Reg Plates Around The World

Here's your chance to own a fancy car plate before the year ends: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is offering 10 car plates bearing the dual code AA during its 97th open auction on Saturday at Westin Hotel , Al Habtoor City.

The ten numbers on offer comprise double, triple, quadruple and penta-digit plates 10, 12, 50, 100, 333, 786, 1000, 8888, 11111, and 55555.

Sultan Al Marzooki, director of vehicles licensing at RTA Licensing Agency, said: "This auction differs from previous auctions in the exclusivity of numbers offered. The bidder who obtains one or more of these numbers will enjoy the privilege of having these numbers removed from offering in RTA auctions till the end of next year (2018).

Registration for the auction can be made on the same day of the sale, from 2pm to 5pm at the venue. Participation in the auction requires the potential bidder to have a traffic file in Dubai. An amount of Dh120 has to be paid as subscription fee.

A cheque amounting to Dh25,000 also has to be deposited but can be redeemed in case no successful bid is made. Potential bidders can pay deposits and subscription fees by credit cards through the RTA website (www.rta.ae). A dedicated team at RTA's call center (8009090) will be able to answer any further inquiries.

"Successful bidders have to settle the due amount within 10 working days starting from the closure of the auction to avoid deposit forfeiture and blacklisting of defaulters," said Al Marzooki.

Meanwhile, the RTA also unveiled a new design for number plates. The new design of vehicle number plates is clear and easy to read from a distance. It is composed of three elements: The word Dubai (brand), number and code.

"The RTA would start replacing the existing plates of light vehicles by the newly designed plates from February 2018. Clients interested in the (regular) plate bearing Dubai brand in black colour would have their vehicle plates replaced at cost of Dh35 for short plates and Dh50 for long plates. Others opting for the coloured Dubai brand plate need to pay a fee of Dh400," said Mattar Al Tayer, RTA director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors.

That's the suggestion from the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division.

“Every day is like Cyber Monday at the MVD because specialty plates are always a great deal and can easily be purchased online, even as a gift,” said MVD Stakeholder Relations Manager Jennifer Bowser-Richards. “Not only that, but the sales raise millions of dollars for worthy causes every year.”

Anyone may purchase a plate for another person. All that’s needed are the last two digits of the vehicle identification number, the customer name and address and the number of the plate being replaced. The new plate will be mailed to the recipient.

Ordering online is the easiest method and can be done any time at ServiceArizona.com, where customers may browse the many selections available. If your selection requires additional documentation and you are unable to order online you may fill out a special plate application.

There are more than 40 specialized plate styles designed to raise money for worthy causes. Themes include honoring veterans, organ donation awareness, environmental causes, tribal programs, university scholarships and support of charitable organizations for professional sports franchises, among many others.

Specialty plates typically cost $25 with an annual $25 renewal fee. Of that, $17 is directed each year to the charitable cause or service the plate represents. Personalizing a specialty plate carries an additional fee.

The specialty plate program began in 1989, and in the most recent fiscal year sales generated nearly $10 million for charitable causes and services in Arizona.

Bowser-Richards added, “Buying a specialty plate as a gift may seem a bit nontraditional, but since these plates raise millions for important causes it really is a gift that represents the best parts of the holiday season.”

President Ronald Reagan could become the latest face to grace Florida license plates under a bill being considered in the Florida Senate.

If approved, it could be the only plate in the country honoring the 40th president. A sample design includes a profile of Reagan, the U.S. flag and the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is stationed in Japan.

Neither Reagan’s birth state of Illinois nor the state that gave birth to his political life, California, has such plates. Neither do Texas and Virginia, the only two states surpassing Florida in sheer volume of specialty plates they offer, with more than 300 in each.

Why Florida? “The concept for the plate actually began in 2011 with the centennial of Ronald Reagan’s birth,” said Doug Guetzloe, a lobbyist whose firm has successfully pushed for some other specialty plates.

Reagan, who was president from 1980 to 1988, easily carried Florida primary and general elections in both 1980 and 1984. In his later years, he had Alzheimer’s disease. He died in 2004.

“The Alzheimer’s issue is so prominent in Florida. We have one of the largest Alzheimer’s populations in the country,” Guetzloe said.

According to the national Alzheimer’s Association, more than half a million Floridians over the age of 65 suffer to some extent from the dementia-inducing disease.

The Reagan plate would not be the only Florida specialty plate to concentrate on an individual. The state offers a John Lennon “Imagine” plate and a Martin Luther King Jr. “Live the Dream” plate. Proceeds from the Lennon plate go to food banks, while the King plate benefits a variety of anti-poverty and public health organizations.

The Reagan plate would be the only one that dedicates funding to educating Floridian children about a single individual.

About 65 percent of money from the $25 license plates would go toward Alzheimer’s research and to fund programs that educate students and residents about Reagan’s contributions to Florida and the United States as a whole.