Sir, – I am writing in response to Joe Langan’s letter on Irish vehicle registration plates (“Why Irish vehicle registration plates should ditch year and county markers”, Letters, September 16th). Our number plate system is entirely fit for purpose.
Firstly, the year-county-number system is clear and transparent. If you are kicking tyres in a used car emporium and the year has only two digits, then you are probably looking at a heap of trouble. Without your friend Google, try guessing the age of a car if using the British system! If you’re driving behind a slow-moving car with “08” on its number plate, on the other hand, you’ll know that its stately pace is probably the car as well as the driver.
Secondly, the county likewise gives a clear indication of wear-and-tear – I won’t mention specific places, but “pothole country” is not where you want your nice second-hand car to have lived the early years of its life.
Thirdly, in the event of collision you have a sporting chance of remembering an Irish number plate. Try doing that with a British one – a jumble of random letters and numbers and confusion between “1” and “I” and “0” and “o”.
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Finally, the complaint about the “huge variety” in fonts, materials, etc on the plates is simply not borne out by evidence. – Yours, etc,
IAN D’ALTON,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
