The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is announcing proactive steps to protect Nebraska residents from receiving erroneous notices of outstanding tolls and fines from out-of-state government agencies.

The current county specific license plates issued for farm and commercial vehicles contain a numerical sequence which may be the same numerical sequence on more than five different plate types.

As states and cities are increasing the use of electronic tolling and parking enforcement, the chance for a vehicle owner in Nebraska to receive an errant notice of an outstanding ticket or toll increases.

To address the issue the farm and commercial license plates issued with a county numerical designation will have an alpha character(s) added to the end of the plate number beginning with the 2017 plate issuance year.The new plate numbering sequence will eliminate approximately 500,000 duplicate numbers.

Hundreds of Nebraska residents contact the DMV for assistance resolving these erroneous notifications. In cases where Nebraskans ignore the notices they may encounter unintended and surprising consequences; such aslate fees, driver license suspensions, orders for vehicle impoundment, or even arrest warrants if the owner were to visit the state where the violation occurred.

“The license plates changes are a proactive step we are taking to protect Nebraskans.We want to ensure all reasonable steps are taken to prevent Nebraskans from unexpected negative consequences.I encourage anyone to contact us for assistance if they receive an unwarranted notice,” stated DMV Director Rhonda Lahm.

Download the official news release