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haroldebarel t1_iregoh5 wrote

Wow, had no idea. Seems like just a few other states do this.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_license_plate_designs_and_serial_formats

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AchillesDev t1_irevu0l wrote

Some states are really dumb and use known algorithms to encode a bunch of your private info into your D/L number. MA does too but I don't think anyone has cracked it.

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haroldebarel t1_ireyhb2 wrote

I was wondering about that actually. The first 5 characters of my wife’s drivers license now match the first 5 characters of my own after she changed her last name. (NJ drivers license and the numbers are a bit longer than the ones in MA)

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AchillesDev t1_irez2xz wrote

Here's a site that shows the algorithm for FL, WI, and IL. It claims that MA uses the SSN, but I don't think that's the case, as you've noticed the number wouldn't change with a name change if it was based on SSN. Shortly before I moved back here ~5 years ago, I checked this algorithm against my FL license number and it was accurate, fwiw.

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NCSUGrad2012 t1_irersi3 wrote

Yeah, West Virginia and Missouri also do this. West Virginia is unique because they don’t have the month anywhere on the plate outside of the the first number on the plate which is the month it expires. Both Massachusetts and Missouri while including it in their number also put the month in the upper left. Although, when Massachusetts was issuing green plates they didn’t put the month on the plate and instead put it on the sticker.

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seesp0trunn OP t1_irf3cy4 wrote

Yea the whole thing is a lot more organized than I ever gave them credit for lol

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