License plate proposal aims at child safety

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent  |  November 27, 2005

He saw the news in June 2000, when 16-year-old Molly Bish was abducted from Comins Pond in Warren, where she worked as a lifeguard. Her remains were found three years later, 5 miles from her home.

Then, in 2002, Elizabeth Smart, a Salt Lake City teenager, was abducted from her bedroom as her parents slept in the next room. She was held hostage for nine months.

''This all had a profound effect on me," said Richard, 52, sitting at his home on Bass Rocks Road in Gloucester. ''When the Liz Smart story hit, the other shoe dropped. I said to myself, I had to do something about this."

So Richard, a businessman and inventor in the semiconductor industry, created the EZ-ID License Plate Program, a system that would replace the current six-character plates found on most Massachusetts cars with luminescent plates that use one symbol and no more than three numbers or letters.

Molly's Law, which is now before the Legislature, would roll out Richard's system over five years, replacing existing plates as they come due for registration. The bill was written by state Senator Bruce Tarr, Republican of Gloucester, and is being pushed on the House side by Representative Anthony J. Verga, Democrat of Gloucester. It could be acted on when the Legislature reconvenes in January, Tarr said.

''The bad guys don't take the bus, they use private vehicles," Richard said. ''I wanted to do something to make the vehicle more identifiable and this could be a deterrent. If not, it can help in recovery. If we don't get the guy on the highway, we're knocking on his door."

The program is supported by the Bish and Smart families, said Richard, who is father to two adult sons. Both families have stayed in his home, he said, and believe the plan should be implemented nationwide.

The Massachusetts license plate system uses letters and numbers, with a possible 1.8 billion combinations. If Molly's Law passes, each plate would have a symbol, like a star, triangle, or diamond, he said, and the three letters or numbers would be bigger and far easier to read and remember. Even in the rearview mirror, the symbol would be recognizable. The possible combinations would more than cover the nearly five million registered cars in Massachusetts, Richard said.

Identifying just the car color with the plate symbol and just one character would give authorities a one in 123 chance of identifying the vehicle under the EZ-ID system, Richard said. Getting the car color and one character in a six-character plate reduces those odds to one in more than five million, he said.

Molly's Law carries a provision to make the new plates photo-luminescent. The numbers and symbol would glow in the dark, making it easier to read even if the car's lights are shut off. Richard is founder of Sun-Up Productions in Danvers, which creates luminescent products.
The plates could glow up to 54 hours in complete darkness, he said. The added benefit of glowing plates would be in helping authorities find cars used in other crimes or hit-and-run accidents.

There would be about 15 stock symbols and a possible 15 others that can be bought under a vanity system that could generate at least $20 million a year for the state. If more vanity symbols are offered, revenue would increase, Richard said. The money could be earmarked for child-safety and awareness programs, Richard said. Existing low-number, vanity, and other specialty plates, such as those bearing the symbols of the right whale and Boston Red Sox, would not be replaced since they are already easily recognizable.

The cost of retooling machinery in state prisons where plates are made would be about $140,000, he said. It would be necessary to rework various computer systems in the state and nationwide to accommodate the new license plate program, he said. The new plates would cost an extra 50 cents to $1, Richard said, noting that any additional cost would be offset by the millions expected to be generated by motorists buying special symbol vanity plates.

The day before her daughter went missing, Magi Bish said, she had dropped Molly off at work early in the morning and spotted a suspicious man nearby standing near a white car, smoking a cigarette. She felt uneasy and stuck around until he left, not wanting to leave Molly alone in the area with him.
The next day, Molly disappeared. Since then, not a day has gone by, it seems, that Magi Bish hasn't seen a white car and wondered.

''Without intending to, I'd be heading to the dentist or some place and would see a white car and turn around and follow it, frightened that this could be the person in the area," she said. ''And trying to remember a license plate can be hard. You could be in a traumatic state, or you might not have a pen and paper."

Time is of the essence in child abductions, Richard said. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 74 percent of abducted children who are murdered are killed within three hours of their abduction.

''Absolutely no one has said this is a bad idea," Tarr said. ''The concerns are more logistical, it's a huge undertaking to change every plate in Massachusetts [except existing low-number and vanity plates]. I think the biggest problem is inertia, the force it takes to overcome a system that has existed for a very long time."

But, he said, it is a new way that ''can have a dramatic impact on public safety. The Bishes can give a concrete example of how this would have made a difference and possibly saved a life."

The State Police and the Registry of Motor Vehicles declined to comment on pending legislation.

''This is a great thing," said Dan Moniz, a volunteer who represents the state at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ''Couple this with the Amber Alert and there's a very good chance we'll get the person who abducted a child."

Amber Alert is a system that immediately notifies the public of missing children through a variety of broadcasts and highway signs.

Robert Barry, a Weymouth police officer and president of the Massachusetts Safety Officers League, said Richard's system ''will save children's lives."

''There are not a lot of things we as officers see that can actually help children," Barry said. ''This is a new tool that is powerful. Just the fact that it makes a predator's car more identifiable can be a deterrent."

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.