Texas handicapped amateur radio license plates

[K9STH]

I posted in another thread several weeks ago that the State of Texas is now furnishing amateur radio operator automobile license plates with the handicapped symbol on them. The procedure is NOT on the Department of Transportation website although they became available on 1 September 2005.

For those in the State of Texas who have a need for these plates you fill out the "normal" application for amateur radio plates and also have your doctor fill out the form for regular handicapped plates. You then send both forms plus $2.00 handling fee to Austin. Within 2 weeks your plates will be delivered to your county tax assessor collector's office.

Now the plates that I picked up about an hour ago were the first that the Collin County Tax Assessor Collector's office had seen. In fact, they had to call Austin to find out under which category that the registration was to be listed. There is a category for handicapped and a category for amateur radio operator. However, as of this time there is no category for handicapped radio operator plates. Eventually the State of Texas will have to add this category to the computer. For now the plates go under radio operator.

The State of Texas has finally gotten "wise" on the window sticker that is really your yearly registration. Until very recently every sticker in the state looked basically the same and the result is that there have been all sorts of these stickers stolen and sold for a goodly sum of money. This is because proof of insurance must be presented when you renew your registration and it is estimated that at least 20 percent of those in the state do not have insurance.

The new stickers have the actual license plate number as well as the county printed directly on the sticker. This should discourage the theft of stickers because they now have to match the license plates. Also, the license number is usually the first thing "run" by a police officer when they stop any vehicle. If the plates show up as either stolen or they do not match the description of the vehicle then they handle the situation in a very specific manner.

Anyway, for those who don't believe that Texas is finally issuing handicapped radio operator plates I have attached a photo of those on my vehicle and of the new registration sticker.

Glen, K9STH

[W0LPQ]

Good show Glen..! As usual, you are the first in many catagories..!

Hope the rest of the USA catches on..!

Bill, W0LPQ

[ai4ep]

...we have the same system here in Alabama...yet instead of putting the wheelchair emblem in the left corner we just put the drivers I Q # in the left area ( used to be the county number, now instead of using 1 - 67 ) they just put the drivers I Q....which is STILL a # from 1 - 67.

hee hee hee

( my county - Lawrence county has a 42 in the corner ).

AI4EP ( eating possum )

[KF0RT]

This is cool.

I haven't had ham plates in many years, but Colorado fixed the insurance scammers some time ago. The insurance computers are now linked to DMV. No insurance, no plates.

In fact, if you get rid of a car, you'll get a "special" card when the registration comes due. The card basically says that they have no record of insurance for that vehicle, and if you want plates, you will have to prove it's insured first.

The theory is that uninsured drivers cause everyone else's rates to be higher. So how come, now that this "fix" has been in place for a number of years, the rates haven't come down? I guess the insurance company answer to that would be "They haven't risen as much as they would have otherwise."

73, Rob

[N0KLT]

Rob,

You are now qualified to speak in 'insurance speak'. Ain't it great how much they save us without us even being able to tell there are savings. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[ky5u]

I have long suspected the international sign for Texan looked familiar....

[K9STH]

YO:

You got the handicapped symbol confused with the south Florida voters' symbol. You know, the one for those with the dimpled chads, hanging chads, voted for several people running for the same office, etc.

Glen, K9STH

[KA4DPO]

How do we know it's not one of those electric hamfest scooters?

[k6pme]

Hey, I like that "radio operator" part. Too bad California doesn't have that designation. Cool!

Do you really have to get your plates from the county tax assessor? That seems really stwange to me....

Congrats on your "first".

Monty

[K9STH]

QQL:

In Texas it is the county tax assessor / collector that is in charge of the vehicle licenses. The Texas State Department of Transportation is the state office that controls the license plates. Now the driver's license bureau is run by the Department of Public Safety (highway patrol) and the Department of Transportation.

You can renew your vehicle license plates at many supermarkets around the state. You can also renew by mail. There is an extra $1 charge for renewing by mail or at one of the supermarkets.

Usually when you show up at the tax assessor / collector's license tag office you have to wait in line for a while. Today my wife and I went by right at 3:00 PM and just as we walked down the aisle where you are supposed to wait for the next clerk, we not only were in the front of the line but one of the clerks just finished with a customer. Since I know the tax assessor / collector personally I told her that "Ken" had really improved service at the office. She told me that it was really the clerks that had improved the service. I had to admit that she was correct.

The Plano office is actually a satellite office from the one at McKinney. However, they do a lot more business than the "main" office at the county seat.

The tax assessor / collector also collects the property tax for the county, the school district, and the community college district. The City of Richardson sends out its own bills and does the collection. However, there is a "Central Appraisal Office" that does the calculation for all of the property taxes in the county (including the city). That office is about 1 block from the Plano vehicle license plate office. Since Richardson is divided with about 60 percent in Dallas County and 40 percent in Collin County it works out better for the city if the counties take care of the calculation of property taxes.

Texas has some "strange" political doings. Now there is one county office that I have "toyed" with running for. It is the Commissioner of Herds and Hides. No one has run for this office for almost 100 years in Collin County. There is no physical office at the county courthouse although the county would have to provide an office (probably in the basement next to the furnace) and there is no salary provided for the holder of this office. The person who would hold this office has two principal duties. The first is to maintain the registor of cattle brands (there is actually a state office that maintains these records - remember there are a lot of cattle ranches in Texas). The other primary duty is to regulate all cattle drives that venture onto public property or roads / highways.

Glen, K9STH

[K7FE]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v360/ElfSenshi/radiohandicapped.jpg

[WA5KRP]

Quote[/b] (K9STH @ Oct. 25 2005,18:59)]YO:

You got the handicapped symbol confused with the south Florida voters' symbol. #You know, the one for those with the dimpled chads, hanging chads, voted for several people running for the same office, etc.

Glen, K9STH
Ahem,


I believe that would be the one with a dunce hat.

http://www.neisd.net/isa/congrats/congrats/DSC00572.JPG


WA5KRP
Texas

[K9STH]

FE:

Although "modifying" the plate to look like that would be tempting, the State of Texas "frowns" on such modifications.

In fact, it is illegal to even put a license plate frame around your plates if any part of the lettering is obscured. Unfortunately, there are very few of those frames that do not cover at least part of the lettering. It is a $200 fine!

The car dealers have gotten very upset because of this law since these days they put a license plate frame with all of their dealer advertising on your vehicle when they install the license plates. The dealer has to forward the sales tax to the state before permanent plates will be issued. You have "paper plates" until the dealer gets your permanent plates (a maximum of 30 days allowed for the paper plates). Of course the dealer doesn't pay the state until the very last minute. Then you have to go to the dealer to pick up your license plates and they normally install them for "free". That is just an excuse so that they can put the advertising frame around the plates.

There have actually been some police officers "hang around" some high volume dealers and then pull over the cars as they drive down the street away from the dealer and issue a ticket for the license frame. This has resulted in some lawsuits against the dealer because they know what the law is. The result is that many dealers don't install the frames any more.

University of Texas graduates used to put a longhorn steer decal on their license plates. Since the state started "cracking down" on "modifications" to the license plates you don't see as many of those around anymore. Besides, you can now get vanity plates that already have the logo of most of the colleges and universities in the state already on them.

Anyway, like one of the state mottos, "Don't Mess With Texas" and that means the license plates as well.

Glen, K9STH

[N0KLT]

The U of Texas folks need to put the Longhorn decals on the plates of the A&M folks in view of the 'no mods' law there. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[K9STH]

A number of years ago the communications tower at Texas A&M needed to be repainted (this was before the change in the law that allows certain lighting instead of painting). So they had it repainted, in maroon and white. That did not "set well" with either the FCC or FAA. At the time the preferred colors were burnt orange and white.

Since it was either a daily fine for having the tower painted the wrong colors or there was going to be a large item painted in the colors of the University of Texas on the Texas A&M campus, someone got a "bright idea". They petitioned then United States Senator Phil Gramm (who had been a professor at Texas A&M) to get a special exemption for the tower at Texas A&M to allow it to be painted in the colors of Texas A&M instead of the University of Texas. This exemption was granted and the Texas Aggies were spared having the colors of the University of Texas displayed on their campus.

Glen, K9STH

[WA5VQM]

Quote[/b] (K9STH @ Oct. 25 2005,18:50)]....Texas has some "strange" political doings. Now there is one county office that I have "toyed" with running for. It is the Commissioner of Herds and Hides. No one has run for this office for almost 100 years in Collin County.....

Glen, K9STH
Too bad I'm in Denton County. I'd vote for you to gain access and undue political influence.

As it is you'll have to say you've "herd" neither "hide" nor hair of VQM....

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[K9STH]

You would have to come down to the basement of the courthouse, wind your way around to the back of the boiler, go through the janitor's closet, duck under some water pipes, and then crawl through a pile of discarded furniture to find me!

By the way, you are not but a few miles from me. My wife and I do get over to the new Krystal in Addison which should be just a couple of miles south of you.

Glen, K9STH

[WA5VQM]

Quote[/b] (K9STH @ Oct. 26 2005,10:57)]You would have to come down to the basement of the courthouse, wind your way around to the back of the boiler, go through the janitor's closet, duck under some water pipes, and then crawl through a pile of discarded furniture to find me!

By the way, you are not but a few miles from me. My wife and I do get over to the new Krystal in Addison which should be just a couple of miles south of you.

Glen, K9STH
I work just around the corner from there on Highlander Way!

73,

Mark - WA5VQM
( I guess I should get back to work, huh?)

[KD5NCO]

Thanks for the info Glen

I have Disabled Vet (DV) plates

DPS-1DV is issued to me

They used to put wheel chair on some DV plates but have not seen them since we went to the new flat plate versions.

I will have to call Austin tomorrow and see if there is a DV and radio operator variation possible.

Dang it I like my computer provided DV plate number... several of the local police down here initially gave chase until they got close enough to see that it was a DV plate.. one day I stopped and asked my county sheriff why he was tagging me and he said the plate looked like a spoof or forgery from a distance.

I showed him the county assessor form where Austin had sent DPS-1DV as my plate number... he said he would pass the word.

For the non Texans reading this...in Texas, DPS is the Department of Public Safety

[W2LYS]

Commisioner of Herds & Hides?

Does that exist in every county in Texas?

[K9STH]

Not anymore. Texas counties have the ability to eliminate certain countywide offices by a popular vote. The Commissioner of Herds and Hides has been eliminated by most of the counties since there are not that many trail drives these days. Also, the registry of cattle brands is maintained by the State of Texas. That is one facet of the "olde west" that still has a place in the state.

The office of County Treasurer has been eliminated by most of the urban and suburban counties in the state. However, there are still rural counties that still have the office. What the treasurer did in the past was taken over by the Tax Assessor / Collector (an elected office) several decades ago.

Glen, K9STH

[W2LYS]

Interesting. My county, Medina, is rather rural, and the cattle drive to the San Antonio Stock Show comes through it...

[K9STH]

You might check with the county and see if the office of Commissioner of Herds and Hides is still in effect. If so, then you could run for the office and be able to approve the route of the trail drive.

Glen, K9STH