In his April 17 letter, “Olympia takes license with ‘fees’,” one point Paul E. Nelson made was that new plates every seven years was a waste of money. I believe the same and not long ago I called one of our representatives. I was told that the reason we get new plates every seven years is because the Washington State Patrol requested that to happen as the reflective quality of the plates has deteriorated to the point that reading them at night is difficult.
But, I would like to point out that in the more than 20 years I lived in Alaska with really harsh road and weather conditions, I never had to replace a plate because of the reflective quality going bad. I suggest the state of Washington find out who makes the plates for Alaska and what kind of paint they use so Washington could get the same kind and save a bunch of money for us taxpayers.
Also, paying a fee every year is ridiculous. Why not every other year and save money for us that way, too.
Sandra Nesvick
Vancouver
