Electronic Number Plates A Possibility

New electronic number plates will be issued starting next month, about three months later than the Cayman Islands government initially planned.

The Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing announced Monday that some 2,400 temporary vehicle tags that have been issued in recent months will all be replaced in May. The temporary tags were issued in anticipation of the upcoming effort to switch to the electronic number plate devices.

After May, the department will begin replacing the older license plates and vehicle registrations free of charge when drivers bring in their vehicles for the typical registration renewal.

The new registration plates, which have the numbers stamped at the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing facility, are “tamper proof” – they cannot be removed for use on other vehicles.

In addition to the new license plates, corresponding vehicle registration coupons must be installed inside the windscreen. There are specific instructions for doing this, which the department said will be provided with the new license plates.

“I thank the public for their patience,” DVDL Director David Dixon said Monday, adding that the license plate vendor, Tonnjes, has been in Cayman recently, managing the setup of the new licensing system.

The electronic vehicle licensing system has generated significant controversy since its implementation was announced in the Legislative Assembly last summer. The new system cost $1.5 million, according to the vehicles department.

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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