Ohio BMV rejects more than 450 vanity plate requests in 2020

Laura A. Bischoff, Springfield News-Sun, Ohio
·1 min read

Mar. 3—Raunchy. Violent. Racist. Gross.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles rejected more than 450 personalized license plate requests last year — most of which are so nasty we won't print them in the newspaper.

Still, some Ohioans wanted to drive on public roadways with government-issued plates that described their preferred sex acts or favorite pieces of anatomy.

Potty humor, including POOHPN, got blocked.

Many of the requested plates got tossed out because they added popular acronyms for swear words.

It's hard enough to get by with a criminal record but at least two people wanted "FELON" as their personalized plate. Someone else wanted a plate that said "AX MRDRR." More mild — "I H8T PPL" — didn't pass either.

And while there is no love lost in Ohio for COVID or 2020, the raunchy references to both were denied.

So what are the Ohio BMV standards?

When reviewing requests for special license plates, the BMV rejects requests that: — Contain words, combinations, and/or phrases that are so profane, obscene, sexually explicit or scatological. — Contains words, combinations, and/phrases that are so offensive that they could reasonably be expected to provoke a violent response from viewers without additional comment. — Contains words, combinations, and/or phrases that advocate immediate lawlessness or advocate lawless activities.

These prohibitions apply to any language, read either frontward or backward.