Personalised Number Plate Information

NUMBER PLATES:

When you key in the vehicle number there is an immediate response which shows its make, model, age, colour, insurance status and owner. Databases know all that for every vehicle, instantly.

It’s amazing how law-abiding everyone becomes when the whole lot is known, and joined up. Without exception. In a blink. And with very little time cost or inconvenience.

So why can’t your PIN be like your number plate, holding an interconnected record of everything anyone has a right to know about you. No more forms and questionnaires and endless administrative complication and time cost-for a bank account, a mobile phone, a car log book, a licence, a permit, a title deed, service utilities, passport renewal or whatever.

Just key in your PIN and a password that gives your permission, and any supplier will have instant and complete access to the (selective) information the law entitles them to.

Computers do all the crunching and privacy categorising, and keep a permanent digital record to guarantee an audit trail that will keep everybody honest-including the administrators.

And if things can be joined up per person, they can also be joined up for all the people and provide a treasure chest of national statistics for planners and the general public.

As a non-contentious example, we could know the total number of vehicles, their class proportions, age - and anything else about them of use, interest or importance at the push of a button.

There are lots of reasons why we need to know more about our national fleet of vehicles with four wheels or more. But robust data is somewhere between scant, inconsistent and non-existent.

We have to resort to extrapolation, a bit like this: In the past decade, all Kenya’s main motor companies have sold about 140,000 new vehicles of every shape and size from town runabouts to prime mover trucks.

That figure represents about 10 per cent (maybe) of today’s total national road-going fleet of things with four wheels or more. The average age of that portion is about 5 years.

Over the same period, there have been about 860,000 used imports mostly aged about 8 years on arrival.

The average age of that contingent today is therefore around 13 years. Put both groups together and you have a million vehicles with an average age of about 12 years.

The rest of the fleet about 400,000 - was already here 10 years ago, having arrived in much the same new-used proportions. So that segment’s average age was also around 12, and is therefore now around 22.

With some slightly trickier arithmetic, we can therefore estimate that the overall average age of all the vehicles in Kenya today is about 15 years. That’s not a precise fact, but it is a strongly indicative probability.

---

If you are buying the plates separately then you'll need to go to a registered number plate supplier to get new number plates for your vehicle. The registered supplier will need proof of your identity, as well as proof that the registration number belongs to you. The number plate supplier will need to see at least one document from each of the lists below. This will allow the number plate supplier to confirm your name, address and entitlement to the registration number. All documents must be original, not copies.

---

Trevor, or Stretch to his mates because he is "very tall”, is a mine worker who loves his car so much that his choice of numberplate had to reflect that passion.

The GT4EVA plates take pride of place on his XY GT Falcon.

"I just wanted to put some numberplates on it that stood out from the rest,” Trevor said.

He is one of 3644 Rockhampton region residents who in the past year have personalised their vehicle with unique numberplates.

The plates cost from $165 to $3300 and the region is home to a wide array of unique registrations including these beauties: OMG MUD, HIP100, L1VE1T, C1NDYS, SPUNKYB and FORD36.

For some people, personalised plates are like chips - you can't have just one.

And Trevor is a prime example of that.

He has MAC392 on his Mustang and he also has TKD11 (his initials and date of birth) on another vehicle and SRD12 on his partner's car.

"I just love them - it just makes your car different to everybody else's,” Trevor said.

Personalised Plates Queensland managing director Jemma Elder said more than 750,000 personalised plates had been issued.

Jemma said vehicle owners were happy to spend big on them because they were a "fun and creative way” to express themselves.

"A lot of people are very proud of their vehicles and it's a way for them to express themselves and their passion for their cars and to complement the look of their car,” she said.

While most people opt for letter and number combinations that will not offend, there are some motorists who like to choose plates that are not appropriate for our roads.

"We work very closely with the Department of Transport and Main Roads who provide very strict guidelines to adhere to,” Jemma said.

"We run every plate against the very strict assessment criteria to ensure they are clean and that they are appropriate for display.”

While PPQ sells the unique regos on more than 250 types of plates and designs, it's the DTMR that produces the finished plate.

Canberrans who want to show their support for marriage equality can now do so in a novel way - rainbow number plates.

Following the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the ACT government has announced it will bring into circulation number plates with a rainbow band instead of the traditional slogan.

The colourful plates will cost a one-off fee of $60 and regulatory services minster Gordon Ramsay said he expected demand for them to be high.

The fee covers the cost of production of the plate, and unlike the rainbow buses and roundabout, Mr Ramsay said there would be no extra cost to the ACT taxpayer.

ACT government to offer free marriage certificates for same-sex couples who wed when briefly legal in Canberra
Location chosen for Canberra's rainbow roundabout
"The government has been supportive all the way through of people's rights," Mr Ramsay said.

"We're the most welcoming and inclusive city and I want to make sure we continue to be able affirm that and celebrate that."

Three in four Canberrans voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage in the recent postal survey, an "emphatic" result Chief Minister Andrew Barr said gave the government licence to make Canberra more "inclusive".

By submitting your email you are agreeing to Fairfax Media's terms and conditions and privacy policy.
Asked if the number plates could make cars a target given 26 per cent of the ACT voted against marriage equality, Mr Ramsay said he had "full confidence" Canberrans would respect the rights of others.

People can apply to have their existing 'Y' series plates remade with the rainbow design, although it will take about four weeks.

The government also announced on Friday it will waive $55 certificate fee for couples married previously under the ACT's Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013 if they marry again.

Couples who previously registered a civil union under the Civil Union Act 2012 can also have their fee waived.

There are about 80 couples eligible in a move that is expected to cost the ACT government about $4400.

ACT Opposition leader Alistair Coe criticised the government's "grandstanding and expenditure of public resources".

"All Canberrans, regardless of their sexuality, deserve a government that concentrates on health, education and all the other actual responsibilities of the ACT government," Mr Coe said.

MOTORISTS in the UK are still being targeted by new DVLA email, message and text message scams in Britain and here’s what to do if you are.

Criminals posing as the Driver Vehicle Licence Agency (DVLA) are still sending bogus messages to motorists, to attempt to maliciously acquire data or money from them.

These criminals are being exposed on Twitter now as motorists are savvily becoming wise to these messages.

DCI David Coleman, Deputy Director of Intelligence, Kent & Essex SCD tweeted a picture of a fake text he received.

The message read “We would like to notify you that you have an outstanding vehicle tax refund of GBP 220.50 from an overpayment, request refund dvlc.au1h.com.”

The DVLA has been explicit in the past about its policy regarding contacting customers.

It replied to a customers reporting another potential phishing scam saying “we're already aware of this scam and we are investigating.

“We advise drivers that we don't send texts that contain links. Please ignore it and don’t click on any link.”

On its website it reiterates how it will never contact a driver via text or email.

“We’re aware that some members of the public are receiving emails, texts and telephone calls claiming to be from DVLA.

“Links to a website mocked up to look like a DVLA online service are sometimes included in the message.

---

When you key in the vehicle number there is an immediate response which shows its make, model, age, colour, insurance status and owner. Databases know all that for every vehicle, instantly.

It’s amazing how law-abiding everyone becomes when the whole lot is known, and joined up. Without exception. In a blink. And with very little time cost or inconvenience.

So why can’t your PIN be like your number plate, holding an interconnected record of everything anyone has a right to know about you. No more forms and questionnaires and endless administrative complication and time cost-for a bank account, a mobile phone, a car log book, a licence, a permit, a title deed, service utilities, passport renewal or whatever.

Just key in your PIN and a password that gives your permission, and any supplier will have instant and complete access to the (selective) information the law entitles them to.

Computers do all the crunching and privacy categorising, and keep a permanent digital record to guarantee an audit trail that will keep everybody honest-including the administrators.

And if things can be joined up per person, they can also be joined up for all the people and provide a treasure chest of national statistics for planners and the general public.

As a non-contentious example, we could know the total number of vehicles, their class proportions, age - and anything else about them of use, interest or importance at the push of a button.

There are lots of reasons why we need to know more about our national fleet of vehicles with four wheels or more. But robust data is somewhere between scant, inconsistent and non-existent.

We have to resort to extrapolation, a bit like this: In the past decade, all Kenya’s main motor companies have sold about 140,000 new vehicles of every shape and size from town runabouts to prime mover trucks.

That figure represents about 10 per cent (maybe) of today’s total national road-going fleet of things with four wheels or more. The average age of that portion is about 5 years.

Over the same period, there have been about 860,000 used imports mostly aged about 8 years on arrival.

The average age of that contingent today is therefore around 13 years. Put both groups together and you have a million vehicles with an average age of about 12 years.

The rest of the fleet about 400,000 - was already here 10 years ago, having arrived in much the same new-used proportions. So that segment’s average age was also around 12, and is therefore now around 22.

With some slightly trickier arithmetic, we can therefore estimate that the overall average age of all the vehicles in Kenya today is about 15 years. That’s not a precise fact, but it is a strongly indicative probability.

---

It had been expected to sell for between £15,000 and £25,000 but the first Manx vehicle registration plate ever to be issued was eventually sold last week for £100,000. It is, says auctioneer Murray Keefe, a valuable piece of Manx history.

It was the first Isle of Man number plate and people do like to have number 1. At the auction we had 4 telephone lines wanting to bid on the number plate and quite a few bidding in the room so I was not surprised it made so much money knowing that some of the plates in the United Kingdom make substantially more than that. "

---