'A Victory For Free Speech': 'PB4WEGO' License Plate Allowed To Return To The Roads

HEMPSTEAD, NY. — There's an age-old adage that says, "When you've got to go, you've got to go." But if you're driving with Seth Bykofsky, you've got to go before you go.

Bykofsky enshrined that logic on his license plate for the past five years, driving around Long Island with a license plate that reads “PB4WEGO,” a nod to conversations with his children and now his four grandchildren in which he'd remind them to use the bathroom before the family got in the car to go anywhere.

“For years, since my own kids were little, we used to always tell them before we get the road, ‘Pee before we go.’ And they’d roll their eyes and say, ‘We did pee!’ And as soon as you get five minutes down the road, they’d say, ‘Dad, we have to pee.’ And the tradition continues, of course, with my four grandchildren,” Bykofsky said. “So I always wanted to get a hold of this plate, and when I applied for it many years ago, it was taken. And, about five or six years ago, I applied again for the DMV, and they said, ‘Yeah, you can have it. It's fine.’ [I] had it, no problem, until recently.”

Wherever he went, Bykofsky said the license plate was greeted with laughs and smiles. “All walks of life,” Bykofsky said, stopped to take a picture of the plate, have a chuckle and give him a thumbs up.

“The only excretory function here was laughter,” Bykofsky told Patch Thursday. “Everybody appreciates a little humor on the roadway, especially when you're sitting in traffic and everyone is mumbling and grumbling, and then they take a look at the plate, and you look at your rear view mirror, and you see a grin. That makes my day."

On one occasion, the Long Island grandfather said, his plate even drew the attention of police.

"I once was actually stopped at a light and a police car pulled up next to me, which always scares the bejesus out of you, and the police pull up and asks me to roll down the window," Bykofsky said.

"My goodness, what did I do now?" Bykofsky said he thought. "And the officer said, ‘I just had a stop and tell you, I got a chuckle out of your plate. It was just so funny.’”

After five years with his license plate that he said, “united the masses,” Bykofsky and his wife came home to a letter from the DMV in January with a harrowing attachment: New license plates. According to the letter, Bykofsky said, a DMV algorithm had flagged his license plate for being “derogatory, contemptuous, degrading, disrespectful, or inflammatory.”

“At that point, I decided I was pissed,” Bykofsky said. “So, I decided, let me write a letter to the commissioner of motor vehicles, which I did, certified mail, and I got back a second letter from the custom plate division of the DMV saying the same thing, ‘It's objectionable. It's doesn't fit within our guidelines.’”

While the DMV called it disrespectful and inflammatory, Governor Kathy Hochul took a different tone when calling Bykofsky this week.

“I think everybody should be reminded to pee before you go. I have kids and grandkids, and I support the effort wholeheartedly,” Hochul said. “We’re going to work on getting that [license plate] back to you...I'm a grandma, too. I’ve got a couple of little granddaughters, and I’ll be reminding them of the lesson you shared with all of us on your license plate.”

Hochul told the grandfather of four that she would be working on getting the license plate back in good standing with the state, apologizing for the inconvenience.

While he won’t have to look into new plates thanks to his latest call from the governor, Bykofsky said he did briefly check his options for what his next license plate might be. For the most part, however, he remained steadfast in his dedication to getting back the plate that had brought so much joy into the world.

“My feeling was, ‘let’s try to get this plate back.’ And if, for some reason, I didn’t get it back, I would’ve had it framed and hung in the bathroom, where it would appropriately tell everyone what they needed to do,” Bykofsky said. “I had checked out other custom plates online, and I put in ‘MYOBNY.’ And that one would have been approved. But, fortunately, I won't need to go that route.”

When asked what advice he has for travelers other than peeing before you go, Bykofsky said it’s important to listen to the experts.

“Always check out the car, make sure the tires are properly inflated, you have gas, you have oil, the check engine light isn't on. The usual things that the AAA advises here to do on the road, and to always have snacks,” Bykofsky said. “Especially if the kids are in the car, always have snacks...And, of course, you have to stop for a bathroom break along the way and get a cup of coffee and stretch your legs.”

Bykofsky said his favorite road trip snack is chocolate covered pretzels, a combination of the sweet and the salty. As far as how he’s feeling now that the plates are back on, Bykofsky said he was happy to see the inalienable rights of all Americans protected.

“It's a victory for free speech, the First Amendment right to freedom of expression,” Bykofsky told Patch. “What could be more expressive than having to pee before we go?”