Does Texas Need ‘Whiskey Plates’ for Repeat DWI Offenders?

When I moved up to Minnesota, I learned from friends that "whiskey plates" or "drunk plates" are a thing after noticing some weird-looking license plates. It's something we don't have here in Texas that you can only find in a handful of states. But do we need them?

Whiskey plates are special license plates issued to DWI offenders for a number of different reasons (you can find the list here) and remain on the drunk drivers' vehicles during the impoundment process until they are legally allowed to drive without them.

They look different from all of the other plates in Minnesota because these all begin with the letter "W," which means they can easily be identified by police. Someone with those plates is subject to a bit more inspection by an officer in the event they are pulled over.

If the owner of a vehicle is driven by someone else that receives a DUI, the innocent owner would also be subject to having the plates on their vehicle as well -- and vice versa. For example, if you drive a car to high school that your dad owns and he's issued drunk plates for driving while intoxicated, you would also have to have those plates on your car for everyone at your high school to see. Quite embarrassing, but it gets the point across that the cops don't want you driving around drunk, period.

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MoneyGeek reported that between 2017 and 2019, there were over 10,000 fatal crashes on Texas roads, 25 percent of which were attributed to drunk driving. We saw a massive increase in drunk driving accidents in 2021. The month of March alone saw 2,458 crashes caused by drunk driving, which was a 30 percent increase from the month prior.

Texas has no shortage of drunk drivers. Do you think it would be beneficial if we had some kind of drunk plates here? Would it inspire people to take an Uber, or be less likely to get behind the wheel until they've had some time to sober up? It seems that being called out publicly like that might strike a nerve with people that didn't learn their lesson the first time. Comment below or on our Facebook page.