I haven’t acknowledged Iowa’s 2012 license plate series going into the L’s and we’re already getting close to halfway through. It took the 1997 series until somewhere in late 2002 to get here \u2014 six years, vs. nine years this time. What changed? I have hypotheses.<\/p>\n
According to the announcement from 2012<\/a>, replacements are to be in a 10-year cycle. Theoretically, this will mean that plates issued between April 2 and December 31, 2012, which supplanted the first round of the 1997 series, will themselves be replaced next year. So by the end of 2022, and definitely in 2023, M’s and N’s will be taking out A’s and B’s.<\/p>\n I think the decision from 2012 got a little ahead of itself, and the better regimen would have been something along the lines of “15 years or until the present cycle expires, whichever comes first.” Otherwise, we’ll only have about half the alphabet on the road at any given time \u2014 which is similar to what happened with the 1979 and 1986 series since the latter was a continuation of the former.<\/p>\n Then again, if blackout plates are so common<\/a> as to be almost a second standard, and the dizzying array of specialty options<\/a> keeps growing, keeping track of what letters are in use may not be as useful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I haven’t acknowledged Iowa’s 2012 license plate series going into the L’s and we’re already getting close to halfway through. It took the 1997 series until somewhere in late 2002 to get here \u2014 six years, vs. nine years this … Continue reading