State Doing Away With Yellow Plates

The lemon-yellow personalized license plates in Washington state will soon be a thing of the past.

The Washington State Department of Licensing announced Tuesday it would discontinue the yellow plates by the middle of next month.

As of May 16, only the traditional mountain-background plates will be available for personalized use, according to a statement from the licensing department.

The problem with the plates is the paint, the department said. It tends to fade quickly, making the plate difficult to read.

Lemon-yellow plates that are already in use are still valid. But when it’s time for a replacement, the reissue will be on the mountain background.