(Radio Iowa) – A change in Department of Transportation rules for specialty plates pushed by ham radio enthusiasts is moving forward. The director of the D-O-T Motor Vehicle Division, Melissa Gillett, says they will now allow the number zero to be used on the plates. She says there was interest from those who wanted to put their call letters on a blackout plate and they needed the ability to use zero to do that.

Police historically have not wanted the use of zero for one reason. She says there felt there would be confusion between the letter ‘O’ and zero. But now because there is a slash through the zero — police believe they will be able to easily distinguish between the two.

The blackout plates continue to be the top seller of specialty plates in the state and ham radio operators can now personalize them in their own way. She says once they got the change in how the zero is present it was not an issue.