Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) will no longer require drivers to apply licence plate validation stickers starting March 1, 2016, the province announced Friday.
Auto insurance
Manitoba will no longer require drivers to apply registration stickers on their licence plates starting in March. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)
New technology has made the small rectangular stickers applied to the bottom corners of licence plates, obsolete.
Police are now equipped with scanners that instantly read licence plate numbers and determine the registration status of vehicles on the road, said the province.
"These devices are highly efficient and alert officers immediately if a vehicle's registration and insurance has lapsed and is invalid," the release states.
Scanner
A scanner on the roof of a police vehicle automatically reads licence plates. (CBC/Jaison Empson)
The new system is easier for drivers as well, said Ward Keith, chief product officer with Manitoba Public Insurance.
"Our customers will also find it more convenient to not have to apply stickers to their licence plates," he said in the release.
For drivers who renew their Autopac policies after February 29, they will receive a blank sticker to cover up their outdated registration stickers, said Keith.
MPI staggers its renewal system every five years so the province said the sticker transition will be fully completed by March 1, 2021.