Personalised Number Plate Information

NUMBER PLATES:

Students at a school in Surrey have been threatened with having their bikes locked away unless they comply with a new policy on cycling to school, which includes having a number plate attached to their bikes.

In a letter sent to parents, Keith Batchelor, head of the Beacon School in Banstead, said that he was implementing new rules on children cycling into school, and parents would have to sign an agreement before their children were allowed to ride in.

As well as telling students to stick to the Highway Code, wear a helmet, and use hi-vis clothing and bike lights “where appropriate”, the new rules also mean that students will have to have a number plate (supplied by the school) attached to their bikes, which Mr Batchelor hoping that this will make students not following the rules more identifiable.

“On joining the school this September, I decided to refine the current cycling policy to enhance further the safety of the students in our care and develop their sense of responsibility on the road,” Mr Batchelor said in a statement, as reported by Get Surrey.

“The procedures will support the safeguarding of our students on their journeys to and from school and help us to celebrate safe cycling. We will provide extra training to students where it is needed.”

As part of the new policy, the school says that students who fail to follow the rules may be banned from cycling to school, with those who continue to ride in having their bikes locked up until their parents or carers are available to collect them.

Number plates for bikes have been the subject of discussion in recent months after a survey by Halfords found that two-thirds of respondents were in favour of cyclists having to have them attached to their bikes.

However the idea came was slammed by both cycling campaigners and motoring groups, with the AA describing it as “impractical and unnecessary” while Cycling UK said “rather than encouraging people to cycle, and bring all the associated health and wealth benefits, it is more than likely to put newcomers or occasional cyclists off cycling altogether.”

---

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.

---

A businessman who bought the No.1 limited edition licence plate in Abu Dhabi for Dh31 million has been sentenced to three years in jail for issuing a dud cheque to the organisers.

The Emirati man had bought the special number plate at an auction last year.

The Abu Dhabi Misdemeanour Court handed down the sentence to the Emirati man after he was found guilty of fraud and issuing a bounced cheque.

Abu Dhabi public prosecution had ordered for the detention of the 32-year-old man after organisers of the auction filed a complaint that he issued them a cheque after buying the number plate, even though he didn't have enough balance in his bank account.

Prosecutors had detained the businessman. He was charged with fraud and issuing a bounced cheque.
And during interrogation, the Emirati admitted to giving the cheque to orginisers despite being aware he didn't have sufficient funds in his account, said prosecutors.

"He said he was planning to re-sale the rare number plate at a profit so he could pay the value of the cheque to the organisers and maintain enough balance in his account," said a prosecutor.

Authorities, however, said one can only re-sale a number plate bought in an auction after one has paid the full amount and that any resale before making the payment is considered illegal.

The auction, which generated Dh99 million, was hosted by Emirates Auction in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Police on November 19, 2016 at Emirates Palace hotel to commemorate the Abu Dhabi Government's Golden Jubilee.

And the Emirati beat several bidders for the coveted plate after starting at Dh1 million. The limited-edition golden jubilee plates all featured the number 50 in the top left corner.

Fifty vanity Abu Dhabi number plates were up for grabs at the Emirates Auction event.

---

Overseas territories

Some of the British overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, use similar number plates to the UK, with the same colours and typeface.

---

On average, the city RTOs earn close to Rs 12-14 crore annual revenue from the sale of special numbers. The number '1' can fetch a maximum of Rs 12 lakh if it is not available in the current running series and is purchased from a future series. A two-wheeler owner can buy the special number for Rs 1.5 lakh. At the Andheri RTO, large TV screens display information on VIP numbers.
The latest statistics show that Pune tops all RTOs when it comes to selling the special registration numbers, while Mumbai comes fifth.

While Pune RTO has sold 30,366 numbers and fetched a revenue of Rs 23.45 crore, this was followed by Nashik RTO where 27,545 VIP numbers were sold to citizens at a cost of Rs 19.59 crore. At Thane, as many as 10,744 special numbers were sold to fetch a revenue of Rs 9.98 crore while Kolhapur sold 10,611numbers for Rs 7.3 crore.
The craze for getting a VIP number began in the northern states," said an official. For example, in Punjab, there have been cases of farmers buying VIP numbers for lakhs of rupees in auction. In 2012, a Chandigarh businessman purchased registration number CH-01-AN-0001 for Rs 17 lakh. The number AK-47 is also popular in Punjab and sold for Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh almost every year.

On Saturday an Emirati businessman bought the distinctive Dubai car plate number AA10 after posting the winning bid of 3.12 million dirhams during the Roads and Transport Authority's (RTA) 97th 'Open Plates Auction'.

Majid Mustafa, who has been participating in the RTA auctions since 2002, told the UAE-based publication that he will keep the AA10 number plate for his personal use and mount it on one of his numerous cars.

The RTA's year-end auction raised a total of 12.75 million dirhams this time around and saw nine other AA code plates, including 12, 50, 100, 333, 786, 1000, 8888, 11111, and 55555 going under the hammer.

Mustafa also said that he has owned a total of 5,000 special plates, many of which he already traded and gained profitable margins. At a price of 6 million dirhams, the most expensive plate he has ever acquired was I10.

During the auction on Saturday, the second most expensive plate went to Essa Al Habbai who bought AA12 for 2.72 million dirhams.

Another Emirati won the bidding for the third most expensive plate, AA50, priced at 1.84 million dirhams, while a 44-year-old Lebanese expat acquired AA11111 for 1.21 million dirhams.

"I will mount it on my Lamborghini..."
Another Emirati, 32-year-old businessman Jaber Khamis, won the number AA333 after bidding 700,000 dirhams for it.

"The plate (AA333) is really special. I will mount it on my Lamborghini but I might also sell it if I find the right buyer who will offer a really good price," Khamis told Khaleej Times.
At the auction, RTA also unveiled a new design for Dubai number plates. It will feature the Dubai brand logo, and the letters and digits will be printed in black on white background.

In October, RTA already raised 25 million dirhams at the 'Open Plates Auction'.

"The number auctions organized by the RTA are characterized by transparency and enthusiasm. They measure up to the aspirations of customers who seek exclusivity in this regard. Such auctions suffice the needs and aspirations of number plate enthusiasts, and reflect RTA’s keenness to realize its third strategic goal of 'People Happiness'," said Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency at the time.

$30,000 for personalised plates? Tell him he's dreaming.

Gracemere man Chase Ferguson's "for sale" post attracted plenty of attention overnight, but probably not the kind he was after.

Ironically, the $30K price tag he's placed on a set of "no idea" personalised number plates has spurred a thread of witty remarks and memes, but few interested buyers.

"Two standard size prestige plates. NO IDEA. Excellent condition still on vehicle. $30 000 or nearest offer," he posted to the Rockhampton Buy, Swap, Sell Facebook page on Sunday night.

It comes as the Rockhampton was found to have the second-highest number of personalised plates in the state, with 3644 residents pimping their rides.

The region sits next in line to the Sunshine Coast (5598), which trumps the regions of Mackay (3012); Gladstone (1072); Bundaberg (1072); Fraser Coast (766); Warwick (305) and Gympie (602).

While some are saying Chase's asking price is exorbitant, $30,000 is a bargain compared to some sellers who are asking up in the hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars.

Rodney Gilchrist has taken up "dream" real estate on the personalised plate front, buying up DREAM1, DREAM2, DREAM3, DREAM4, DREAM5 and DREAM6 and re-selling for $300,000.

The number plates have been on the market for about 12 months, as the church pastor patiently waits for a cashed-up fleet manager to buy the plates.

Chase Ferguson has been contacted for comment.

If none of the above appeal to the rev head in you, here are some of the top-dollar plates up for grabs online:

HEART: The most expensive plates in the state, but the seller suggests a heart surgeon may have the $50,000 needed to snap them up.

---

The number plate 1D was bought for a record £352,000 at auction yesterday.

Tycoon Nabil Bishara won it in fierce bidding and plans to put it on his wife's Bentley.

His £352,411 offer beats the previous £254,000 best for a DVLA sale, set by 51NGH in 2006. The DVLA's Damian Lawson said after the auction in Claverdon, Warks: We're absolutely over the moon."

Britain's priciest car reg is F1, bought privately for £440,625 in 2008 by Afzal Kahn of Bradford, West Yorks."

---