Number Plate Nightmares
We had heard the tale of Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) registrations in the USA causing their new owners to get a massive backlog of fines, but we thought it had to be a joke or a rumour. That was until we delved a little deeper, uncovered the facts, and looked into the bizarre history of private plate registrations in the USA.
The tales of Department of Motor Vehicles nightmares start back in 1979 with Robert Barbour, a resident of Los Angeles, California. Robert was attempting to request a personalised plate that reflected his love of boating.
The form he was given had three “selections” so that if his first choice was already taken, the second could be considered, and failing that, the third. Unfortunately for Robert, his first selection “BOATING” was very obvious and long since taken. His second selection, “SAILING”, wasn’t any less popular and had also been claimed.
But what did Mr. Barbour pick for his third choice? Oddly, he couldn’t think of a final option and attempted to “opt-out” of the third selection altogether by writing down “NO PLATE”.
Somehow, the Department of Motor Vehicles took this as a serious request and granted Robert’s third selection, sending him a pair of shiny new “NO PLATE” personalised plates.
At this point, he probably should have taken the plates back. However, realising how completely unique they were, Robert decided to keep them. And that is exactly when the ultimate number plate nightmare began.
The Number Plate Nightmare Begins
The flood of tickets took about a month to kick in, but once they started, they poured in. Robert claimed he collected over 2,500 tickets in the first few months of owning his new personalised plates.
The reason behind the automated mountain of tickets? Computers!
Until then, whenever law enforcement officers had to write parking or traffic tickets for vehicles that lacked proper registration plates, they were in the habit of entering “NO PLATE” into the system’s plate number field. Suddenly, the DMV’s automated computers could match these legacy citations up to a real person—Robert Barbour—and automatically delivered a massive backlog of fines and paperwork straight to his door.
The California State Department of Motor Vehicles was not at all sympathetic. They suggested that the plates be changed or cancelled, noting that either option would certainly solve the problem quickly enough. Mr. Barbour wouldn’t hear of it. Instead of giving up on his unique registration, he proceeded to respond to every single mailer with a detailed reply explaining the systematic error, including all the vehicle details needed to verify the mistake.
For the most part, the written replies worked. Though on several occasions, Robert had to go all the way into court to prove to a judge that his car didn’t match the descriptions of the various vehicles getting ticketed across the state.
The Department of Motor Vehicles, never too quick to act, took a few years to correct the flaw. Eventually, they found the time to formally request that officers avoid using “NO PLATE” and instead use “NONE” when a vehicle was completely missing its plates.
Predictably, this led to further incidents. This update triggered a new string of automated tickets written out to “MISSING”, which perfectly matched a private plate registration belonging to another California resident, Andrew Burg.
Luckily for Burg, he wasn’t much of a traveller, and he could easily prove to the courts that the tickets were being issued in locations he had never even visited.
NOTAG, UNKNOWN, and VOID
Jim Cara is “NOT A GIRL”, which actually has absolutely nothing to do with why he selected “NOTAG” as a personalised plate for his motorbike.
Jim is a bit of a comedian (at least he thinks he’s funny!) and picked his plates for the sake of a quick laugh. The joke was on him, however, as his custom plate netted him countless automated violations, fines, and citations for a wide variety of offences. At one point, Jim was even worried about facing potential jail time due to the shear flood of automated tickets hitting his name.
There are similar legendary stories circulating about “UNKNOWN”, “VOID”, and “XXXXXXX” plates causing their owners immense legal grief. So next time you are searching for your perfect registration combination, remember that not everything is what it seems!
Looking for your own unique registration?
If you want a standout plate that won’t confuse the speed cameras, search our massive database of DVLA number plates or find a bargain in our cheap number plates selection. Alternatively, if you have a unique registration you want to cash in on, you can learn how to sell a plate here.