New registration plate numbers
in [Car Maintenance]
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From: Rob Graham on 28 Jul 2010 06:20 In October new cars will have new 'year numbers'. Given that the next in the sequence would be 60 (I think) but my wife, who's obsessed with car numbers, says it can't be but can't say what it should be, can anyone say whether I'm right or wrong and tell me the correct number? They might also suggest a course of treatment for my wife. Rob Graham
From: Adrian on 28 Jul 2010 06:56 Rob Graham <rttgraham(a)btinternet.com> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: > In October new cars will have new 'year numbers'. Given that the next in > the sequence would be 60 (I think) but my wife, who's obsessed with car > numbers, says it can't be but can't say what it should be, can anyone > say whether I'm right or wrong and tell me the correct number? You are correct. Summer period, Mar-Sep - two-digit-year. Winter period, Oct-Feb - two-digit-(start)-year + 50. The current scheme can continue until xx00xxx expires in February 2051 without any modification (unless a fourth letter becomes required due to volume). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom#Age_identifiers
From: Dave Baker on 28 Jul 2010 08:31 "Adrian" <toomany2cvs(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:8bagm3FfbrU9(a)mid.individual.net... > Rob Graham <rttgraham(a)btinternet.com> gurgled happily, sounding much like > they were saying: > >> In October new cars will have new 'year numbers'. Given that the next in >> the sequence would be 60 (I think) but my wife, who's obsessed with car >> numbers, says it can't be but can't say what it should be, can anyone >> say whether I'm right or wrong and tell me the correct number? > > You are correct. > > Summer period, Mar-Sep - two-digit-year. > Winter period, Oct-Feb - two-digit-(start)-year + 50. > > The current scheme can continue until xx00xxx expires in February 2051 > without any modification (unless a fourth letter becomes required due to > volume). Just out of interest I calculated the permutations. There are 20 possible first area code digits, 23 possible second digits (it varies a bit) and also 24 for each of the final three letters. This gives a possible total of just over 6.3 million new registrations every 6 months compared with annual vehicle sales of about 2.5 million. Looks like the system will work just fine unless the population of the UK increases by a factor of five. That also possibly explains why they thought it necessary to change the age code every 6 months rather than annually to create more headroom although it would be most unlikely that over 6.3 million new vehicles would ever be sold in the UK in a single year, never mind in 6 months. God forbid that by the year 2050 which this system is supposed to cope with there are over 150 million people in the UK but at least it won't be one of my problems. -- Dave Baker
From: Adrian on 28 Jul 2010 08:52 A.Clews(a)DENTURESsussex.ac.uk gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: >> The current scheme can continue until xx00xxx expires in February 2051 >> without any modification (unless a fourth letter becomes required due >> to volume). > I suspect most of us reading here will be expired by then anyway :-) <shrug> I'll still be in my 70s. Not exactly outside of the realms of possibility.
From: Rob Graham on 28 Jul 2010 09:33
God forbid that by the > year 2050 which this system is supposed to cope with there are over 150 > million people in the UK but at least it won't be one of my problems. You never know. You know the old adage 'freeze a jolly good fellow'. Rob |