EU want to standardise number plates

[powerstroke]

Apparently !!!! all with the lovely EU stars and the same font and background, anyone know where this leaves personal plates???

[Fittster]

Link to the source of this story?

[powerstroke]

Fittster said:

Link to the source of this story?

Sorry it was something I heard on the radio not sure will google

[Gilhooligan]

Quite a few articles on the subject.

http://www.motors.co.uk/news/general/days-of-uk-re...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2601201/UK...

[Triumph Man]

But we have the best plates in the EU! Reflective, legible font, tell the age of the vehicle at a glance and place of registration.

[Gilhooligan]

Triumph Man said:

But we have the best plates in the EU! Reflective, legible font, tell the age of the vehicle at a glance and place of registration.

But how would these EU officials attempt to justify their jobs if they didn't make up stupid rules and new regulations?

[zed4]

I stayed with some Germans once and they really couldn't understand how on earth we could survive without knowing which town each car on the road was from.

Apparently they find it very useful/interesting/vital having the town the car is from on the number plate.

(yes I am aware that you can decipher regions from our number plates too)

[grumbledoak]

No more personal plates?
A taste offensive from Brussels?

Meh. Don't care.

[ManFromDelmonte]

powerstroke said:

Apparently !!!! all with the lovely EU stars and the same font and background, anyone know where this leaves personal plates???

I'm not sure this affects personal plates any more than normal plates does it?

We already have a standard font and background for all (or at least a couple of different styles depending on vehicle age).

[Riley Blue]

ManFromDelmonte said:

powerstroke said:

Apparently !!!! all with the lovely EU stars and the same font and background, anyone know where this leaves personal plates???

I'm not sure this affects personal plates any more than normal plates does it?

We already have a standard font and background for all (or at least a couple of different styles depending on vehicle age).

From one of the reports linked to above,

"Brits would also see the blue and gold wreath of stars of the EU adorn their car’s reg plate, while it is possible that personalised number plates could be banned."

[Fox-]

We do have the most ridiculous system in the world currently, so perhaps not a bad thing. Our curious obsession with making sure the age of the vehicle is advertised on the plate right down to the 6 month period it was registered is quite bizarre and distorts used values.

[Negative Creep]

Triumph Man said:

But we have the best plates in the EU! Reflective, legible font, tell the age of the vehicle at a glance and place of registration.

Metal plates are far superior since they don't crack in a slight shunt, are harder to forge and can't be messed around with to create "words". Age suffix only benefits the motor trade and those shallow enough to be engaging in one-upmanship with their neighbours

[McWigglebum4th]

OH fk how on earth am i going to cope?????

They are going to change the colour of the plastic rectangle bolted to my car

has anyone got the number for Samaritans

[aka_kerrly]

Fox- said:

We do have the most ridiculous system in the world currently, so perhaps not a bad thing. Our curious obsession with making sure the age of the vehicle is advertised on the plate right down to the 6 month period it was registered is quite bizarre and distorts used values.

It sells cars though.

I'd much rather a system like in the US, let us pick our own plates and make them linked to the driver so we can put our plate on our car(s) if plates have any bearing on tax/registration.

[Riknos]

Fox- said:

We do have the most ridiculous system in the world currently, so perhaps not a bad thing. Our curious obsession with making sure the age of the vehicle is advertised on the plate right down to the 6 month period it was registered is quite bizarre and distorts used values.

This. Much better to have a system like in parts of the US - Randomly generated number to yourself, which it's cheaper to actually keep the whole time and just transfer from car to car, and your plate will just say which state your car is registered in (and the slogan for that state - some of which are pretty cringe-worthy...)

[996TT02]

Fox- said:

We do have the most ridiculous system in the world currently, so perhaps not a bad thing. Our curious obsession with making sure the age of the vehicle is advertised on the plate right down to the 6 month period it was registered is quite bizarre and distorts used values.

While I am sure that the standardisation, if any, will only relate to the setup of the plate - material, font, etc and not the characters on it, I do agree that one reason why used UK cars are probably the cheapest in Europe, if not the world, must be due to the fact that all cars yell out their age the moment you glance at them, so naturally it has become an issue for buyers.

In other countries the actual age, give or take 2-3 years or so (obviously all relative as a percentage of the actual age) is something that is a very secondary consideration to condition, mileage, etc. It's far from one of the first things to be asked when viewing a used car.

[Troubleatmill]

EU is about harmonisation of everything.

Laws, foreign policy etc etc.

Expect to see more of the same.

[GC8]

By 'identification tags' do this shower of federalist socialist bds really mean RFID tags?

[jayemm89]

You mean pressed metal plates with German fonts are going to be LEGAL?

I imagine there will be a lot of dubbers asking for their £30 back from the police...

[TooMany2cvs]

Umm, was that a Daily Wail link up there...?