In Canada, almost every household has a car. To make a statement, Canadians submit an application for a custom license plate to ICBC every year. However, not every license plate can be approved.
Recently, the ICBC published and categorized all 2,600 "ideas" that were rejected last year. You may be amazed at people's brains and "courage".
According to the full report of the ICBC, the types of rejections are as follows:
Dangerous driving: No one wants to see a provocative license plate while driving. Some customers come up with license plates that seem to involve dangerous driving such as speeding. For example, "yso slow", "omg mov", "crash1", "ys ofsr" (hey cop), and "2fas4u" (too fast for you).
Swearing: Insulting language and foul language. For example, "sumpig" (you are a pig).
Religious and other political appeals: Metro Vancouver is a culturally diverse region, but spreading one's religion widely can be offensive to others, so some license plates with religious doctrines and slogans are not approved. For example, "on God" and "amen". In addition, there are other things that do not conform to the mainstream values of society, such as "no law".
Sexually suggestive: Frivolous license plates don't seem to conform to social norms either, and those that are flirtatious are also rejected. For example. See for yourself.
Alcohol or drugs: Industry slang, such as "le somm", "shiraz", and "fat fog".
Intellectual Property: It could be a brand name, such as "Ducati", "Porsche", and "Toyota".
Violence and crime: can be the name of the gun and the gang, such as "beretta", "ak15" and "mafia".
If you look at the slogans, can you tell which words these letter and number combinations represent? I think the erudition of the creative license plate examiner is admirable.
There are other reasons for rejection, including but not limited to:
The idea has already been used.
The combination of characters conflicts with the ICBC license plate sequence.
This can lead to identification issues.
The character limit has been exceeded.
Unpaid application fee.
The application is incomplete.
Cancellation at the request of the applicant.
This vehicle type is not eligible for personalized license plates (some types such as antique cars, tractors cannot apply for creative license plates).
ICBC said it received about 9,500 applications for personalized license plates in 2023, of which 73% were approved.
Although personalized license plates can be "a way to express your creativity", drivers are advised to check the application criteria for personalized license plates on the ICBC website in advance before applying.
Personalized License Plate Standards:
Must have 2-6 letters or letters and numbers (e.g. "hello", "me2").
You can include spaces or hyphens between alphanumeric characters (e.g. "joe 87", "free-1").
If you include spaces or hyphens, such as "sunny-1", you can contain up to 7 characters.
Must be appropriate (if ICBC receives a complaint or determines that a license plate is objectionable, the license plate may be recalled).
There is a one-time application fee of $100 and an annual fee of $40 if approved to maintain the right to use the tagline and license plate. In addition, the annual fee ensures the exclusive right of the car owner to the license plate. If the license plate idea is not approved, the applicant will be notified by email and the application fee will be refunded.
After looking at each slogan, can you tell which words these letter and number combinations represent? I think it's admirable for the erudition of a creative license plate examiner – it's not an easy job.