How do European license plates work?
Jun 8th 2003, 10:52 am
#16
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
So, der 08.06.2003 18 Uhr 52 und 20 Sekunden. Hier ist Berlin, und hier
ist Ihre Nachricht von Brett:
> How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
> European license plate? Please give an example.
What makes you think they're all the same? Each country has a different
system. Please tell us which countries you're interested in.
Regards
--
Aprosdoketon, das (gr.): unerwartet gebrauchtes Fremdwort.
http://www.wschwanke.de/
ist Ihre Nachricht von Brett:
> How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
> European license plate? Please give an example.
What makes you think they're all the same? Each country has a different
system. Please tell us which countries you're interested in.
Regards
--
Aprosdoketon, das (gr.): unerwartet gebrauchtes Fremdwort.
http://www.wschwanke.de/
Jun 8th 2003, 11:33 am
#17
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
Arwel Parry wrote:
>You could tell a car was registered in Scotland because one of the last
>two letters was "S", while Ireland used to be "Z" I think -- I remember
>Z used to be prevalent on Irish Republic plates until they abandoned the
>pre-independence system in the 1980s.
The first Irish series began with "I": IA was Antrim; IB for Armagh,
and so on, alphabetically through the list of counties. But there were
32 counties, so "Z" was drafted in to supplement the system; when the
"I" registrations were all used (9999 was the maximum in the number
series), more Z-registrations were used.
>Northern Ireland, I believe, still uses the pre-1962 system.
A derivative.
Is this the geekiest thread we have had here for a while?
PB
>You could tell a car was registered in Scotland because one of the last
>two letters was "S", while Ireland used to be "Z" I think -- I remember
>Z used to be prevalent on Irish Republic plates until they abandoned the
>pre-independence system in the 1980s.
The first Irish series began with "I": IA was Antrim; IB for Armagh,
and so on, alphabetically through the list of counties. But there were
32 counties, so "Z" was drafted in to supplement the system; when the
"I" registrations were all used (9999 was the maximum in the number
series), more Z-registrations were used.
>Northern Ireland, I believe, still uses the pre-1962 system.
A derivative.
Is this the geekiest thread we have had here for a while?
PB
Jun 8th 2003, 11:48 am
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
"Brett" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
European
> license plate? Please give an example.
Some interesting footnotes. In Belgium, number plates are personal to the
owner and when they change cars, they transfer them to the new vehicle. This
is why brand new cars there often have tatty, dented plates. I don't know if
this has changed recently. If you own more than one car, you get more
personal plates.
While UK recently introduced readily-identifiable regional tag, there's
tendency in many countries to leave this out. Italy has been mentioned, and
also Spain, partly to deter break-in of non-local cars (which are more
likely to contain valuables, luggage etc) and targeting of certain regions
(e.g. from Basque).
I think Germany has most elaborate system of regional and local identifier,
with large cities having a single letter (B for Berlin, M for Munich etc,
exc HH - Hansestadt Hamburg and some in former DDR like DD = Dresden), towns
a double letter (MA = Mannheim, MS = Münster) and small towns a triple
letter (BAD = Baden-Baden, GAP = Garmisch-P). Also the plates contain a
small disk showing when the next TüV (MOT) is due. And I think in
Switzerland it's a legal requirement to display oval CH sign for
Confederation Helvetica.
Alec
news:[email protected]...
> How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
European
> license plate? Please give an example.
Some interesting footnotes. In Belgium, number plates are personal to the
owner and when they change cars, they transfer them to the new vehicle. This
is why brand new cars there often have tatty, dented plates. I don't know if
this has changed recently. If you own more than one car, you get more
personal plates.
While UK recently introduced readily-identifiable regional tag, there's
tendency in many countries to leave this out. Italy has been mentioned, and
also Spain, partly to deter break-in of non-local cars (which are more
likely to contain valuables, luggage etc) and targeting of certain regions
(e.g. from Basque).
I think Germany has most elaborate system of regional and local identifier,
with large cities having a single letter (B for Berlin, M for Munich etc,
exc HH - Hansestadt Hamburg and some in former DDR like DD = Dresden), towns
a double letter (MA = Mannheim, MS = Münster) and small towns a triple
letter (BAD = Baden-Baden, GAP = Garmisch-P). Also the plates contain a
small disk showing when the next TüV (MOT) is due. And I think in
Switzerland it's a legal requirement to display oval CH sign for
Confederation Helvetica.
Alec
Jun 8th 2003, 12:08 pm
#19
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
In article ,
Arwel Parry wrote:
> In message , Forrest
> writes
> >
> >"Arwel Parry" wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> In message , Brett
> >> writes
> >> The old UK system, since the early 1980s, was K 123 ABC where the single
> >> letter indicated when it was registered (changed annually on 1st August
> >> until near the end of the 1990s when it changed twice, in March and
> >> September), and the last two of the group of three letters indicate the
> >> registration office. Between 1962 and the early 80s the system was
> >> reversed, and you got numbers like ABC 123 K (a trailing K indicates a
> >> car new between 1 August 1971 and 31 July 1972, I remember!).
> >
> >Before that it was just ABC 123 for a time and then 123 ABC for a bit. As
> >you are allowed to transfer your old number plate to a new car there are
> >still some of these formats around and much prized. Especially the very
> >earliest that may have just one or two letters and numbers - ie A 1
>
> Oh yes, "cherished numbers" - a very profitable little sideline for the
> DVLA!
The State of Illinois started given their plates out sequentially.
These have been permitted to be past down to heirs. Just last month the
State said it was strongly considering 'repossessing' these plates and
selling them to the highest bidder.
jay
Sun, Jun 8, 2003
mailto:[email protected]
--
Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."
Arwel Parry wrote:
> In message , Forrest
> writes
> >
> >"Arwel Parry" wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> In message , Brett
> >> writes
> >> The old UK system, since the early 1980s, was K 123 ABC where the single
> >> letter indicated when it was registered (changed annually on 1st August
> >> until near the end of the 1990s when it changed twice, in March and
> >> September), and the last two of the group of three letters indicate the
> >> registration office. Between 1962 and the early 80s the system was
> >> reversed, and you got numbers like ABC 123 K (a trailing K indicates a
> >> car new between 1 August 1971 and 31 July 1972, I remember!).
> >
> >Before that it was just ABC 123 for a time and then 123 ABC for a bit. As
> >you are allowed to transfer your old number plate to a new car there are
> >still some of these formats around and much prized. Especially the very
> >earliest that may have just one or two letters and numbers - ie A 1
>
> Oh yes, "cherished numbers" - a very profitable little sideline for the
> DVLA!
The State of Illinois started given their plates out sequentially.
These have been permitted to be past down to heirs. Just last month the
State said it was strongly considering 'repossessing' these plates and
selling them to the highest bidder.
jay
Sun, Jun 8, 2003
mailto:[email protected]
--
Legend insists that as he finished his abject...
Galileo muttered under his breath: "Nevertheless, it does move."
Jun 8th 2003, 12:17 pm
#20
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
Mo, der 09.06.2003 01 Uhr 48 und 30 Sekunden. Hier ist Berlin, und hier
ist Ihre Nachricht von Alec:
> I think Germany has most elaborate system of regional and local
> identifier, with large cities having a single letter (B for Berlin, M
> for Munich etc, exc HH - Hansestadt Hamburg and some in former DDR
> like DD = Dresden), towns a double letter (MA = Mannheim, MS =
> Münster) and small towns a triple letter (BAD = Baden-Baden, GAP =
> Garmisch-P).
As a general rule that is true, but not very strictly followed.
German codes have the format ABC-XY 1234, black letters on white.
The letters before the hyphen (1, 2 or 3) designate the county (Landkreis),
as an abbreviations of its name. The letters and numbers behind the hyphen
have no special meaning.
Since counties are usually named after the town which seats the county
government, the code will in most casese also be the name of a more or less
well-known town. But all you know is that the car is from the county
administrated by that town. The owner may well live in a small village
outside. Except most large cities are counties themselves, so there are no
adjacent small villages sharing the same code.
You may also be interested to learn that it's the former West German
system, which was devised in the 1950s. East Germany used to have a
different one, according to its "districts" (Bezirke). After reunification,
the West German system was introduced there too. It turned out that West
German administration had reserved car plate codes for the East German
counties all along, including some short ones for larger cities:
P Potsdam, G Gera, C Chemnitz, J Jena etc.
They had "sinned" with the L though, which was originally reserved for
Leipzig. But it was assigned to a newly formed Western county shortly
before the fall of the wall, and so after unification, Leipzig was in
danger of being assigned a two-letter code as if it was a "minor" town.
Leipzig protested against this intention, and so the L was reassigned to
them. The West German county which had been assigned the L previously was
dissolved ...
> And I think in Switzerland it's a legal
> requirement to display oval CH sign for Confederation Helvetica.
All national signs are oval, there's nothing specific about the Swiss one?
Regards
--
Aprosdoketon, das (gr.): unerwartet gebrauchtes Fremdwort.
http://www.wschwanke.de/
ist Ihre Nachricht von Alec:
> I think Germany has most elaborate system of regional and local
> identifier, with large cities having a single letter (B for Berlin, M
> for Munich etc, exc HH - Hansestadt Hamburg and some in former DDR
> like DD = Dresden), towns a double letter (MA = Mannheim, MS =
> Münster) and small towns a triple letter (BAD = Baden-Baden, GAP =
> Garmisch-P).
As a general rule that is true, but not very strictly followed.
German codes have the format ABC-XY 1234, black letters on white.
The letters before the hyphen (1, 2 or 3) designate the county (Landkreis),
as an abbreviations of its name. The letters and numbers behind the hyphen
have no special meaning.
Since counties are usually named after the town which seats the county
government, the code will in most casese also be the name of a more or less
well-known town. But all you know is that the car is from the county
administrated by that town. The owner may well live in a small village
outside. Except most large cities are counties themselves, so there are no
adjacent small villages sharing the same code.
You may also be interested to learn that it's the former West German
system, which was devised in the 1950s. East Germany used to have a
different one, according to its "districts" (Bezirke). After reunification,
the West German system was introduced there too. It turned out that West
German administration had reserved car plate codes for the East German
counties all along, including some short ones for larger cities:
P Potsdam, G Gera, C Chemnitz, J Jena etc.
They had "sinned" with the L though, which was originally reserved for
Leipzig. But it was assigned to a newly formed Western county shortly
before the fall of the wall, and so after unification, Leipzig was in
danger of being assigned a two-letter code as if it was a "minor" town.
Leipzig protested against this intention, and so the L was reassigned to
them. The West German county which had been assigned the L previously was
dissolved ...
> And I think in Switzerland it's a legal
> requirement to display oval CH sign for Confederation Helvetica.
All national signs are oval, there's nothing specific about the Swiss one?
Regards
--
Aprosdoketon, das (gr.): unerwartet gebrauchtes Fremdwort.
http://www.wschwanke.de/
Jun 8th 2003, 12:30 pm
#21
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
> > And I think in Switzerland it's a legal
> > requirement to display oval CH sign for Confederation Helvetica.
> All national signs are oval, there's nothing specific about the Swiss one?
What I meant was that whereas in other countries you only need to display
your nationality sign like oval D for Germany (before euro symbol was
introduced) when you drive outside of your country, in Switzerland every
vehicle has to show it, including those unlikely ever to be driven out of
the country, like agricultural vehicles and municipal roadsweepers. Perhaps
it's part of their national motoring law.
Alec
> > requirement to display oval CH sign for Confederation Helvetica.
> All national signs are oval, there's nothing specific about the Swiss one?
What I meant was that whereas in other countries you only need to display
your nationality sign like oval D for Germany (before euro symbol was
introduced) when you drive outside of your country, in Switzerland every
vehicle has to show it, including those unlikely ever to be driven out of
the country, like agricultural vehicles and municipal roadsweepers. Perhaps
it's part of their national motoring law.
Alec
Jun 8th 2003, 12:40 pm
#22
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
Earl Evleth wrote:
> On 8/06/03 6:52 pm, in article [email protected],
> "Brett" wrote:
>
>
>>How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a European
>>license plate?
>
>
>
> The French car license plates are attached forever to the car. No expiration
> date. There is no yearly registration fee either. Our driver's licenses
> function in the same fashion.
>
> The only control on a car is a "controle technique" which is an exhaustive
> analysis of the car which has to be done every couple of years or so once
> the car is over several years old. In addition to this CT sticker, one has
> to have insurance. These are on the windshield of the car.
>
> Earl
>
How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
plates when you register your car.
> On 8/06/03 6:52 pm, in article [email protected],
> "Brett" wrote:
>
>
>>How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a European
>>license plate?
>
>
>
> The French car license plates are attached forever to the car. No expiration
> date. There is no yearly registration fee either. Our driver's licenses
> function in the same fashion.
>
> The only control on a car is a "controle technique" which is an exhaustive
> analysis of the car which has to be done every couple of years or so once
> the car is over several years old. In addition to this CT sticker, one has
> to have insurance. These are on the windshield of the car.
>
> Earl
>
How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
plates when you register your car.
Jun 8th 2003, 12:55 pm
#23
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
In message , Padraig
Breathnach writes
>Arwel Parry wrote:
>>You could tell a car was registered in Scotland because one of the last
>>two letters was "S", while Ireland used to be "Z" I think -- I remember
>>Z used to be prevalent on Irish Republic plates until they abandoned the
>>pre-independence system in the 1980s.
>The first Irish series began with "I": IA was Antrim; IB for Armagh,
>and so on, alphabetically through the list of counties. But there were
>32 counties, so "Z" was drafted in to supplement the system; when the
>"I" registrations were all used (9999 was the maximum in the number
>series), more Z-registrations were used.
>>Northern Ireland, I believe, still uses the pre-1962 system.
>A derivative.
>Is this the geekiest thread we have had here for a while?
Makes a nice change from cheese-eating surrender monkeys!
--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/
Breathnach writes
>Arwel Parry wrote:
>>You could tell a car was registered in Scotland because one of the last
>>two letters was "S", while Ireland used to be "Z" I think -- I remember
>>Z used to be prevalent on Irish Republic plates until they abandoned the
>>pre-independence system in the 1980s.
>The first Irish series began with "I": IA was Antrim; IB for Armagh,
>and so on, alphabetically through the list of counties. But there were
>32 counties, so "Z" was drafted in to supplement the system; when the
>"I" registrations were all used (9999 was the maximum in the number
>series), more Z-registrations were used.
>>Northern Ireland, I believe, still uses the pre-1962 system.
>A derivative.
>Is this the geekiest thread we have had here for a while?
Makes a nice change from cheese-eating surrender monkeys!
--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/
Jun 8th 2003, 1:17 pm
#24
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
"ellie" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
> a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
> plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
> plates when you register your car.
In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates on-the-spot.
As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although the
plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
If a plate is damaged or lost then it is a simple matter to go and get
another made.
If a vehicle is towing a trailer or caravan, then that must display the same
number as the towing vehicle.
Which brings another equation into the thread as I believe some European
countries have trailers registered/licenced separately.
Somebody else may be able to clarify......
RTE
news:[email protected]...
> How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
> a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
> plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
> plates when you register your car.
In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates on-the-spot.
As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although the
plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
If a plate is damaged or lost then it is a simple matter to go and get
another made.
If a vehicle is towing a trailer or caravan, then that must display the same
number as the towing vehicle.
Which brings another equation into the thread as I believe some European
countries have trailers registered/licenced separately.
Somebody else may be able to clarify......
RTE
Jun 8th 2003, 1:26 pm
#25
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
"RTE" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "ellie" wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> >
> > How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
> > a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
> > plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
> > plates when you register your car.
> >
> In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
on-the-spot.
> As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
> same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
the
> plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
> If a plate is damaged or lost then it is a simple matter to go and get
> another made.
> If a vehicle is towing a trailer or caravan, then that must display the
same
> number as the towing vehicle.
> Which brings another equation into the thread as I believe some European
> countries have trailers registered/licenced separately.
> Somebody else may be able to clarify......
Some years ago I stayed at a country B&B and discussed tags and titles with
the proprietor. At that time the UK didn't issue titles for trailers, nor
did they have licence numbers. This presented problems for him, as a
farmer, since it would be very hard to trace his farm trailers if they were
stolen.
Has this been fixed along with making retitling a car more difficult? At
that time it seemed easy to get a new title for a stolen car. Go to a junk
yard, find a similar car, claim you needed a replacement title, and you were
"in". It would be a good idea to change the car's serial number to match
the junker, but the process could then be done by mail so it wasn't vital.
Or so the story went....
news:[email protected]...
> "ellie" wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> >
> > How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
> > a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
> > plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
> > plates when you register your car.
> >
> In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
on-the-spot.
> As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
> same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
the
> plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
> If a plate is damaged or lost then it is a simple matter to go and get
> another made.
> If a vehicle is towing a trailer or caravan, then that must display the
same
> number as the towing vehicle.
> Which brings another equation into the thread as I believe some European
> countries have trailers registered/licenced separately.
> Somebody else may be able to clarify......
Some years ago I stayed at a country B&B and discussed tags and titles with
the proprietor. At that time the UK didn't issue titles for trailers, nor
did they have licence numbers. This presented problems for him, as a
farmer, since it would be very hard to trace his farm trailers if they were
stolen.
Has this been fixed along with making retitling a car more difficult? At
that time it seemed easy to get a new title for a stolen car. Go to a junk
yard, find a similar car, claim you needed a replacement title, and you were
"in". It would be a good idea to change the car's serial number to match
the junker, but the process could then be done by mail so it wasn't vital.
Or so the story went....
Jun 8th 2003, 1:26 pm
#26
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
"RTE" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
> In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
on-the-spot.
> As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
> same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
the
> plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
You obviously haven't bought one recently. You will have to produce the V5
(the vehicle registration form), photographic evidence of identity (a photo
driving licence or passport) and usually something like a utility bill to
prove your address.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
...
> In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
on-the-spot.
> As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
> same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
the
> plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
You obviously haven't bought one recently. You will have to produce the V5
(the vehicle registration form), photographic evidence of identity (a photo
driving licence or passport) and usually something like a utility bill to
prove your address.
Colin Bignell
Jun 8th 2003, 1:35 pm
#27
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
"RTE" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "ellie" wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> >
> > How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
> > a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
> > plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
> > plates when you register your car.
> >
> In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
on-the-spot.
> As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
> same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
the
> plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
All this is changed for England and Wales from this year under Vehicles
(Crime) Act 2001 when number plates suppliers have to register with DVLA and
keep proper record of plates made. In addition customers have to supply an
ID entitling them to the plates being amde (like log book) and personal ID
(like driving licence, passport, utility bill). This doesn't at present
apply in Scotland. Designed to stop thieves giving a car new identity.
Alec
news:[email protected]...
> "ellie" wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> >
> > How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc has
> > a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also license
> > plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are given the
> > plates when you register your car.
> >
> In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
on-the-spot.
> As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
> same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
the
> plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
All this is changed for England and Wales from this year under Vehicles
(Crime) Act 2001 when number plates suppliers have to register with DVLA and
keep proper record of plates made. In addition customers have to supply an
ID entitling them to the plates being amde (like log book) and personal ID
(like driving licence, passport, utility bill). This doesn't at present
apply in Scotland. Designed to stop thieves giving a car new identity.
Alec
Jun 8th 2003, 7:10 pm
#28
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
"R J Carpenter" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
...
> Some years ago I stayed at a country B&B and discussed tags and titles
with
> the proprietor. At that time the UK didn't issue titles for trailers, nor
> did they have licence numbers. This presented problems for him, as a
> farmer, since it would be very hard to trace his farm trailers if they
were
> stolen.
> Has this been fixed ....
Britain's main industrial / farm trailer manufacturer automatically
registers any of their trailers sold on a national database. It is, however,
a voluntary scheme and the sort of small trailer that most people have for
moving garden rubbish probably will not be registered by the supplier.
Colin Bignell
news:[email protected]...
...
> Some years ago I stayed at a country B&B and discussed tags and titles
with
> the proprietor. At that time the UK didn't issue titles for trailers, nor
> did they have licence numbers. This presented problems for him, as a
> farmer, since it would be very hard to trace his farm trailers if they
were
> stolen.
> Has this been fixed ....
Britain's main industrial / farm trailer manufacturer automatically
registers any of their trailers sold on a national database. It is, however,
a voluntary scheme and the sort of small trailer that most people have for
moving garden rubbish probably will not be registered by the supplier.
Colin Bignell
Jun 8th 2003, 7:43 pm
#29
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
On Sun, 8 Jun 2003 23:43:35 +0100, Arwel Parry
wrote:
>In message , Jonathan Morton
> writes
>>"Harvey Van Sickle" wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>> In the UK, though, until a couple of years ago you couldn't reliably
>>> tell much from the number plate on the car apart from the year it was
>>> first registered. (Now the first two letters indicate where the car
>>> was first registered -- but not necessarily where the owner comes from,
>>> just where the dealership decided to obtain the registrations -- and
>>> the next two digits identify a six-month period during which the car
>>> waas registered.)
>>The old UK system also indicated the area where the car was first
>>registered. The *last* two of the three letters indicated this, though the
>>system wasn't exactly intuitive, so unless you knew the codes it wasn't much
>>help.
>That's true. The old registration offices were based on the pre-1974
>local government boundaries, but they weren't terribly informative even
>so.
>"CA" used to be Caernarfonshire for instance, but
>"UN" was Denbighshire, and
>"FF" was Meirionethshire -- and many counties had multiple letter codes
>anyway. After 1974 all the North Wales codes were transferred to the
>Chester office which used them without much regard to where in its area
>the registrants lived!
For some reason, the letters under this system for Bristol were AE and
the Lord Mayor of Bristol's official car is still AE 1
>You could tell a car was registered in Scotland because one of the last
>two letters was "S", while Ireland used to be "Z" I think -- I remember
>Z used to be prevalent on Irish Republic plates until they abandoned the
>pre-independence system in the 1980s.
>Northern Ireland, I believe, still uses the pre-1962 system.
wrote:
>In message , Jonathan Morton
> writes
>>"Harvey Van Sickle" wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>> In the UK, though, until a couple of years ago you couldn't reliably
>>> tell much from the number plate on the car apart from the year it was
>>> first registered. (Now the first two letters indicate where the car
>>> was first registered -- but not necessarily where the owner comes from,
>>> just where the dealership decided to obtain the registrations -- and
>>> the next two digits identify a six-month period during which the car
>>> waas registered.)
>>The old UK system also indicated the area where the car was first
>>registered. The *last* two of the three letters indicated this, though the
>>system wasn't exactly intuitive, so unless you knew the codes it wasn't much
>>help.
>That's true. The old registration offices were based on the pre-1974
>local government boundaries, but they weren't terribly informative even
>so.
>"CA" used to be Caernarfonshire for instance, but
>"UN" was Denbighshire, and
>"FF" was Meirionethshire -- and many counties had multiple letter codes
>anyway. After 1974 all the North Wales codes were transferred to the
>Chester office which used them without much regard to where in its area
>the registrants lived!
For some reason, the letters under this system for Bristol were AE and
the Lord Mayor of Bristol's official car is still AE 1
>You could tell a car was registered in Scotland because one of the last
>two letters was "S", while Ireland used to be "Z" I think -- I remember
>Z used to be prevalent on Irish Republic plates until they abandoned the
>pre-independence system in the 1980s.
>Northern Ireland, I believe, still uses the pre-1962 system.
Jun 8th 2003, 7:55 pm
#30
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: How do European license plates work?
There will be "European unified" license plate system in the future, but
it can take decades, because each state has numerous public jobs hanging on
his own plate
system, and fees too, and no state wants really to give up this
prerogative.....
Same situation than for the air traffic control..........
Now the clou :
French citizens buy a used car in Germany and "forget" to change the plates.
The French police dont understand the subtle rules of absolescence of the
German plates, so they think its a german car.
Then, the french driver can park everywhere in towns and get fined, he will
never see a bill.
The fining over countries and plate systems records over countries dont work
at all, due to
the different systems.......
As you see, there are many benefits in keeping the systems so different over
countries.......
"Brett" a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
> How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
European
> license plate? Please give an example.
> Thanks,
> Brett
it can take decades, because each state has numerous public jobs hanging on
his own plate
system, and fees too, and no state wants really to give up this
prerogative.....
Same situation than for the air traffic control..........
Now the clou :
French citizens buy a used car in Germany and "forget" to change the plates.
The French police dont understand the subtle rules of absolescence of the
German plates, so they think its a german car.
Then, the french driver can park everywhere in towns and get fined, he will
never see a bill.
The fining over countries and plate systems records over countries dont work
at all, due to
the different systems.......
As you see, there are many benefits in keeping the systems so different over
countries.......
"Brett" a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
> How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
European
> license plate? Please give an example.
> Thanks,
> Brett
