Published: April 03, 2007 01:06 am         

Alternative plate becoming prevalent on Indiana vehicles

TERRE HAUTE — You’ve probably noticed new Indiana license plates with the words “In God we trust” on them popping up all over.

Since the new “In God we trust” plates became available Jan. 1, nearly 400,000 have been requested and issued around Indiana, said Greg Cook, communications director for the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. That means more than one in four vehicles eligible for the new plates have received one, Cook said.

A new state law that passed overwhelmingly in the Indiana General Assembly last year called on the BMV to issue the new plates beginning this year and to make them available to passenger vehicles, trucks with a gross weight of 11,000 pounds or less and recreational vehicles.

The law, authored by Rep. Woody Burton, R-Greenwood, also requires that the “In God we trust” plates be offered to Hoosier motorists at no additional charge compared with the standard Indiana plate.

In fact, the BMV is absorbing a cost of $3.69 for each plate ordered, according to a report in the Gary Post-Tribune.

The money needed to cover the cost is coming out of the Indiana Highway Fund, Cook said.

“It’s more of an alternative standard plate,” Cook said.

Indiana presently offers a number of “specialty” license plates, featuring college and university logos, “Kids First” and other slogans. The cost for those plates run between $15-25, Cook said. The most popular specialty plates are the Hoosier environmental plate, the Indiana University plate, the “Hoosier Veterans” plate and the “Kids First” plate, he said.

The “In God We Trust” plates have been fairly popular in Terre Haute, according to BMV figures. Just fewer than 6,000 such plates had been issued at the Terre Haute BMV branch as of last Saturday, Cook said. That makes Terre Haute’s BMV branch 11th in the state for issuing the new plate, he said.

The Indiana BMV branch that has issued the greatest number of “In God we trust” plates is in New Haven, near Fort Wayne. The second is in Beech Grove outside of Indianapolis and third is the Kokomo BMV branch, said Julie Fletcher, a BMV spokeswoman.

Other states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana offer plates reading “In God We Trust;” however, most of these plates include additional fees that are applied to specific charitable causes.

Arthur Foulkes can be contacted at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.