Vehicle number plates have become a ubiquitous part of modern life. However, when automobiles first made their appearance in the United Kingdom in the early 1890s, the concept of number plates hadn’t even been thought of yet. Cars were a rarity then, so people can immediately recognise the owners or drivers of every vehicle roaming around the streets or countryside. However, as the number of cars grew, the need for number plates began to manifest itself.
Taking the lead from a New York state legislation in 1901, which made vehicle registrations mandatory, U.K. passed a similar law in 1903 called the Motor Car Act, which compelled all vehicles to be registered and display the supplied alphanumeric plates. So why did legislators imposed this requirement on vehicle owners?
This, obviously, implies individual private number plates are not just eye-catching, fun and awesome to give as endowments, however, they can likewise speak to remarkable venture potential.
This is perhaps the most important aspect of vehicle registrations. Unlike houses or land, cars, which at the time were equally expensive, can be stolen and driven away in a blink of an eye. Owners could wake up in the morning to find their vehicles purportedly owned by someone else across town. Without a proper registration system, malicious characters can use force, deception and trickery to obtain ownership of vehicles.
With proper government registration, attempts to falsely transfer vehicle ownership become that much harder to pull off, and official documentation will create paper trails for future scrutiny. The public display of number plates, meanwhile, will allow law enforcement and regulatory authorities to instantly verify vehicle ownership.
Vehicle registrations are usually tied to other regulatory requirements such as insurance and road tax. The presence of a number plate is usually a good indicator that a vehicle is in good regulatory standing.
Number plates are extremely crucial in criminal acts. It allows the police to quickly identify perpetrators and eliminate suspects. In many cases, they also help to locate witnesses.
For accidents, number plates make reporting and insurance claims so much easier. Similarly, misdemeanour offences such as speeding, parking violation and other minor traffic offences, becomes that much easier to manage with the presence of number plates.
While most vehicle owners simply use the registration numbers they are supplied with, some affluent Britons spend money to buy personalised number plates as a symbol of individuality and status symbol. Some may consider this an excessive display of wealth, but just as many would argue that this is no different from buying branded watches or expensive jewelleries.
A few vehicle owners are actually against the idea of vehicle plates, as they supposedly detract from the aesthetic perfection of their vehicles. It’s fair to say though that none of them have spent any time imagining the utter havoc of a world without number plates.