Who a particular plate is issued to and whether it's taxed, insured, etc. are considered to be private information. In fact, the states don't know if you have insurance. If you get stopped for a traffic offense, you have to show proof of insurance, but it's not something that's in their computers.

In California Auto Insurance is a required thing to have by State Law, it's not optional, this year I also have to pay to prove My car meets smog regulations, and yes it passes, in some areas cars are tested on what amounts to a treadmill, here that treadmill is not required, just a wand up the tail pipe and a visual inspection like in the rest of the state, and like in Illinois

I didn't mean to imply that insurance isn't required in Illinois. It's just not data the state tracks. Like I said, if you get pulled over you have to show proof of insurance or get a ticket for not having it, even if you don't get one for whatever it was you were pulled over for.

Emissions testing is only done in Illinois in the Chicago and St. Louis metro areas. It used to be done on a roller with a tailpipe probe, but now they just plug their computer into your car's computer port.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

But I suppose the attractiveness of your plates does beat ours

I've always liked the natural and distinctive simplicity of Colorado's plate:

---

The mind is a weird and mysterious place

California doesn't just have one plate, but lots of variation, too many to display here

Piffle. The state lists 15 special interest plates. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/online/elp/elp

Compare that to Illinois' special interest plates http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/license_plate_guide/licenseplates.html, bearing in mind that some of those are series. For example, if you click Collegiate Series, there are plates for 20 colleges and universities.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.