Question: “Who is responsible for removing the county from the new Ohio license plates? Showing the county was an advantage for the traveler as well as the good (local) driver, because when you noticed an out-of-city plate, you always were more careful, as they could be unfamiliar with Cincy streets...”

        Riding that reader's bumper was another one, who wanted to know why Ohio requires a front license plate, while some states (Kentucky in particular) require only one — in the rear.

        Answers: First, let's commend the reader who excuses tentative driving by unfamiliar drivers and even offers to help them with directions. The Stupid staff suggests the same consideration for Cincinnati east-siders feeling their way through Finneytown. But on to the answers.

        Newer license plates in Ohio do have county stickers, but they come in the form of numbers — not words.

        Number designations have been around since 1992, when the state started producing special plates (military, colleges, Lake Erie) that left little room for HAMILTON, let alone TUSCARAWAS. Regular plates continued to use stickers that spelled out county names.

        When the Bicentennial plate was introduced in October 2001, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles decided to use numbers exclusively for county identification, again, because of limited space. The stickers go in the lower left corner of both the front and rear plates.

        The numbers — 1 through 88 — are matched to an alphabetical list of the counties. A 31 will tell you the car is registered in Hamilton County. Other local numbers: 8 (Brown), 9 (Butler), 13 (Clermont), 14 (Clinton), 36 (Highland) and 83 (Warren).

        On the matter of one plate vs. two, the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Highway Patrol argue that front plates make it easier to see oncoming cars with headlights off and for school-bus drivers and citizens who report crimes and suspicious activities.

        Thirty-one states require two license plates per vehicle.

        Ohio license plates and stickers are produced by Ohio Prison Industries (OPI), at the Lebanon Correctional Institute in 83. (That's Warren County. Remember?)

        Tuscarawas County, by the way, is in east-central Ohio, about 40 miles west of Steubenville.

       If you have a stupid question, send it to Ask a Stupid Question by mail: c/o Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: mpulfer@enquirer.com.

New grads find home is sweet
Ask A Stupid Question
KIESEWETTER: Reds radio no place for sexual ad
Fit Bits
Five tips for healthy, long-term weight loss
Group sessions with trainer can be affordable, fun
The joy of exercise
30-pound piranha outgrowing tank
Man accidentally leaves wife at truck stop
Man who started college in 1920 finally gets degree
Springdale teacher touched by 'great class'
Broadway grosses slip in 2001-2002
'Sum of All Fears' attacks 'Clones' lead
'The Goat' best play; 'Millie' best-liked in Tonys
Toots and Luciano get to soul of reggae
Get To It