# Ontario's New License Plates Have A Problem: You Can't Read Them

**URL:** <https://onehack.st/t/ontarios-new-license-plates-have-a-problem-you-cant-read-them/70525>\
**Category:** News & Articles\
**Tags:** tools\
**Created:** [February 20, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/ontarios-new-license-plates-have-a-problem-you-cant-read-them/70525 "2020-02-20T00:30:15Z")\
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**Author:** ![TheJoker](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/thejoker/32/22660_2.png) [@TheJoker](https://onehack.st/u/TheJoker)\
**Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 12:30am UTC](https://onehack.st/t/ontarios-new-license-plates-have-a-problem-you-cant-read-them/70525/1 "2020-02-20T00:30:15Z")

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Ontario’s newly-designed license plates just hit a speedbump. [Call it Plate-gate](https://www.npr.org/2020/02/18/807133008/ontarios-new-license-plates-have-a-problem-you-can-t-read-them). From a report:

[![](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2020/02/18/eqyaqzmwkaaikye-bdc4cbbfa903fa6fe3656be6aa883994973eae43-s1600-c85.jpg) ](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2020/02/18/eqyaqzmwkaaikye-bdc4cbbfa903fa6fe3656be6aa883994973eae43-s1600-c85.jpg)

_A little background: The Canadian province’s new design was unveiled by the provincial government – led by center-right Ontario Premier Doug Ford – last year. Almost immediately, people started comparing the plate design unfavorably to a box of Q-tips. The plates also had a new slogan – “A Place to Grow” – which drew the ire of some critics, who preferred the previous “Yours to Discover,” which the plates had sported since 1982. Then there was the palette: Observers noticed that the new plates had the same blue color scheme as Ford’s Progressive Conservative Party._

[https://twitter.com/ColinDMello/status/1229462712742240256?s=20](https://twitter.com/ColinDMello/status/1229462712742240256?s=20)

- But the real problems began once the plates went into use this month. “Has anyone else noticed that the newly designed @ONgov license plates are totally unreadable from distance at night?” tweeted videojournalist Andrew Collins on Friday.

[https://twitter.com/ColinDMello/status/1229472026169085953?s=20](https://twitter.com/ColinDMello/status/1229472026169085953?s=20)

> “Could be an issue for [Toronto] police forces in the future.” A Twitter user who describes himself as a police sergeant in Kingston, Ont., tweeted another photo with the same complaint the next day: “Did anyone consult with police before designing and manufacturing the new Ontario licence plates? They’re virtually unreadable at night.”