NC DMV running out of OBX license plates

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles is running out of OBX license plates.

The DMV likely will run out of possible combinations for the license plates that begin with “OBX” – an abbreviation for the Outer Banks – sometime in 2018, according to a report by The Outer Banks Voice.

DMV spokesman John Brockwell said 93,500 OBX license plates have been issued in North Carolina as of the end of June – meaning there are just about 6,500 possible combinations left.

The first OBX license plates were issued in 1999, according to the Voice, with the letters followed by three numbers. But to meet demand, more digits were added until there was no more room on the license plate.

Anyone can get an OBX license plate – you don’t have to live in the Outer Banks. Drivers just have to get their plate from the Manteo DMV.

And no one knows what will happen when the final 99,999th plate is issued – or, at least, no one is saying what will happen yet.

“No decisions have been made about what to do next,” Brockwell told the Voice. “There are no plans right now.”

One option might be to have plates that start with OBX and end with a four numbers and then another letter at the end.

This story was originally published July 10, 2017 at 2:01 PM with the headline "NC DMV running out of OBX license plates."