Drivers will be able to add a smile to their Skoda or hearts to their Honda with personalised number plates featuring emojis being launched in Australia.
The decorative faces can be added to number plates in Queensland from the start of March – with people having the choice between a winking, smiling or laughing face, the heart eyes or the sunglasses emoticon.
The five faces will not form part of the identity of the car, so there’s little chance of overhearing “winky face” on a police radio any time soon.
Plates will cost 475 Australian dollars – around £260 – with Personalised Plates Queensland (PPQ) saying they were limiting the range to the five famous faces.
Speaking to the Brisbane Times, Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts questioned whether the emojis could cause problems for the police’s number plate recognition system, and added: “How do you write down the emoji in your number plate after an accident?”
“There should be changeable emojis, so the face turns from a frown to a smiley depending on the driver’s mood and as the traffic gets heavier it becomes angrier,” he said.
“I’m still a big believer in the turd. If someone is in real trouble, the smiling turd should come up.”
PPQ said the emojis would form part of the “background” of the plate rather than a part of the registration and added Queenslanders could currently choose to show off support for their favourite sports team in a similar way.
Published in Daily Times, February 21st 2019.