Personalised Number Plate Information

NUMBER PLATES:

Are you a cat lover with a few hundred quid to spare? How about a huge Dennis the Menace fan keen to show your appreciation via the medium of your motor? Well you’re in luck as the DVLA – the body in charge of car registrations in the UK – is holding 2017’s first live auction of registration numbers this week and among the plates on offer are WH15 KER ( yours for a starting price of £700) and BE11 ANO (a mere £400). The event – which starts on Wednesday – will see a total of 1,500 personalised registrations being auctioned to members of the public. The registrations on offer have been chosen by DVLA to suit all tastes, styles and budgets and range from plates that reflect names such as EL17 OTT, HA15 RRY and PA14 ULA through to quirkier offerings such as OUR 848Y, OLD 800K and YOU 105E. And fans of Harry Potter could find themselves spellbound by POT 110N which carries a reserve of £250. The agency will be aiming to build on the success of its live auction programme in 2016, which raised £25.6 million through five sales – setting a new record for a second consecutive year. Last year, the total sales of personalised registrations by the DVLA surpassed £147m, taking the total amount raised since the sales began in September 1989 to £2.4 billion. Sales by the agency suggest that interest in personalised plates has soared in recent years with a 150 per cent increase of registered bidders for its live sales since 2011. On average 9,500 customers com[pete for lots per auction. Adam Griffiths, of DVLA Personalised Registrations, said: “It’s been nearly three months since our last live sale, and I am really excited by our first sale of 2017 where some really great registrations are available to bid for. We have experienced two successive record-breaking years and, when you look through the catalogue at the registrations we have compiled for this sale, I am very hopeful that this success will continue.” He added: “Bidding in person is by far the most popular way to buy a registration and it is at the auction where you will find the real atmosphere – it’s a great day out and we make the experience as enjoyable and friendly as possible. If you can’t make it to the auction we offer free telephone, internet and absent bidding facilities”.

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Unique Number Plates

Y B-ZAR?

Because his license plate is APRIST - short for apiarist, a fancy word for beekeeper.

Lots of people don't get it, because it's not a very common word," said Clark, who keeps honeybees in the backyard of his Old Louisville home. "Every once in a while, somebody sees is and asks me about beekeeping and honey. But the whole point of a vanity plate is to create a word which is just like the real words but is itself a puzzle, so when you're driving down the road, it's 'Oh, yeah, I got it!'""

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Police patrolling the M6 north pulled over a pricey Lamborghini after it was spotted missing a NUMBERPLATE.

The pricey supercar - which can cost around £200,000 - was stopped in Staffordshire on Sunday.

It is not uncommon for number plates to be stolen from vehicles.

Criminals target cars that are similar to the car they are driving, in an attempt to avoid apprehension and identification when committing crimes.

If you ask someone who has had their plates stolen, they will soon tell you how costly, inconvenient and stressful it can be.

Police are asking community members to do all they can to secure their number plates and make them more difficult to remove. Police will continue to target and detect offenders, but they need your help.

If you notice your neighbour’s registration plate is recently missing, tell them, and encourage them to report it to police immediately.

If your number plates are stolen you will firstly need to report the theft to your local police. You will need to contact Service Tasmania and pay to get new plates. You will also need to contact your insurance company.

You will have some explaining to do if you are pulled up by the police as it is also an offence to drive a car without plates affixed.

A stolen number plate is most likely being used on a car that is being driven by someone without a licence or is disqualified from driving, and is potentially an unsafe or dangerous driver. They are also actively avoiding police in order to commit a range of crimes including petrol stealing, car theft and burglaries.

Thefts are occurring during the day and night and are being stolen from cars parked in all areas including carparks, public streets and private driveways.

Park your car in a secure place, off the street, ideally with garaging and sensor lighting. Stay alert, report suspicious behaviour to police.

Kicking off on 6 February to coincide with 'Safer Internet Day', the campaign seeks to remind people that the only place to find DVLA services is on Gov.uk, and that any text or email asking for personal information is not from the DVLA and should be deleted without clicking.

Aimed at all motorists, the campaign's emphasis is on digital channels, as online is where phishing is most prevalent.

But the DVLA recognises that, given the broad age range of its audience, many motorists renew their car tax by phone. The organisation is therefore targeting traditional media too.

With social the medium of choice (via the DVLA's Twitter and Facebook channels), impactful imagery is being used to convey the message, built on a 'mask' visual depicting danger and crookery.

The campaign's central message is telling people what they should and should not expect when dealing with the DVLA online or on the phone. Activity encourages people to click through to a DVLA news story that gives details on staying safe online and on the phone. It provides links to sites including Get Safe Online and various government portals where they can report suspicious behaviour.

The timescale of the campaign is indefinite, with the DVLA planning to reinforce its messaging on a regular basis into the long term.

Measuring the campaign's impact will be a critical element in the push. The DVLA will track the number of views to its news story and is monitoring impressions and engagement on social media, its media coverage and calls and complaints made to its call centre.

Liz Rees, the DVLA's head of external comms, said: "We often receive messages from customers and colleagues about refund scams purporting to be from DVLA. More recently, people have been posting their documents online without realising that their personal details are clearly visible. It’s important that motorists understand the risks of posting personal details online.

"We also want to remind them that we will not send any texts or emails asking for personal details and that the only place to find official DVLA services and information is Gov.uk."

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2010 Car Number Plates

We're now just over a month away from the introduction of the 2010 number plate on all new cars hitting the road after the beginning of March.

While the excitement surrounding the introduction of new number plates may go over some people's heads, during the past few years a real demand has grown for personalised plates, with some selling for an absolute fortune at auction.

Music legend Elton John's former number plate ELT 70N recently went up for auction for just under £1,000, but that's nothing compared to the £113,815 one crazy person (in the nicest sense) shelled out on a 1 HRH number plate auctioned by the DVLA at the beginning of 2009. And even that has some way to go to surpass £254,000 paid to take ownership of the 51 NGH plate.

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The state Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended the vehicle registrations of more than 4,900 motorists who crossed New York bridges and tunnels without paying tolls, officials told The Post.

Most of the scofflaws have breezed through new cashless tollbooths — and then ignored repeated bills sent by mail.

But the crackdown has some drivers fuming, with one, Jon Kopel, calling it “Governor Cuomo’s legalized extortion.”

Kopel recently moved from Yonkers to upstate South Fallsburg, and says he never received initial bills for crossing the Tappan Zee and other bridges. He finally received a mailed warning that the DMV would yank his car registration if he didn’t pay $960 for 18 tolls plus violation fees, he said.

Kopel says that when he called the bill collectors, they told him, “We’re going to give you a break — we’ll make it $400 if you pay it now” — so he charged it on his credit card.

“That’s some deal, isn’t it?” he griped.

Tolling agencies now have sharper teeth. Under state regulations that went into effect in January, the DMV can suspend registrations of car owners who refuse to pay the tolls and steep late fees.

“By the time the DMV is done with them, I think they’ll find out the state of New York is not kidding around here,” MTA board member Mitchell Pally told The Post.

“Sooner or later we’re going to get your money or your registration, so you might as well pay.”

To date, the DMV has received 8,262 requests for suspensions from tolling authorities and approved 4,976. Of those, 556 suspensions were sought by the MTA; 499 by the Port Authority, and 3,921 by the Thruway Authority.

The MTA so far has converted seven of its nine city crossings to cashless, with the Throgs Neck and Bronx-Whitestone bridges due in the fall.

The PA’s new Bayonne Bridge and the Thruway Authority’s Tappan Zee Bridge are also cashless.

That means cars and trucks can whiz through without stopping, which saves time for motorists and improves traffic flow.

Vehicles with E-ZPass are charged as usual, but for those without, cameras on overhead gantries photograph license plates. A contractor for the three tolling authorities mails bills to the registered owners, who are responsible for payment no matter who was driving.

Vehicle owners who ignore two bills in a row are hit with penalty fees of $50 or $100. At the Henry Hudson, one-third of motorists without E-ZPass were scofflaws.

Under the new state regulation, the DMV can suspend the registration of motorists who fail to pay three or more toll violations within five years, or for commercial vehicles fail to pay $200 in tolls within five years.

Out-of-state drivers who cross New York bridges and tunnels without paying may soon face the same fate — the DMV is seeking suspension agreements with other agencies.

“If your car is registered in Connecticut, the DMV would take into account what you did in New York,” Pally said.

A BIKER has been caught by police using a James Bond-inspired gadget to conceal his number plate to avoid speed cameras.

Spanish traffic cops pulled over the motorcyclist after they noticed he was riding without a licence plate.

However, on closer inspection, the modified plate was revealed with tech straight from 007’s garage.

The Swiss rider had the ability to flip up his number plate at the press of a button to hide the reg from police or cameras.

A similar gadget was famously seen on Sean Connery’s Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger.

Bond’s number plate could spin to change to a different number to avoid being followed or tracked.

This rider didn’t quite have the same knack for getting out of trouble as 007, though.

As according to a report on the Catalan police website, using the secret gadget led to the motorcyclist’s downfall after cops in Girona noticed the rider didn’t have a licence plate.

They pursued and pulled over the motorcyclist before noticing the number plate had bizarrely re-appeared.

After a quick search, officers found the activation switch to move the plate up and down to dodge speed cameras.

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The UK's most expensive number plate to date is the F1 registration number purchased by a British businessman for £440,625 in 2008, though that's just small change compared to the £7m spent by Abu Dhabi-based Saeed Khouri on the 1 number plate - officially the largest sum of money ever spent on a registration number.

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Sharjah: Fierce bidding at a Sharjah Police licence plate online auction raked in Dh3.4 million for a single plate numbered “15”, said Sharjah Police.

In total, Dh9.8 million was raised from the auction of 100 unique number plates.

Organised by Sharjah Police in collaboration with Emirates Auction from March 27 till April 1, the auction attracted the attention of bidders from across the UAE and beyond.

The online auction witnessed intense bidding on 100 unique number plates, including a pair of two-digit plates: 15 and 66, nine three-digit plates: 120, 121, 200, 202, 221, 313, 660, 801, 888, and 44 four-digit plates, featuring unique combinations such as: 2222 and 5000, in addition to 45 five-digit plates.
The highest bid on two-digit number went to plate number 15, which recorded Dh3,4 million, while plate number 66 recorded Dh1,2 million. The highest price for three-digit numbers went to plate number 888, which recorded Dh700,000.

The four-digit plate number 2222 was sold for Dh600,000 and the highest paid for a five-digit plate (66666) was Dh559,000.

Plate number 200 sold for Dh382,000, while the lowest bid went to plate number 89100 which sold for Dh6,000
The auction was viewed by 500,102 people via Emirate Auction’s mobile app and website.

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A NUMBER plate sold to raise money for Tatton Park has fetched a world record price of £331,500 at auction.

The M1 registration mark was bought by an anonymous north west-based bidder - for his six-year-old son's birthday.

Officials at auctioneers Bonhams and Tatton Park were stunned by the final selling price for the unique plate, which quickly reached and overtook the previous world record.

And they were even more amazed to learn that the owner is a boy who cannot legally drive for another 11 years.

The youngster is the son of a wealthy Cheshire businessman who refused to reveal himself and made his bids by phone.

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A Swede with a passion for offensive number plates has failed in his cause yet again, after transport authorities denied two of his latest attempts to create 'offensive' personalised plate combinations.

The man, from Varberg in southern Sweden, gained some media attention last year when he attempted to register a personal licence plate reading "3JOH22A".

The Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) rejected the licence plate request on the grounds of it being offensive, the reason for which is made clear when the combination is reflected in a mirror.

The same man has now made two further attempts to change his plate to "8UTT5EX" and "X32TTU8" respectively, but they were also denied, as they too could be considered offensive.

If not immediately obvious, the explanation for rejecting the latter combination is once again made clear when a mirror is introduced to the equation.

"We get a lot of requests and some of them are very subtle. Many see it as a sport to try and get a word through. This one was quite easy to reject," Eva Isaksen from the Swedish Transport Agency told public broadcaster SVT.

The Transport Agency's rules state that a personalised number plate ”may not be designed if it causes offence or harm to anyone else," including allusions to alcohol, drugs, sex, swearwords, religion or criminality.

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