There has been plenty of talk already this year about the possible effect of a 13 registration plate on new car sales next year. Putting superstition aside, does our registration system need an overhaul? But how important is the number and county identifier on the Irish registration plate. Are registration plates more of a vanity plate than something to identify our cars with? We might not like to admit it but every day we make judgments and assertions about people based on appearance. What job do they have? How do they dress? What sort of house do they live in? It’s the same story when it comes to cars. The type of car, size, and colour, even the size of the car’s alloy wheels, can give us pre- conceived ideas about what sort of person the driver of that car is. And let us not forget the registration plate too. Could there be any more of a blatant advertisement as a brand new registration? At the height of the boom a brand new car seemed like a good idea to tell the world that we were doing well. It is interesting to note that in most European countries it is not immediately obvious how old the car is from its license plate. Indeed in some countries, the registration plate stays with the owner and not the car. But in Ireland we can glean a lot of information from the registration plate. How old is the car? Where was the car registered? And of course these things carry their own prejudices. It begs the question whether registration plates should more accurately be called vanity plates. So are we so shallow that we only buy new cars because we want a spanking new registration? Of course not. There are lots of reasons for buying a new car. People who rely heavily on their cars to get to work or even use their car for work want a reliable car. A new car is likely to be more comfortable and safer than its older counterpart. The newer model of the car might also just be better looking! But would we be so quick to buy a new car if the age of the car could not be deciphered so easily from the registration plate? If there was not such an obvious system of...
There has been plenty of talk already this year about the possible effect of a 13 registration plate on new car sales next year. Putting superstition aside, does our registration system need an overhaul? But how important is the number and county identifier on the Irish registration plate. Are registration plates more of a vanity plate than something to identify our cars with? We might not like to admit it but every day we make...
