CLEVELAND — Whether it was for "MURD3R," "HATEPPL," "UGH FML," "SMT A55," or "ANTIFA," Ohioans were unsuccessful in securing certain vanity plates in 2022.
The Ohio BMV denied 759 plate ideas throughout 2022, down about 9% compared to the 828 denied in 2021.
Most requests are denied for including references to profanity, drugs, sex, or other inappropriate combinations of letters and numbers.
One letter can lead to a world of word possibilities, but many Ohioans seem to have used the same meaning for the letter "F" in their vanity plate request; 48% of all denials contained that letter.
In June, when gas prices exceeded $5/gallon, "GASFML" was one of the requests made.
References to drugs, including "SMUGGLR," "DRG DELR" also did not make the cut, which, had they gone through, would have made things easier for police.
Political references, including President Biden and "Let's Go Brandon" also made up a substantial number of rejected plate submissions.
See the full list of 2022's rejected vanity plates from the Ohio BMV below.
WARNING: The plates listed below contain references, allusions to and altered spellings of profanity and sexually explicit terms, as well as potentially disturbing and upsetting hate language. Reader discretion is strongly recommended.
Click here to download and view the PDF full-screen.
In a 2021 conversation with News 5, Charlie Norman, registrar for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, said Ohio currently has more than 500,000 vanity plates in the state.
Watch our report on 2021's rejected plates below:
RELATED 2021 LIST: Ohio BMV releases rejected vanity license plate names
“We're generally looking for things that are profane, sexually explicit or advocate lawlessness,” Norman said at the time.
The BMV has four employees who are dedicated to sorting through all of the applications and looking for certain violations.
Most of the requests that get denied fall into the vulgar or poor taste category. If you feel you’ve been unfairly denied, you can fight it.
Drivers can get a vanity plate by applying online or in person. The cost is $50.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
