How do you do, fellow kids? License to Emoji It’s the natural evolution of the vanity license plate: emoji. As of March 1, drivers in Queensland, Australia will be able to include one of five emoji in their license plates: laughing out loud, winking face, sunglasses, heart eyes, and the classic smiley face. “For quite some time we’ve seen that you can support your favourite team or your favourite town with a symbol on your number plate,” Royal Automobile Club of Queensland spokeswoman Rebecca Michael told 7News Brisbane. “And using an emoji is no different.” Cool Sunglasses Face If you drive a vehicle in Queensland, you can pre-order your own customized plate right now on the website of government-approved plate vendor Personalised Plates Queensland (PPQ.) Advertisement Advertisement Drivers will like need to pay a fee somewhere between $160 to $500 in Australian dollars to get the new emoji, according to 7News. Mo’ ‘Mojis, Mo’ Problems One problem remains: police could be thrown off by the unusual new plates. “How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?” Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts asked the Brisbane Times. READ MORE: Queensland drivers set to get emoji number plates [new.com.au] Advertisement Advertisement More on license plates: A “Smart” License Plate: To Buy or Not to Buy? As a Futurism reader, we invite you join the Singularity Global Community, our parent company’s forum to discuss futuristic science & technology with like-minded people from all over the world. It’s free to join, sign up now!<doc-sep>Drivers in Australia can now incorporate an emoji icon as part of their vehicle's license plates. A choice of five emojis can be added to plates registered in the state of Queensland from March 1, 2019. People can only choose the emojis "laughing out loud," "winking face," "cool sunglasses," "heart eyes," and "smiley face." The state government-owned company Personalised Plates Queensland will offer the service, which will cost between $115 (AUS$160) and $358 (AUS$500). Australia is letting drivers add an emoji to their official government issued license plates. Drivers in the state of Queensland are able to add one of five emoji to the end of their usual state issued license plate numbers from March 1. People can choose "laughing out loud," "winking face," "cool sunglasses," "heart eyes," and "smiley face" emojis. The government's personalization service, Personalised Plates Queensland, have been advertising sample plates, like these below on their Instagram page in the run up to March 1: These new plates will still have the three-letter and two-number combination required by law, with the emoji coming next. The price for the plates has not yet been announced on the government's website, but are estimated to be between $160 AUD and $500 AUD, Daily Mail Australia reported. An Instagram story from Personalised Plated Queensland on Tuesday asks" "Which emoji would you chose?" Instagram/PersonalisedPlatesQueensland The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) welcomed the scheme, which they noted was similar to customization schemes which already exist. Read more: Here’s every single new emoji arriving in 2019 RACQ Spokeswoman Dr Rebecca Michael said: "You can support your favorite team or your favorite town with a symbol on your number plate and using an emoji is no different," Seven Network reported. The new license plates will still have the three-letter and two-number combination, which can then be proceeded with an emoji. Pictured, the city of Brisbane in Queensland. Shutterstock/KY CHO Not everyone is happy with the development. Bill Potts, president of the Queensland Law Society, criticised the move in an interview with the Brisbane Times, saying that "clearly the government is trying to sex up number plates." "But the purpose of number plates is for the police to be able to identify vehicles." "How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?" The emoji on the plates will not be part of the official license identification process and is just illustrative, Personalised Plates Queensland noted on their website. The proceeds from the sale of personalised plates helps support Queensland Government initiatives, including road safety, Queensland government wrote on its website.<doc-sep>(CNN) Emojis already light up text messages, social media, advertisements, even a movie. Now they're about to hit Australian roads. From March 1, drivers in the state of Queensland can personalize their license plates with a limited selection of the distinctive images. Plates will still need three letters and two numbers, as the emojis will not be included in official registration numbers. However drivers can decorate them with one of five decorative emojis -- "laugh out loud," "wink," "sunglasses," "heart eyes" or "smile" -- for up to AU$500 ($350). Royal Automobile Club of Queensland spokeswoman Rebecca Michael said emojis were a natural extension of other personalized plates. "You can support your favorite team or your favorite town with a symbol on your number plate and using an emoji is no different," she told CNN affiliate Seven Network.<doc-sep>
Drivers in the Australian state of Queensland will soon be able to personalize their license plates with emoji. The state’s official license plate vendor, Personalised Plates Queensland (PPQ), is launching the option on March 1st, with preorders available now. PPQ already offers a range of personalization options, including colors, themes, and the logos of local sports teams. A spokeswoman for the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, Rebecca Michael, told 7News Brisbane that offering emoji was a natural extension. “For quite some time we’ve seen that you can support your favorite team or your favurite town with a symbol on your number plate,” said Dr Michael. “And using an emoji is no different.” There are limits though. Drivers won’t be able to have plates that use only emoji. They’ll be constrained to just one emoji chosen from five options: a face-with-tears-of-joy (better known as the crying laughing emoji), sunglasses emoji, winking emoji, smiling emoji, and heart-eyes emoji. (So: no eggplants and peaches.) Prices start at 475AUD or around $340. “How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?” Some have warned that the plates could be a distraction. “Clearly the government is trying to sex up number plates, with a view to making more money, and I can understand that,” Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts told the Brisbane Times. “But the purpose of number plates is for the police to be able to identify vehicles. How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?” Given the difficulty that even the courts have the interpreting emoji, this isn’t an unwarranted fear. But PPQ says the emoji are purely decorative, and don’t form part of the registration number (or “rego”). In that case, they may even help identify drivers in emergencies. After all, it’s easier to remember a car with an obnoxious crying-laughing face on it than it is an alphanumeric.