Personalised Number Plate Information

NUMBER PLATES:

A number plate owner has had their number plate withdrawn by the DVLA after a member of the public complained to police that it spelt 'jihad'.

The Ford Fiesta was driven around with the personalised plate for six months before it was reported to officials.

Licence bosses have now banned the plate which was written JH11 HAD and sent the owner a replacement.

The car was reported after it was spotted driving around Newport, Gwent.

One woman who reported it to police after she saw it being driven in her home city said: "How can this be allowed with everything that is going on in the world at the moment?

"I have told the police about it and they said they would make a note of it.

"Surely this plate cannot be legal?"

A DVLA spokesman said the personalised plate had been bought in October last year and had "slipped through the net" of offensive registrations.

The spokesman said: "We try to identify all combinations that may cause offence, and on the rare occasion where potentially offensive numbers slip through the net, steps are taken to withdraw the number.

"As soon as we became aware of this last week we withdrew it and would have then sent a replacement plate."

Plates resembling the word 'jihad', which literally means striving or struggling in Arabic, and is associated with the concept of 'holy war', are unavailable, for example plates starting with JE and ending HAD.

Others which are banned include HO57 AGE, a close match to "hostage", and the chain of characters O54 MA because of its resemblance to the name Osama.

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It should be noted that there are no restrictions on using a vanity or cherished registration on a car that is newer than the original date of the registration plate, but it is prohibited to transfer a registration that is newer than the vehicle it is used on. This is to prevent the transfer of newer registrations to older vehicles as a measure to protect consumers.

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Would you like your birthday, wedding, graduation or employment day reflected on your car plate? It's possible.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a new phase called of 'Your Memorable Moments on Your Vehicle's Plate' initiative for U-Coded plates. The initiative avails the opportunity for customers to choose five-digit plates bearing this code personalised to resemble important events in their lives such as birthday, employment, wedding and graduation day, among others, according to the RTA.

The available numbers relate to the period from 1967 to 2017. The cost of the special plate is Dh1,620 each and customers can buy their number plates from RTA Customers Happiness Centres all over Dubai, service providers, strategic partners, RTA website (www.rta.ae), or the smart app 'Drivers & Vehicles.'

"This stage fits well with the intention of adding to people's happiness in Ramadan and the joyous Eid al-Fitr," said Sultan Al Marzouqi, director of vehicles licensing at RTA's Licensing Agency.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a new phase of ‘Your Memorable Moments on Your Vehicle’s Plate’ initiative for U-Coded plates. The initiative avails the opportunity for customers to choose five-digit plates bearing this code personalised to resemble important events in their lives such as birthday, employment day, wedding day, and graduation day, among others. The available numbers relate to the period from 1967 to 2017. Customers can buy their number plates from Customers Happiness Centres all over Dubai, service providers, strategic partners, RTA website (www.rta.ae), or the smart app ‘Drivers & Vehicles.’ This stage fits well with the intention of adding to people’s happiness in Ramadan and the joyous Eid al-Fitr.

Sultan Al Marzouqi, Director of Vehicles Licensing, RTA’s Licensing Agency, said: “The U Code number plates bearing dates from 1967 to 2017 will be issued, once available on the list of plates in RTA’s website. The total cost of the plate is AED1620. Customers can buy their number plates from Customers Happiness Centres all over Dubai, service providers, strategic partners, RTA website (www.rta.ae), or the smart app ‘Drivers & Vehicles’. This stage fits well with the intention of adding to people’s happiness in Ramadan and the joyous Eid al-Fitr.

"This phase, of ‘Your Memorable Moments on Your Vehicle’s Plate’ initiative, follows the remarkable turnout seen by previous phases of Code "S” and “T" for the dates from 1981 to 1998. This initiative reflects the core role of RTA in providing new and premium services to raise customers’ satisfaction and happiness through engaging them in selecting personalised & important numbers for their vehicle plates,” concluded Al Marzouqi.

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So why do so many Territorians choose to pimp their plates?

To date, there are more than 20,000 personalised plates registered in the NT, making up 11 per cent of registered vehicles.

Part of the reason there are so many could be because of the price — $185 for a variety of designs and up to seven characters.

In Queensland a seven-character personalised number plate will set you back more than $3,000.

But according to Eduardo de la Fuente, a lecturer in creativity and innovation at James Cook University, the fact personalised plates were relatively inexpensive in the NT was not the only reason they were so popular.

"Through popular culture and culture more generally we invest a lot in motor vehicles [because] they're fetishistic objects," he said.

"They become vehicles, if you pardon the pun, for communicating something about ourselves.

"One way of differentiating yourself from the pack via the purchase of a motor vehicle is to buy something extremely exclusive.

"Most of us however are not in a position to buy a Lamborghini, so we may use other means to customise or personalise a car [and] a number plate is a relatively cheap way of doing that."

When Vivien Joseph moved to Darwin in 2011 she was immediately struck by the number of quirky personalised plates.

"It was the very first thing I noticed; it was like a signature for all of Darwin, a free comedy show on the road," she said.

Over the next four years she collected more than 10,000 number plate images, eventually compiling them into a book.

Ms Joseph's explanation of why more Territorian drivers choose to personalise their plates lies in the surrounding landscape and the identity of those living within it.

"It's so different to everywhere else and there's a freedom of spirit, maybe a greater sense of fun and a greater sense of getting away from the norm," she said.

"I guess they [Australian states and territories] all have their own spirits but the Northern Territory seems to have a sort of special quirky one."

As well as collating pictures, Ms Joseph asked some people to tell her the story behind their number plates.

One of the first stories she was told was of a number plate that read CARPDM.

"It was somebody who'd been unwell and depressed and sad but picked their life up again and chose a starting point by buying a new car and a new number plate," she said.

Other number plates that were among Ms Joseph's favourites were POOGURU — a man who wanted to illustrate he was often in trouble with his wife — and FUNSIZ — a young woman with a sense of humour about her height.

Personalised number plates in the NT, and the reasons people choose the combinations they do, is a fascinating topic for Simon Moss, an associate professor of psychology at Charles Darwin University.

He said while no formal studies had been conducted it was clear that Territorians liked to be unique.

"The [Northern] Territory is about expressing yourself, much more so than other states and territories," he said.

"I think a lot of people move to the NT because they don't want to conform and in some ways the amount of personalised plates here reflects that.

"It's a phenomena I'd like to look into a bit further."

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Number Plates as an alternative investment

Investing in car registration plates may seem like an unorthodox way of making money and a considerable statement in the process. Nevertheless, hundreds of investors and drivers now choose to purchase car registration plates with significant future returns available. The most obvious reason for purchasing car registration plates is to personalise your vehicle, to make you stand out from the crowd.

Even a mere decade ago, drivers with personalised registration plates were seen as wealthy and successful. In the present day, car registration plates are now more accessible and economical for the everyday working man to purchase. Drivers looking for a potential investment must keep in mind that the registration plate they purchase must be easy to sell on in the future.

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