approved. She forwarded nine no-no's, including: The plate can't have a sexual or scatological reference. No profanity or obscenity."

"Those seeing a plate they find offensive can request that it be reconsidered and possibly yanked from the streets by writing: Department of Motor Vehicles, Policy Division; P.O. Box 825393; Sacramento, Ca. 94232-5393. In fact, that appears to have happened over license plates issued in 2022: IAMISIS. Isis Wharton of Orangevale, which is east of Sacramento, was recently told by the DMV she is getting new plates unless she successfully appeals."

A Fountain Valley plate displayed an apparent vulgar reference to a politician but lacked registration tags and was unlikely a legitimate DMV-issued plate. California law requires the DMV to review all personalized plate requests for compliance with the Vehicle Code and state regulations. Approved plates are the majority, but certain configurations are prohibited, including sexual or scatological references, profanity or obscenity, references to ethnicity, religion or sexual identity, and suggestions of violence or criminal activity. Members of the public can ask the DMV Policy Division to reconsider offensive plates by submitting a written request to the Sacramento P.O. Box address. The DMV has previously moved to replace controversial plates such as IAMISIS unless successfully appealed.

Read at www.ocregister.com