Photo: bbc.com
One man’s idea of a funny license plate wasn’t as funny for the Swedish Transport Agency, Transportstyrelsen, and they shut down the request.
This probably happens more times a day than we can count, but this particular instance is making headlines because the man’s choice for a vanity plate spells the name of the President of the United States. Marcus Saaf tells the local media that he came up with the idea for “TRUMP” for a license plate when he was drunk.
He just got himself a brand new SUV, an American-made one, he explains (he doesn’t say which SUV he bought). To celebrate his new purchase and its country of origin, he thought “TRUMP” would be smart as a vanity plate. He was also “drunk and thought it was to apply,” he says, as cited by Fox News Auto.
Well, the Swedish Transport Agency wasn’t laughing. Saaf’s request got denied because, as a rule, all submissions must steer clear of offensive terms or political messages. They also informed him that the decision is final and cannot be appealed.
“In retrospect, I understand that it can be perceived as such. I will keep the registration plate I have,” Saaf says of the decision.
In the U.S., local DMVs have had to update their policies on vanity plates to be more specific on what is and what isn’t allowed, after upset car owners sued them after a ban, citing their freedom of speech. The most recent case to make headlines is of a New Hampshire mom who planned to take the DMV to court for telling her to turn in her “PB4WEGO” plate, on the grounds that it referenced an excretory act and was, as such, offensive.
The woman argued that the plate was funny and not offensive, and that a limit should be drawn when it came to what classifies as the latter. The New Hampshire governor found out about her predicament when her story went viral and interceded with the DMV, allowing her to keep her vanity plate.
He just got himself a brand new SUV, an American-made one, he explains (he doesn’t say which SUV he bought). To celebrate his new purchase and its country of origin, he thought “TRUMP” would be smart as a vanity plate. He was also “drunk and thought it was to apply,” he says, as cited by Fox News Auto.
Well, the Swedish Transport Agency wasn’t laughing. Saaf’s request got denied because, as a rule, all submissions must steer clear of offensive terms or political messages. They also informed him that the decision is final and cannot be appealed.
“In retrospect, I understand that it can be perceived as such. I will keep the registration plate I have,” Saaf says of the decision.
In the U.S., local DMVs have had to update their policies on vanity plates to be more specific on what is and what isn’t allowed, after upset car owners sued them after a ban, citing their freedom of speech. The most recent case to make headlines is of a New Hampshire mom who planned to take the DMV to court for telling her to turn in her “PB4WEGO” plate, on the grounds that it referenced an excretory act and was, as such, offensive.
The woman argued that the plate was funny and not offensive, and that a limit should be drawn when it came to what classifies as the latter. The New Hampshire governor found out about her predicament when her story went viral and interceded with the DMV, allowing her to keep her vanity plate.
Google News