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Plate Atlas
Driving abroad

Driving in United States

The licence plates you will see on the road in United States, how to read them, and what a car from abroad needs.

Before you drive

Vignette and tolls
There is no vignette. Many toll roads, bridges and tunnels charge electronically: E-ZPass works across the states in the eastern half of the country, other regions have their own tags, and some toll points bill by plate instead of taking cash.

Rules and prices change. Check the official site before you travel.

USA

Country code

Cars registered here show the country code USA. Abroad, the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic asks for it at the rear of the car: on a white oval sticker, or as part of the plate. A car from abroad shows its own country code at the rear in the same way.

Reading the plates

Plates carry a regional code. A list of the codes for this country is not on the site yet.

Older plates still on the road

Plate formats and history of United States

Sources