misplaced_pants742 t1_j2dkrdc wrote on December 31, 2022 at 1:41 PM

Reply to comment by There_goes_kyle in Does anyone know why our license plates went from awesome to terrible in the 2000s? by Objective-Class-4552

I've noticed with the current plate numbering pattern that the letters I, O, and Q aren't used. Is that so they aren't confused with numbers? But all other letters are used.

There_goes_kyle t1_j2dnrpo wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:08 PM

I feel like I’ve seen AQ but I may be mistaken. You are definitely right though, I’ve noticed they skip I and O as far as I can tell. I’ve always assumed it was because of the number confusion. I’m glad I’m not the only one that is always paying attention to things like this.

misplaced_pants742 t1_j2ds774 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:45 PM

I've wondered who comes up with the plate number patterns, and the thought process behind it.

Like when the pattern "123 ABC" (as pictured in this post) ran out of unique character combinations, they went to "1AAAA1", which DID use the number zero, which was hard to read, and you'd see a bunch of combinations that looked like really weird personalized plates. Like one time I saw "OAT UNO", haha. Then they switched to the pattern we use now, presumably because it's easier to read.

Also it seems the plate pattern "00 AAAA" is used for motorcycles and classic vehicles. This pattern has far more unique combinations than other existing numbering patterns, but motorcycles/classic vehicles are such a small portion of vehicles overall - so why would they use that numbering pattern?

I know, weird stuff I notice when out driving.