When I’m driving and am behind a car with a personalized license plate, I always pay attention, wonder about the driver and in some cases, am amused.

I have thought about a personalized plate myself because I am not good with numbers and only remember the last three numbers of my plate. If my car were stolen I’d have to go to my phone and the picture I took of my license plate to report the theft. But am I brave enough for a personalized plate?

For fun in the hot weather, I looked around for personalized license plates and then I checked on the cost of such plates. Drivers can order plates with new art and then have their full plate numbers or letters on the plate; they can order special designs with shortened spots for letters or numbers. (Words and numbers on Nevada license plates must always be in good taste, of course, and personalized plates typically take six to eight weeks for delivery.)

An entire page of available license plate designs along with a Personalized License Plate Information Sheet is available in Nevada along with a Personalized License Plate Application. License plate design fees are in addition to all other registration fees and taxes.

I was shocked….not so much at the prices (again in addition to the normal annual vehicle registration fees and taxes), but at the variety of license plate designs and codes and prefixes available in Nevada. I printed out some six pages of codes and prefixes celebrating personalized designs of license lates that help various organizations. The fees associated with these plates, such as $96 for an Opportunity Village license plate with the initials “XX” with four characters, also means $25 of the driver’s fee goes to the sponsoring agency (Opportunity Village). Every time that particular license is renewed (for $50), another $20 goes to Opportunity Village. Wow, some personalized plates are very good deeds.

Incidentally, if you see a license plate that says CONMH with just two letters or numbers…that’s a Congressional Medal of Honor driver.

I don’t know what it says about a driver who chooses a personalized plate with just new words. Perhaps, like me, the driver has a hard time remembering complicated numbered plates. I gather the driver with a personalized word plate is not a criminal because onlookers would surely remember the plate should a bank be robbed or a hit-and-run accident occur. I also assume the driver is somewhat outgoing and doesn’t mind if people comment on his (or her) plate. And in some cases, the driver has a great sense of humor.

Here are a few of the word plates I found while driving through a number of parking lots near home: (Feel free to note your own favorite plates in the comments section.)