Skip to main content

Emojis hitch a ride on personalized license plates in Australia’s Queensland

Frank Behrens/Flickr

Typically, the amount of personalization that you squeeze out of your license plate is entirely dependent on how clever you can get with seven or eight characters. That’s about to change for residents of Queensland, Australia. Starting March 1, the state will give people a wealth of new ways to customize their license plate, including the ability to add an emoji.

Personalised Plates Queensland, the official license plate vendor of Queensland, Australia, had decided to give the current license plate options a modern update that makes the plates reflect what you’d find in a person’s text messages. Drivers will be able to choose from five different emojis. The options include the face-with-tears-of-joy (or crying laughing) emoji, sunglasses emoji, winking emoji, smiling emoji, and heart-eyes emoji. If you were hoping to slap an eggplant or other potentially suggestive emoji on your license plate, you’re out of luck for the time being.

Rebecca Michael, a spokesperson for Royal Automobile Club of Queensland told 7 News Brisbane that emojis are just a natural extension of the current customization options available for license plates. “For quite some time, we’ve seen that you can support your favorite team or your favorite town with a symbol on your number plate,” she said. “And using an emoji is no different.”

Others aren’t so sure that the plates are just a bit of personal expression. Some, including Queensland Law Society President Bill Potts, believe the plates may prove to be a distraction on the road and may cause confusion. “Clearly, the government is trying to sex up number plates, with a view to making more money, and I can understand that,” he told the Brisbane Times. “But the purpose of number plates is for the police to be able to identify vehicles. How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?”

The question seems like an easy one to solve: The emojis aren’t actually part of the license plate. They are purely decorative. Queensland already allows drivers to choose custom plate colors and themes, and use logos from local sports teams. None of those are required when writing down a plate number. Queensland’s new emoji plates can be ordered for 475 Australian dollars, or around $340 U.S.

Editors' Recommendations

AJ Dellinger
AJ Dellinger is a freelance reporter from Madison, Wisconsin with an affinity for all things tech. He has been published by…
Tesla introduces ‘congestion fee’ for Supercharger stations
Tesla Supercharger

Tesla has been charging an idle fee for years in a bid to free up its Superchargers and prevent traffic jams at charging stations. But now it’s introducing a new congestion fee, which in some places will replace the idle fee.

To recap, idle fees kick in when a Supercharger station is at 50% capacity. It means that if a car is left plugged in after it is fully charged, the owner has to pay 50 cents a minute until they leave. If the station is 100% occupied, the fee doubles to $1 a minute.

Read more
This popular car jump starter is 86% off for Black Friday
AVAPOW 6000A Car Jump Starter

There's nothing worse than needing to go somewhere and having to deal with a dead car battery. Fixing that issue can also be a problem since you'll need to call for help from a friend or neighbor or something like AAA. Luckily, car starters have become pretty powerful in recent years, so even if you have a truck or an RV, you can start a dead battery relatively easily. One great example is the Avapow 6000A car jump starter, which has an excellent Black Friday deal from Walmart, knocking it down to $86 from $144.

Why you should buy the AVAPOW 6000A Car Jump Starter
As the name might suggest, the Avapow 6000A has a massive 6000A peak current, which means it's suitable for everything from trucks to tractors, so it's a very versatile tool, and it's even had upgraded jumper cable to handle those currents. It's also a pretty smart system since it has eight layers of safety protocols to ensure you don't accidentally fry a battery or yourself trying to jump-start, and even the jumper cables have safety indicators on them, which is a great design choice.

Read more
This Graco car seat lasts for ten years, and it’s 25% off for Black Friday
Graco 4EVER 4-in-1 baby car seat black friday deal

A good car seat will adjust as your child grows, reducing the amount of times you have to buy a newer, bigger model. How, you ask? Well, Graco's 4EVER DLX 4-in-1 car seat is the ideal example. It offers up to ten years of use, with seamless transformations between rear-facing harness, forward-facing harness, high back belt positioned, and backless belt positioned booster modes.

For Black Friday -- and really, this should be featured in the best Black Friday deals -- this exact car seat is on sale for 25% off, which is a discount of $82. Normally $330, it's yours today for just $248. Considering you'll never have to buy another seat for ten years, and by then, they can use a seatbelt, it's a fantastic investment.

Read more