E-Mail the Driver in the Next Lane

PlateMatch helps bring the information superhighway (safely) to the real-life road.

James A. Martin, special to PCWorld.com

While paused at a stoplight, you glance over at the looker in the next car and discover Mr. or Ms. Right smiling back at you. Then the light changes. You drive off toward your separate destinations, and the opportunity is gone forever.

Or is it? A Southern California company has just announced PlateMatch.com, which it claims is the perfect solution for star-crossed motorists in the Internet age.

Anyone can register a license plate number and email address at PlateMatch.com for free. The cutie who revved your engine can then search for your license plate number at PlateMatch.com. If you're registered at the site, said cutie can send you e-mail. Conjugal bliss may (or may not) follow.

But how would Mr. or Ms. Right know to look for you at PlateMatch.com, you ask? That's where money enters the picture. If you become a paid PlateMatch.com member, you get a license plate frame that alerts others you can be contacted at the site. You can also set up a Web page about yourself that's accessible from the site. Individual memberships are $6.95 monthly, $59.95 annually, or $179.95 lifetime.

Safe, Buffered Connection

While this may sound like date heaven for cruisers, others might worry that the whole concept is an invitation for trouble--if not downright danger. Not so, says the company.

"By adding a PlateMatch.com plate frame, you are simply telling others that you can be reached anonymously through a message on our Web site," the company says in its FAQ. "No other information is available to them, unless and until you as a member elect to publish a business ad, personals ad, or other similar page."

In addition, e-mail is forwarded to you by PlateMatch.com. Your own address isn't given out to anyone, according to the company.

The PlateMatch service isn't designed just for romantic reasons, of course. For example, you can post a password-protected medical history and carry a printed card containing the password or give copies to family. Should you be involved in a serious traffic accident, emergency medical personnel could access your vital information at PlateMatch.com.

Businesses can use PlateMatch.com to create awareness about their products or services. Car owners can tell the world their auto is for sale. Anyone can ask for feedback on his or her driving skills (or lack thereof).

Then again, there's that cutie in the car next to you...