Oslo Goes California

There's an interesting article over at Aftenposten English today. Apparently nearly 40 years after they first appeared in places like Los Angeles, vanity license plates are debuting in Norway.

After public sentiment showed that many Norwegians were not opposed to the idea of having personalized license plates on their automobiles, Transport Minister Liv Signe Navarsete reversed her earlier veto of the idea. The change probably also had something to do with the potential for increased revenue for Norway since vanity plates normally carry extra fees and increased prices. It sounds like that extra revenue will be pumped back into the Norwegian government for things like road construction.

Also, with this change, for the first time license plates will follow the driver, rather than the automobile. You see, in the past when a driver sold their car the license plate stayed with the car. Now, however, if a driver has a vanity plate they can keep it to use on the next car they buy.