Following the passage of Senate Bill 789-A last June, beginning January 2nd, Oregon will join 11 other states where residents can order a Share the Road license plate through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The plates will cost $10 (or $20 for four years) and the proceeds will go to cycling-related causes. Money raised (approximately $8.25 of each plate) will be doled out by the Cycle Oregon Fund and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA).
According to a press release from Cycle Oregon, fees to create the plate totaled more than $20,000, and were paid by Cycle Oregon, the BTA and the Oregon Trucking Association.
If more than 1,000 plates are issued in the first year, $10,000 of that amount is refunded. In addition, at least 500 plates per year must be issued in order to keep the Share the Road plate available.
Senator Floyd Prozanski, who sponsored the bill after losing his friend Jane Higdon in a bike/car collision, refers to the new plates as “a sort of moving public service announcement.”
Cycle Oregon ride director Jerry Norquist sees the plates as an important step in a “long term process” and adds that Oregon’s eventual goal is to “…be the first state with a public policy that requires ‘Share the Road’ to be included on every license plate issued.”
To receive the new plate, just write ‘I want the Share The Road plate’ on your renewal notice and send it in with an additional $10 above your regular renewal fee. If you’re between renewals, you can order the plate anytime after January 2 online or through a DMV office, for a $15 replacement plate fee plus the additional $10.
For more information download the press release (PDF).