00:00A mom was stunned to find herself in a battle to keep the personalized license plate that had
00:05adorned her car for 15 years without incident. The DMV decided there was an issue, calling the
00:11message inappropriate. Wendy Auger, a New Hampshire mom, never thought her personalized license plate
00:16would land her in a battle with her state's DMV. After 15 years of having the same vanity plate,
00:22she was put on notice when she received a letter from the state of New Hampshire,
00:26telling her that her personalized plate was being recalled.
00:30Wendy had chosen her plate as a little nod to her kids, using a phrase she often said to them
00:34before
00:34their travels. Her vanity plate read, pee before we go, or pee before we go, something she often told
00:41her kids before they got in the car. After having it on her car for a decade and a half
00:46without issue,
00:47she was told her plate could no longer bear the cute message to her children.
00:51That's what I tell my kids when we're about to leave to go anywhere, Wendy told Inside Edition,
00:56saying that it was an ongoing conversation with her kids over the years.
01:00The New Hampshire mom admits the plate has garnered attention over the years,
01:03but she never expected it would become an issue with the state, leaving her fighting to keep it.
01:08Almost every time I'm driving, I get people taking pictures of it, people laughing, waving,
01:14Wendy said. But apparently, the state of New Hampshire didn't find it funny.
01:18Instead, the letter they sent, telling her it was being recalled, and she had 10 days to surrender
01:23her plate. Cited a ban on plates referring to sexual or excretory acts or functions, Fox News
01:29reported. The recall letter gave Wendy the option to chose another vanity plate at no extra cost,
01:35or have one assigned of her. If she chose to get a regular plate, a portion of her vanity plate
01:40fee
01:40would be refunded to her, according to the letter, but that still didn't sit well to Wendy.
01:44I was pissed. Wendy admitted, pun intended. I wasn't going to go down without a fight,
01:50she added, and she appealed the decision. I'm mad a political activist, Wendy said.
01:56But, this is a non-offensive thing that I've had, and it's part of who we are as a family
02:00and who I
02:01am, and there was zero reason for them to take it away. The frustrated mom further. Who has a mom
02:07or
02:07dad or parental figure who hasn't said that to kids before leaving the house? She asked, rhetorically.
02:13Luckily, she wasn't the only one who was unhappy about the state's decision.
02:17After hearing about Wendy Auger's situation from a mutual friend, the governor of New Hampshire
02:22decided to get involved. Upon this being brought to my attention, I reached out to the Division of
02:27Motor Vehicles and strongly urged them to allow Wendy to keep the license plate she has had for the
02:32last 15 years, he said in a statement. Thanks to the governor's intervention, the DMV changed their
02:38decision and Wendy Auger got to keep her license plate. Yes, it was a relief, she said.
02:42Again, with pun intended, adding that she was stoked to be able to keep her plate, according
02:48to Time. Wendy Auger isn't the only one who's battled the state of New Hampshire and won.
02:53In fact, it was a 2014 Supreme Court case that caused the state to crack down and become more
02:59restrictive about what it allows on vanity plates since a man, in that case, won the right
03:04to have a copsly plate, a message many would find offensive. While many understand that the
03:09DMV doesn't want messages displayed that could cause a distraction, we realize that what one
03:14finds offensive, another may not. The question is how many need to be offended for something to be
03:19banned. Just one? That's a dangerous precedent. Some suggest the best course of action is doing
03:25away with personalized plates. But, what stops someone from putting your message on a bumper sticker?
03:31Perhaps the best solution is for the offended to learn to cope with their feelings, rather than waste
03:35time and resources on trivial issues. Most of us can think of much better things for our local DMV
03:41to do than police personalized plates.
