Molly's Bill proposes new car plates

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Every 40 seconds in the United States a child goes missing, say advocates. They say those who are kidnapped are almost always abducted in cars.

Massachusetts license plates come in six number and letter combinations. Missing children advocates testified before the Legislature’s transportation committee Wednesday, saying state license plates too hard too read and remember.

Over ten years ago, Magi Bish’s daughter Molly went missing in Warren. Bish is supporting Molly’s bill, which proposes to simplify state license plates into short symbol, letter and number combinations – what advocates call EZID plates – so that cars, a key tool used by child abductors, can be easy to identify.

“My greatest sadness is that there was a vehicle at the pond the day before Molly went missing and I had seen that vehicle, but I did not get the license plate,” said Bish. “Could the course of history have been different?”

“The ingenious simplicity of this program aligns the Massachusetts vehicle registration program with the human cognitive recognition skills in retention ability,” said Jay Gardiner, the director of the Molly Bish Center.

Bill supporters presented an EZID license plate prototype to lawmakers. The plate has five characters to keep it short. It contains four letter or number characters and one symbol such as a diamond, heart or triangle.

“Cognitive studies show that symbols, people do recognize them and can recall them even as young as two and a half years old,” said Gary Richard, president of the EZID License Plate Program.

Advocates say the EZID license plates combined with the Amber Alert will deliver a one-two punch against child abductors.