Surname Too Offensive For Reg Plate

Reg Plates Article

Surname Too Offensive For Reg Plate

A man who used his surname on his license plate for over 25 years is furious after authorities cancelled it a single complaint said it was ‘a socially unacceptable slogan’.

Lorne Grabher, from Canada, has had the license plate GRABHER on his car for over 25 years, after purchasing the custom plate for his father’s 65th birthday. Lorne’s dad died in the 1990s, and he has used the plate ever since.

Speaking to CBC, Lorne says he can’t believe his own name was targeted.

‘Where does the province of Nova Scotia and the government of Nova Scotia get the right to discriminate against a person's name?’ he asks.

An email sent to CBC by the Department of Transportation explained that some people might interpret the plate in a way that promotes violence against women.

‘With no way to denote that it is a family name on the plate, the department determined it was in the public's best interest to remove it from circulation,’ it reads.

The particular phrase “grab her” is thought to be particularly tasteless considering the statements recorded by US President Donald Trump in relation to women.

But Lorne says it shouldn’t matter.

‘Donald Trump is a totally different person. He's ignorant. He doesn't care about anybody and I shouldn't be put in a class like him,’ he said.

‘I’ve never once had anybody come up to me and say they were offended.’

On our website, we offer a number plate search feature that lets you enter words, letters or numbers that you would like to see in the number plate of your dreams.

Try it out with words you would like to incorporate into your private number plate, such as a name, nickname, age or keyword (such as a hobby or passion).

You can use the general search to find any and all matching plates, or you can use our ‘prefix style’ search to search for plates that end in three letters of your choice, but have any combination at the start.

Alternatively, the ‘current search’ will allow you to specify two letters at the start and / or the age identifier numbers in the middle, and / or the final three letters at the end of the plate.

A final option for searching for your dream number plate is to use our ‘dateless search’ option, where you can find number plates that do not have a date identifier. These cherished plates are especially popular for vintage and classic cars, and are often the most prized of all personalised number plates.

Through this range of search options, you can go a long way towards finding your perfect personalised number plate. You could search for a Bob, a Tim, a Lou or a Ted, or you could include numbers that are meaningful to you in some way, such as your age, year of birth, or the year you got married. Do remember that drivers are not legally allowed to use a registration plate that makes a car look younger than it actually is (so a car built in 2012 can’t have a 2014 registration number).

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