Bumper Sticker Mystery

August 19, 2004 8:21 PM

I've seen a number of cars with a sticker of a white number eight on a red background on their back window. Does anyone know what that signifies?

I don't think it's a Dale Earnhardt Jr. sticker since the font of the sticker is different. I'm just curious as to what it signifies.

posted by gyc to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

These drove me mad for the longest time, they are from the DMV and represent.. umm... stuff :) If you look at one closely it has DMV written all over it in small white letters and it also states the purpose.
posted by zeoslap at 8:24 PM on August 19, 2004

Response by poster: I noticed that there was writing in a tiny font on those, and I almost rear-ended someone trying to figure out what it said.
posted by gyc at 8:50 PM on August 19, 2004

zeoslap is right. It's from the DMV. It basically means that there is some issue with the license plate that is being sorted out by the DMV, and for the month represented by the number on the red square, the car won't get ticketed/pulled over for license plate issues. Because, of course, the DMV can't resolve your problems in one trip.
posted by ambrosia at 9:09 PM on August 19, 2004

It's short-term registration, like the sticker that you put on your license plate, but temporary. The stickers are color coded so cops can know to pull you over when you're expired, but the big white 8 = "August."
posted by scarabic at 11:44 PM on August 19, 2004

This is why it's good to be a Dale Earnhardt fan and have your plates expire in March.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 6:38 AM on August 20, 2004

Are we talking about a particular country, US state, et cetera? Because I think motor-vehicle registration rules, stickers, and the like would vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
posted by Vidiot at 9:41 AM on August 20, 2004

Oh, this would be yet another one of those region-specific questions in which the questioner doesn't bother to consider that most of the freakin' world has no idea wtf he's on about.

I REALLY wish people would start giving us locational clues when they ask such questions.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:22 AM on August 20, 2004

gyc probably didn't know it was regional. After all he had no idea what they represent. It's quite possible this was some football player's number or something.
posted by Mitheral at 11:15 AM on August 20, 2004

What's weird is that the questioner and the people responding are from different areas... do they do this in multiple regions? I have never seen it.
posted by litlnemo at 2:41 PM on August 20, 2004

Response by poster: gyc probably didn't know it was regional. After all he had no idea what they represent. It's quite possible this was some football player's number or something.

You are correct. I didn't think it was something specific to a certain state (in this case California).
posted by gyc at 3:26 PM on August 20, 2004

Or even a specific country?
posted by five fresh fish at 5:05 PM on August 20, 2004