Sir, – The proposal to add a “green flash” to electric vehicle number plates is bizarre (“Green ‘flash’ registration plates for motorists on Irish roads with zero-emission vehicles”, News, November 4th).
Why not add a small sticker or seal similar to those on German number plates? German plates carry two seals, the official seal of the respective state and the vehicle’s safety inspection sticker. These are placed between characters to space them out, eliminating the need for a hyphen.
The sequential numbering on Irish number plates has led to excessive characters on the plates, a random alphanumeric code would preserve the county identifier while making it easier for those with poor eyesight to read, which is surely the primary purpose of a vehicle’s number plate.
The current system is a sloppy mish-mash and underlines the lack of appreciation for quality graphic design in Ireland.
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In fact, with modern vehicle databases there is no need to publicly identify the semester of registration, as a vehicle’s data, including tax and national car test (NCT) status, can be published securely online. – Yours, etc,
PAUL KEAN,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – I note that in future zero emissions vehicles will be entitled to an optional “green flash” or stripe on their number plate indicating their green credentials.
Our current number plates are extremely crowded, with an Irish number plate now easily holding nine or even 10 numbers and letters.
The system of indicating the year is unnecessary and inefficient and merely encourages wasteful “Keeping up with the Joneses” spending, particularly foolish in a nation with no car manufacturing.
Why do we need to know the county where the car was originally registered? Are we that parochial?
How is it that the Netherlands can make do with six characters on their cars and Spain can manage with seven? In addition, the font used in Ireland is ugly and outdated and should shift to a dedicated licence-plate font such as the German FE-Schrift font which is used by some Irish car enthusiasts, despite being illegal here.
Malta, which uses this font, allows drivers to choose a “vanity plate” for a fee, depending on how concise or popular it is – a painless way to boost exchequer revenue. – Yours, etc,
MATTHEW GLOVER,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.