California Is About To Run Out of License Plate Numbers (thedrive.com)
- Reference: 0177096489
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/04/22/226251/california-is-about-to-run-out-of-license-plate-numbers
- Source link: https://www.thedrive.com/news/california-is-running-out-of-license-plate-numbers
> The current system for non-commercial vehicles, which consists of one number, three letters, and three numbers, was rolled out in 1980, and the DMV expects this sequence to run its course before the year is out. But, running out of license plate numbers isn't as alarming as it might sound: California officials has already announced the next sequence.
>
> It's relatively difficult to predict precisely when California will issue its last current-style plate, but in June 2024, [2]The Sacramento Bee wrote that the California DMV was sitting on about 18 months' worth of license plate numbers, pegging the final current-style plate for the end of the year. The system, which started with 1AAA000, will be replaced with its reverse. The new system will consist of three numbers, three letters, and one number, so the first one could be something like 000AAA1 or 001AAA1 or 100AAA1 depending on whether or how they exactly implement the existing "no leading zeroes" rule.
[1] https://www.thedrive.com/news/california-is-running-out-of-license-plate-numbers
[2] https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article289218864.html
Focus now (Score:1)
But isn't the real challange to see how we run out of California?
7 slots. a-z + 1-9 (no 0 because O vs 0) (Score:2)
= 64,339,296,875 possible plate combinations.
We love cars, but we're gonna be fine.
Re: 7 slots. a-z + 1-9 (no 0 because O vs 0) (Score:3)
Only assuming the number is completely unstructured. The current and new formats each allow 10^4 * 24^3 (assuming no o or i) which is 138,240,000. California has about 1.8m new cars a year, so this new format is good for about 76 years.
Re: (Score:2)
Except that the current one lasted 45 years. No leading zeroes accounts for a bit of the discrepancy, but there must be some additional factor at play.
Expand the character set (Score:2)
I would suggest adding @, $. #, %, and &. As possible numbers.
This would expand the space that consists of 3 numbers from 1000 to 3375; a 340% increase in the number of available sequences.
Re: (Score:2)
You're on a computer technology Web site. A, B, C, D, E and F are perfectly acceptable (hexadecimal) digits to expand the numbering scheme, and won't make license plates look like cartoon profanity.
Re: (Score:2)
Why not just go the whole way and issue GUIDs?
Re: (Score:2)
Encoded how? We use letters in some positions on license plate numbers because there are more than 16 letters. Still, an eight-digit base32 number is only 40 bits, versus 128 bits for a GUID. Eight-character license plates are already pushing the limit of readability with the current US plate width.
I have a solution! (Score:2)
"Numberplate Address Translation"
Most cars rarely leave their home town. So allocate number plates to each city. Then cities issue their own internal number plates, and any cars leaving the city just borrow a city-owned plate for the trip. The city keeps a registrar of which local plate corresponds to which state plate at any given time.
This of course is just a temporary measure, until the new national 16-letter number-plate system is launched. It will take a few years for everyone to update their for
Should copy Virginia - Personalize! (Score:4, Funny)
$10/year for personalized plates. Makes driving that much more entertaining.
And the ever hilarious VA "Kids First" plate someone registered with "EAT THE" party poopers complained and got it revoked.
[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne... [dailymail.co.uk]
[1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039662/Virginia-driver-wants-EAT-THE-KIDS-FIRST.html
Re: (Score:2)
I know of a legislation where an additional fee for vanity plates was considered illegal because the DMV is a governmental service, and the service fee should be the same for the same administrative act.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a custom request, should be absolutely legal to charge extra for it.
Re: (Score:2)
It should cost extra to have the plate made, sure. But it shouldn't (as some jurisdictions I know of here in Australia do) have an additional annual fee for the personalized plate.