By Tim Binnall
A Nevada man says that his 'Area 51' vanity license plate has led to him receiving hundreds of erroneous traffic violations that have been committed by vehicles sporting fake versions of the identifier. The weird predicament reportedly began back in 2016 when Chris Sandoval purchased the personalized plate from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. While it is somewhat surprising that the homage to the clandestine military base believed to house downed UFOs and alien bodies had not already been snatched up by some other motorist, what befell the Reno resident after he got the plate might explain why it was available.
According to Sandoval, within a few weeks of receiving the marker, curious traffic tickets from jurisdictions throughout the country began arriving in the mail. "There's probably been about 350 violations that I've had to deal with," the motorist marveled, indicating that "I would just send the original copy back to the agency in a dispute letter." The cause of the confusion, Sandoval explained, is a scheme known as 'cold plating,' wherein people in various municipalities across America "were driving through tolls with 'Area 51' license plates that they bought at souvenir stores somewhere in Nevada."
Following a recent incident in which a vehicle bearing one of the fake plates was involved in a hit-and-run accident and cops reached out to Sandoval for questioning, he finally decided to protect himself from any further trouble by creating a limited liability company to act as owner of the DMV-issued marker. The transfer, the motorist said, will also shield his credit rating should one of the erroneous tickets "slip through the cracks" and he misses filing a dispute. Despite the annoyance that the identifier has caused, Sandoval says that he has no intention of getting rid of the vanity plate and simply mused that "it's just something you have to pay the price for owning.”