Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff Lauren bog Obam here. The state of Vermont could soon be giving its license plates and upgrade. The plates, which currently have white lettering on a leafy green background, are some of the most basic you'll find anywhere in
the United States. Even Vermont's special interest plates, which signify, for example, the motorists fondness for Ham radios or affiliation with the National Ski Patrol, feature the relevant logo on the side of the plate like an afterthought, and the list of special interests that motorists can choose from is shorter than in many other states. They can't even buy a plate to boast about their favorite national sports team
because Vermont doesn't have any. In other words, when it comes to license plates, the Green Mountain State is traditionally all business. Until now. That is, Vermont has a new bill that would let motorists add one of six yet to be determined emoji two new license plates. The bill was introduced by state Representative Rebecca White and passed onto the state's Committee on Transportation in late January. Of the emoji would be in addition to the standard letter and
number combination. Either assigned by the state or chosen by the motorist, rather than replacing any of those characters. That means the letter number combo will remain the official plate number. In other words, it's unlikely that Vermont State troopers will be calling out eggplant or sunglasses emoji over the radio in much the same way they don't identify special interest or other special types of plates. However, that's just speculation.
Weirder things have happened, and by recording time, Representative White's office did not respond to our requests for comment. Believe it or not, there's already precedent for what seems like this pretty off the wall idea. Queensland, Australia has had emoji license plates since five. Emoji are available for the plates faces with a laugh, a wink, sunglasses, heart eyes, and the standard smile, and as in the proposed Vermont plates,
they're not part of the identification sequence there. In addition to three letters and two numbers, in Queensland, motorists also get to choose text and background colors and from a variety of background designs, including scenic landscapes and cartoon character logos. Certain plates can also be inscribed with custom captions to Motorists can even buy duplicate sets of plates with different
designs and swap them out on a whim. If the Vermont bill passes, it would be the first state in the US to offer such an option, though it's a little too early to let imaginations run truly wild. Pricing and other details have yet to be worked out. As for whether will eventually see a plethora of emoji license plates across the country is anybody's guests, but we certainly hope that other states catch on and lighten our moods in traffic jams. Today's episode for Certain by Shery's three
Wit and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of i Heeart Radios has Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other curious topics, visit our home planet how stuffworks dot com and for more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.