license plates

The license plate on top was issued until about a month ago, when it was replaced with the version on bottom.

(Courtesy photo)

LANSING, MI – A license plate once voted the world's best was quietly replaced last month after law enforcement officers complained they weren't the world's most visible.

Michael Yott, Jr. is a law enforcement officer with St. Clair Shores Police. He started an online petition to replace the plates, which got more than 700 signatures.

"I was petitioning to have these plates removed due to lack of roadway visibility. Sometimes the best way to identify vehicles on the road for purposes of suspect identification is by the license plate. These plates had very low visibility, and because of this, I wanted them removed," Yott said.

First issued in August of 2013, the plates voted world's best by the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association featured the Mackinac Bridge against a bright orange sunset. The letters were white. The newer plates have a more muted yellow-orange background that is faded in, and feature black letters.

Secretary of State spokesperson Fred Woodhams said the new version has been in circulation for about a month now.

"We made some changes to the design after a year to ensure it can be very easily read in all conditions, particularly at night. The letters are black now, but the design and color scheme are largely the same," Woodhams said.

The license plate's artist, Brian Whitfield, said when the SOS approached him about it he was able to alter a few details from the original to make it more visible.

Yott said he has six and a half years of law enforcement experience, and law enforcement officers he talked to agreed the plates weren't visible enough.

Woodhams said the SOS changed the license plates after getting complaints from individual law enforcement officers.

The samples of the plate that the SOS reviewed did not end up being the production version, he said. The vendor added a more reflective coating.

"The extra reflectivity affected the readability of the plate in certain lighting situations," Woodhams said.

The re-design was rolled out to ensure that "it can be very easily read in all conditions, particularly at night," Woodhams said. This time the SOS got to review production versions.

Whitfield too said the reflective coating had altered the original plate's appearance. Just last week, he got the new version for his personal vehicle.

"I just got the new one when it just came out and I really like that one," Whitfield said.

The Michigan State Police collaborated with the Secretary of State on testing the plates' visibility at a closed driving track in Lansing.

"They were able to pull up behind a vehicle with that license plate and test different lengths of differences with lighting," said State Police spokesperson Shannon Banner.

Yott said that with the new plate rolling out he considers the issue resolved, and hopes the plates with black letters will be more visible.

Emily Lawler is a Capital/Lansing business reporter for MLive. You can reach her at elawler@mlive.com, subscribe to her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter: @emilyjanelawler.