Licence Plates Issued in 2013 Changed to Avoid “Unlucky 13”

Before I start, I best inform people about the Irish licence plate numbering system. It is rather simple system which consists of the year, the county it was registered in, and a sequential number which indicates when the vehicle was bought, the lower the number the earlier it was bought, obviously. Here is an example:

So as you can see the licence late above has 99 for the year 1999, D to indicate is was bought in Dublin and then the number of the sequence it was bought in. It is the year which is of import here. As the new year dawned it meant that any new cars bought would be embossed with the “unlucky” number 13. I laughed at the idea of superstitious people either avoiding having to buy on new cars bought this year will read, as an example, 131-D-123456. The fact the government was actually concerned enough to do something shows how this sort of superstitious nonsense still has a hold on people’s minds.

[EDIT] Here is an photo sent to me of a car with the new licence plate system on it.