Registration No or Driver No?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 17 Sep 2005 22:46
Registration No or Driver No? - islandman
When I was in my teens (many years ago) I spent an extended holiday in Canada with my family, staying with relatives.
I seem to recall that Canadians had to buy new registration plates every year, like we do a tax disc and these plates displayed the car owners driver no as opposed to a vehicle registration no, as in the UK.
I recall the province of residency was also included. Your 'registration' no was therefore the same for life and gave no indication of the vehicle's age. There must have been some system for employees driving company vehicles but I can't recall what this was.
Unfortunately, I can't check whether my memory serves me correct or not, as my relations have long since deceased. I do however vividly recall the Canadian 'family' runabout - a 1966 Plymouth Fury with something like a 6.5 litre V8! (400 cubic inch)? under the hood. Quite a car compared to our UK runabout, a Ford Anglia 105e with a 998cc 4 cylinder rubber band under the bonnet. Damn 'hood' sounds so much more powerful than 'bonnet' I ask you!

Anyway, does anyone know if I recall this correctly or not - perhaps any Canadian back roomers can help - and if right or not, could such a system work in the UK? Just think, no one would know that you'd just bought that brand new BMW!!!
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Sat 17 Sep 2005 23:26
Registration No or Driver No? - Robin Reliant
Makes sense, but you'd need a hell of a long number plate to fit a readable licence no. on it.
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Sun 18 Sep 2005 09:08
Registration No or Driver No? - mare
From memory of living there, the Belgians have a similar system. The driver gets a plate, not the car, and it moves with the driver. It was very common to see brand new plates on an old car, and conversely very tatty old plates on a brand new car.

tinyurl.com/8hmfo

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Sun 18 Sep 2005 09:12
Registration No or Driver No? - mare
Actually, it seems that the system today is you update your plates with a validation sticker annually.

tinyurl.com/axub3
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