Re: "New" Arizona license plates
- From: J.P. Wing <jp@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:16:56 -0400
On 2008-04-30 07:58:19 -0400, "C.O." <swbrotha@xxxxxxxxx> said:
I have noticed that Arizona now has new styles of license plates. They
are seven characters, in the "ABC1234" format. The letters and numbers
look like "California style" license plates. The new plates are flat
(no raised letters and numbers). A big cactus is on the left of the
standard plate. (This was also the case with the plates with the "123
ABC" format.)
In comparison to other states, how many states will eventually have
seven character plates? I'm thinking Texas will break down eventually.
What made California do its own thing with its unique "1ABC234"
format?
Another note: I think Arizona will eventually use one sticker with the
month and year on it. In the past, there was one sticker for the month
(on the upper left corner of the plate) and the year of expiration (on
the upper right corner).
There are more specialty and personalized plates than I can keep track
of. One type that I've noticed in the last week is a plate with the
American flag making up the background. The state name (Arizona) is on
top, and on the bottom is "Freedom".
Here's a link to a story I saw on the new plates:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/04/30/20080430NewPlate0430.html
As far as passenger plates go, New York went to AAANNNN with the "Empire" plates that debuted in 2001. Prior to the current sequence, the Liberty plates started out with AAANNN (the first two letters were a location code), then went to NAANNN (two letters still a location code), then to ANANNN then finally ANNNAA before moving to the Empire Plates. The final two combinations did not use location codes. Location codes were abandoned in 1994 or so.
The current plates are completely sequential without location codes; we are in the Es right now.
Before the Liberty plates we had the blue on gold, which were NNN-AAA, the first two letters were a location code, which were generally the same as the location codes that carried into the Liberty plates, but not in all cases. For example: Oswego County used "OSx" and "OEx" with the blue on gold and then "OSx", "OWx" and "OXx" for the Liberty Plates.
Location codes were GENERALLY based on the county name (or some variant*), but in many cases they were also based on the location of the DMV office, for example ("JT" for Jamestown, "LP" for Liverpool) when there were several counties with the same letters. (for instance, Oneida, Onondaga, etc.) Back during the Liberty plate days, rental vehicles generally began with a "Z" and dealer issued plates began with a "V" and later an "X". No such codes are used on the current plates.
J.P. Wing
* The variant on the location codes worked like this: the letters of the location code were used or were 'within' two letters of a letter in the name being referenced. Using my previous example, OSWego County used "OS" and "OW" and later "OX" (because the X is near W in the alphabet). This is based on 12 years of observation in most parts of the state.
.
- References:
- "New" Arizona license plates
- From: C.O.
- "New" Arizona license plates
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