The Mystery of Steve Jobs’ Plateless Benz [Steve Jobs]

Whenever you ranked the things in life that Jobs seems perfectly content to ignore, license plates can be up there with Handicap parking spaces, three-piece suits and customer demands. The proof, as it were, is all over Flickr.

His 2007 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG has been shot without proper attire more times than an HP marketing contractor.

The only other thing abundant than the photos are the myriad theories behind how Silicon Valley’s most notorious PL8 H8TR generates this special vehicular-code distortion field.

Some claim their absence is linked to certain privacy concessions. Others insist that overzealous fanboys swipe the roadster’s tags each time they’re mounted. These are often these same those who whisper of a different Back to the long run-style, state-issued barcode (it’s actually the vehicle identification number), secret agreements with a shadow branch of DMV (nope), and even a custom-built mechanized plate retractor (Steve: You build it, we’ll buy it. As usual.).

The reality? Less Bond, more Occam’s Razor. Yes, the fellow may pay an asston of taxes to the state once a year, but even a fat bank account and wizardly charisma doesn’t guarantee him (or any other celebrity) special treatment with regards to the California vehicle code. Just ask Kim Kardashian.

So how’s Jobs doing it? By playing the percentages.

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” I don’t care who you’re-Lindsay Lohan or Governor Schwarzenegger-it’s worthwhile to display a plate or risk being pulled over or cited,” says state DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza.

This was the line echoed by CHP officers, traffic lawyers and DMV officials over and over. Not only did a legal precedent prove elusive, nobody was even ready to drum up a theoretical case where a public citizen-regardless or stature, office, or bank account size-could break out with non-display of plates.

” It simply wouldn’t happen,” says Mendoza of such an allowance.

Fine. But gazing nuances state law, traffic enforcement, and a couple of public records, the case of Steve Jobs‘ perpetually missing plates becomes less mysterious.

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First, it’ll be noted that it actually is legal is the state of California to drive without a vehicle plate-for 90 days. Car dealerships generally have up to 30 days to file the mandatory registration paperwork with the DMV when anyone buys a new or used car. Once received, those plates can take another 4-6 weeks to arrive at someone’s doorstep. Yes, in the intervening time that you have to display a brief registration tag in front driver’s-side window, however it still grants you some extent of wiggle room.

Most local traffic enforcement officers admitted to being lower than Bronsonian about singling out a car with out plates, using it more as an excuse to drag someone over if something else seemed suspicious.

” Normally, an officer shouldn’t pull over a car that looks new to ascertain the registration,” notes Deputy Gregory Talyor of the Santa Clara Sherrif’s Office.

” Frankly, we’ve better things to do with our time,” says Cupertino Officer Sandra Powell.

Here’s the opposite thing: Besides the fact that you do get nabbed by the popo for failing to display your plates, the effects are downright wimpy. While the fine can go up to $65 (assuming everything else is in order and you don’t would like to correct the infraction), ordinarily, the worst you’ll get what’s referred to as a fix-it ticket. That’s essentially a $10 slap on the wrist when you can later prove that you just’ve remedied the offense.

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Public records only reinforce the very fact the Jobs has absolutely no problems rolling plateless. A comprehensive search of traffic records in Santa Clara (where he lives) and other adjacent counties show the CEO has successfully avoided plate-related fines for the past four years. As a minimum. Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco county courts-all show no evidence that Jobs has ever been cited for not displaying a registration code. Zilch.

In fact, Jobs has received only two citations since 2006, both for speeding in Santa Clara County. A type of was dismissed after completion of traffic school (Dollars to Pesos says he didn’t choose comedy school) and the opposite was paid outright. A third, more mysterious, traffic infraction is listed under Apple Inc. in 2007 for lack of registration, but was later dismissed upon ” evidence of correction.”

The one problem Jobs does seem to have with tickets involves his propensity to park within the Apple’s campus’ handicap spots. While no evidence of those turned up in public records searches, one officer says he’s visited the Cupertino campus numerous times answering complaints from employees about a definite Mercedes (conspicuously free of license plates) parked within the disabled area.

Which is weird, because you’d think he’d have some crazy awesome, brushed aluminum parking spot on a dais or something.

Ironically, the AMG’s lack of a vehicle plate revealed the single solid bit of information we had to work with. His Benz’s VIN number. Show me the Carfax! OK: Purchased new (duh) in late 2006, the SL55 has approximately 21,800 miles on it as of the beginning of this month. That implies Jobs drives, on average, 5,500 miles/year-well under the 12,000 mile mean achieved by most Americans. Why is this crucial? Well, without problems, it means Steve doesn’t drive a whole lot-as a minimum not in that car. And that lowers his odds of getting pulled over in it.

A round trip from his home in Palo Alto to the Cupertino campus is approximately 22 miles. And assuming he goes into the office 3-4 times per week, that could account for (a minimum of) 3,500 miles/year, probably way more; Jobs is a notorious workaholic and micromanager. (To be fair, he was sick and out of the state for an enormous chunk of last year.) And if he should want to make the 50-odd mile hop from Apple to his other office at Pixar, there’s an app for that. It’s called a helicopter. That leaves a measly 2,000 a year for random (staged) meetings with Eric Schmidt and quick runs to Yerba Buena or Moscone to deliver something magical.

For big events like these-which, given the automobile’s low mileage, are likely the longest road trips it takes-the company’s in-house security always works in close conjunction with police, who must cordon off intersections and direct traffic to ensure that their keynote speaker isn’t held up by San Francisco’s notorious gridlock. In those cases, you’ll be sure that traffic officers know, and think differently, about hitting that silver Benz with a ticket.

The odd thing in Jobs’ case is that CEO platelessness is often done service of anonymity. As one former Apple security employee noted, the indisputable fact that it’s now common knowledge he doesn’t display a registration code completely defeats any anonymous benefit Steve might reap from it. In his words, it ” achieves the exact opposite of what any security manager would wish.”

And this, sooner or later, is the comprehensive paradox of the mystery. Not displaying plates has made Jobs’ car just as conspicuous and identifiable as a man who, say, always wears a black turtleneck, jeans, and New Balance sneakers.

Of course, all of this results in the even bigger and more puzzling why question. In a state where SL55s are a pretty common site, and where no personal information is usually gleaned from a vehicle plate number, the act of putting a plate on would really be the most effective avenue toward anonymity.

So maybe there’s some other reason Steve Jobs avoids rectangular metal objects with numbers on them-say, to gin up mystique or augment his persona?

In that case: Smart. Highly intelligent.

Illustration by Chuck Anderson, and was inspired by a pic taken by Flickr user leoprieto. See Chuck’s work at www.nopattern.com and follow him on Twitter.

Photo credit lodev

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This post is tagged: benz, Jobs, mystery, Plateless, steve