POMPANY BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A Pompano Beach woman is getting laughs — and a few honks — after receiving a new Florida license plate with a message she says never should have made it through the state’s screening process.
According to our news partners at CBS News Miami, Nancy Dello Stritto, who is nearly 77, opened her vehicle registration renewal and found a plate that read “SQZ A55.” Dello Stritto said the configuration could be read as a crude phrase and said she was shocked it was issued.
“I don’t think a senior who is almost 77 will be driving around with a plate that has that to say,” she told CBS Miami. “When I saw that, I went ballistic. I said, ‘How could that pass inspection?’”
The plate has since become a running joke in her retirement community. Dello Stritto said her family and friends are overwhelmingly urging her to keep it, with the unofficial vote standing at 16-1 in favor of leaving it on her car.
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‘How could that pass inspection?’ Nancy Dello’s new license plate SQZ-A55 has become a topic of conversation with most of her family and friends encouraging her to keep it. (CBS News Miami)
It is not clear how the plate made it into circulation. CBS Miami reported that Florida license plates are manufactured at a state prison in North Florida before being distributed through county agencies. Dello Stritto’s plate was mailed from the Broward County Property Tax Collector’s Office.
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CBS Miami contacted the office, where a manager said Broward County will replace a plate deemed offensive for free at its Plantation office.
For now, Dello Stritto said she plans to keep the plate, but she also intends to notify the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
“I’m resigned to it; maybe it was destined for it to be on my car,” she told the station, adding, “I can handle it; maybe I’ll even get some honks.”