What's in a number plate?
19/03/2008
Many Mature Times readers have lamented the bygone days of carefree motoring: no seat belts, no speed bumps or cameras, hardly any speed limits or signs - ones that you noticed, anyway - and blissfully few cars. But what about number plates?
In the 60s and 70s, having "the latest reg" was a widely recognised symbol of wealth and status. Not so today it seems...
According to research by the Post Office, one in four people in the UK still find the current car number plate system confusing - seven years after it was introduced - and see little point in paying a premium for 2008 plates. And only seventeen per cent think cars with new registration plates have a higher status than equivalent second hand cars, with almost half feeling that brand new cars are poor value when measured against a second hand car with low mileage.
The Motor Car Act, which came into force on January 1st 2004, required all motor-powered road vehicles to carry British number plates (except the official cars of the reigning monarch), and to be entered onto the Government's vehicle register. The idea was to make it easy to trace vehicles in the event of an accident or contravention of the law.
Many readers will remember the original older British plates with white, grey or silver characters on a black background - a style which was phased out in 1972 and replaced with the raised black letters on a yellow or white background.
And for those - like me - who are still confused by the 2001 changes to number plates, here is a short explanation:
Each registration index has seven characters. From left to right they represent
a) An area code consisting of two letters, the first relating to the region, the second the local registration office
b) A two-digit age identifier, which changes twice a year, in March and September. The code is either the last two digits of the year itself (e.g. "05" for 2005) or else has 50 added (e.g. 55 for September 2005) if issued from September to February of the following year, and
c) An arbitrary three-letter sequence with no specific meaning beyond that of uniquely distinguishing each of the vehicles displaying the same initial four-character area and age sequence.
The letters I and Q are excluded from the three-letter sequence, as are combinations that may appear offensive (including those in foreign languages).
Although many believe this scheme to be peculiarly complex, it has three particular advantages:
• A buyer of a second-hand car can - in theory - determine the year of registration of the car without having to look it up
• In the case of a police investigation of an accident or car-related crime, witnesses usually remember the initial area code letters - it is then quite simple to narrow down suspect vehicles to a much smaller number by checking the authority's database without having to know the full number
• The scheme should have sufficient numbers to run until 2050.
Do write and send your memories of your old number plates. email editorial@maturetimes.co.uk