Denied: The vanity license plates PennDOT said 'no' to in 2023 for violating policy

In 2023, some Pennsylvania motorists were "PSST OFF" while others vowed to "CUNHELL".

Imagine how they felt when they received letters from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation notifying them their choices for a personalized license plate had been rejected.

They weren't alone.

One motorist had choice words for the disease that kills more than 10 million people around the globe each year: "*** CNCR".

Then there were Nittany Lions ("LFG PSU"), Philadelphia Phillies ("LFG PHLS") and Pittsburgh Penguins ("LFG PENZ") fans, and those perhaps advertising their page on the website "0NLY FNS".

Self-declarations, from the not-so-subtle "DRG DLR" to "BADASS V", were also common.

More than 200 personalized license plate requests were denied last year, according to rejection letters obtained by the USA TODAY Network through a Right-to-Know request, because they violated PennDOT policy. Some vehicle owners were rejected for not only their first request, but their second and third preferences as well.

More: Ohio 2023 rejected license plates: Drivers still like Cardi B and hate Michigan

The state has 16 criteria for rejecting vanity plate requests, but a majority of those rejected in 2023 were deemed "profane, lewd, lascivious, obscene or vulgar."

There were plenty of references to both male and female body parts, bodily functions, sexual activity and letter and word combinations about dating moms.

Several motorists had hoped to take shots at President Joe Biden, but only have their rejection letters from PennDOT to prove it.

According to the state, "PennDOT shall deny an application for a personalized license plate if it determines the plate configuration" to be one of the following:

• potentially misleading to law enforcement;

• previously issued or almost identical to another plate previously issued so as to create confusion;

• a combination giving the appearance that the vehicle is associated with law enforcement or other government entities;

• profane, lewd, lascivious, obscene, or vulgar;

• containing sexual innuendo or sexual connotations;

• a reference to excretory functions;

• a racial, ethnic, religious, lifestyle or gender epithet;

• an expression of contempt for or ridicule or superiority of a class of persons, including a particular ethnic or other group;

• related to alcohol abuse or illegal drugs or substances;

• related to illegal activities, including organized crime associations and gang or gang terminology;

• libelous or slanderous;

• directed to and likely to incite imminent lawless action;

• words which inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace;

• contrary to PennDOT’s mission to promote motor vehicle and traffic safety;

• a combination that is currently reserved for other plate types pursuant to law, these guidelines, or as determined by the Director, Bureau of Motor Vehicles; or

• likely to interfere with the primary purpose of registration marks.

PennDOT has a team that reviews all requests for personalized license plates, according to its website. They use internet acronym and slang/euphemism dictionaries, and reference foreign language translations to weed out requests that they believe violate policy. They also check for combinations that are written backwards or upside down.

Requests, however, are first checked against a list of nearly 2,900 entries on the state's "Do not issue" list. Anyone using PennDOT's license plate availability tool on its website will also receive a response if an entry is on the "Do not issue" list.

See the list below. Plates with clear racial, ethnic or homophobic slurs, among others, were removed.

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PennDOT rejected more than 200 vanity license plate requests in 2023