Hong Kong license plate history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vehicle registration plates in Hong Kong, commonly known as "license plates" or "license plate numbers", are issued by the Transport Department; in the early days, the Police Force was responsible.
style
Vehicles traveling in Hong Kong need to display a license plate at the front and rear of the vehicle, and a motorcycle has a license plate at the rear.
structure
The composition of the name plate is divided into white background or yellow background, which must be made of reflective materials. Any part of the English letters and numbers must not be made of reflective materials. The length and width are between 8 and 11 cm. Every letter and numeral in the registration mark is vertical. The specifications refer to the British BS AU145a standard in 1972, so the small characters "BS AU145a" are required to be printed on each license plate. In addition, the name, trademark or other marks identifying the manufacturer of the plate must also be permanently and clearly marked on the plate.
Display mode
The front of the car uses black letters on a white background, while the rear uses black letters on a yellow background. When traveling on a road at night or in conditions of reduced visibility, the motor vehicle shall have a light illuminated so as to reflect or otherwise be so designed that when viewed from any point not more than 15.25 meters behind the motor vehicle, the each letter and numeral of the registration mark displayed on the rear of the motor vehicle or on a vehicle attached to the rear of the vehicle, as the case may be, is readily identifiable.
Font Requirements (this section does not include custom license plates)
The height of English letters and numerals should not be less than 8 cm and not more than 11 cm, and the length and width should also have a certain ratio, and should not be too narrow or too wide.
The license plate number does not start with "0". Some license plates do not have English letters, others do not have numbers. To avoid confusion with the numbers "1" and "0", the letters "I", "O" and "Q" are not used. The current standard came into use on May 31, 1983. Before that, it used white characters on a red background (buses, minibuses), black characters on a white background (private vehicles, which is where the name of the white plate car comes from), and the same as Macao vehicles. White letters on a black background similar to the number plate (taxi, truck).
civilian vehicle
The registration numbers of civilian vehicles are mostly two English letters with a group of 1 to 4 digits (1-9999). In the early years, license plates numbered 1 to 20 were held by senior government officials and members of parliament, and from the 21st onwards they were held by the public.
The earliest registration number issued has no letters, and is issued from 1 to 9999, followed by the prefix "HK" (HK1-HK9999), followed by the prefix "XX" (XX1-XX9999). The appearance of the "XX" prefix is that the police superintendent who issued the license plate found that the "HK" prefix was used up, so he typed two crosses ("XX"). But I thought it was using the "XX" prefix. After the "XX" prefix was exhausted, the authorities decided to issue license plates in alphabetical order with the "AA" prefix.
Since the registration number with four digits at the beginning of 4 (4000 to 4999, but the first license plate is 4101) is reserved for buses and taxis when it is issued; the registration number with four digits at the beginning of 5 (5000 to 5999) is reserved for Reserved for vans, so some number plates were pulled. Later, the system of reserving license plates for buses, taxis and goods vehicles was abolished, and licenses were issued together with other vehicles. In the early years, the four-digit number (8000 to 8999) at the beginning of the 8-digit registration number was reserved for government vehicles, and the "AM" prefix was later used.
After the "AZ" card was issued, the "BB" card was issued. At that time, "BA" and "BF" cards were not issued, because "BA" might be confused with "AB", and it was also said to represent "British Army" ( British Army); "BF" stands for the English swear word "Bloody Fool", but many citizens joked that it stands for "British Fool", which means "British people are stupid".
With the return of Hong Kong, the issuer also drew some "FU" and "FV" plates for use by mainland vehicles that need to shuttle between China and Hong Kong. In addition, the Transport Department also opened the "BA" and "BF" licenses to public bidding in mid-2003.
There are also some special prefixes for specific regions: the registration number of motor tricycles on Cheung Chau and Lamma Island is "VV" (Village Vehicle).
Some prefixes have also been withdrawn for special vehicles, such as "AM" for government vehicles and "LC" for Legislative Council vehicles. Before 2000, "RC" and "UC" were used by Regional Council (Regional Council) and Urban Council (Urban Council) respectively.
As of November 2013, Hong Kong license plates have been issued up to the prefix "SH".
Motorcycle
The registration number of motorcycles in Hong Kong was originally issued separately from ordinary vehicles, and it also started with a number without letters. After the number without letters was issued, the issuer used a single letter with a number ("E259" in the picture), which is different. than regular double letters. Later, the licensing of motorcycles was also merged with that of general vehicles, and the original registration numbers issued will continue to be used until the owner cancels the registration. Today, there are still a small number of motorcycles using the old special license plates, so there will be two motorcycles in Hong Kong with the same registration number. Whenever a vehicle is ticketed by the police for violating traffic rules, the vehicle model will be listed on the ticket, so another vehicle and its owner will not be implicated in the prosecution.
Special Vehicles - Single Letter
"A": Fire Services Department ambulances and ambulance motorcycles (mobile casualty treatment vehicles use "F" license plates, rural ambulances used to use "F" license plates, and later changed to "A" license plates; Auxiliary Medical Service Ambulances use "AM" license plates; Hospital Authority and St. John Ambulance ambulances use civilian license plates).
"F": Other vehicles of the Fire Services Department.
"T": Divided into prefix and suffix. The prefix is a temporary license plate with red letters on a white background. It is used for vehicles without official license plates. It was originally used to transport cars, customers of vehicle dealers for test drives, and vehicles repaired by vehicle repairers. However, in recent years, there has been a tendency to be abused. , For example, for left-hand drive vehicles that cannot be registered with license plates for private use, the government amended the regulations in 2012 to introduce temporary license plates with white background and blue characters for left-hand drive vehicles, and they are limited to entrepot trade. The suffix is used for the trailer of the articulated vehicle.
The "A" prefix contains up to 3 numbers (the latest is A593, A579-A593 is for transfer ambulances, A6xx is for ambulance motorcycles, A70x is for rural ambulances, A71x is for rapid response ambulances, A721-A729 is for training For ambulances, A81x for auxiliary medical equipment vehicles), the "F" prefix contains up to 4 numbers (to F22XX), and the "T" plate can contain up to 5 numbers regardless of the prefix or suffix.
double letter
"AM": Ordinary government vehicles (including police vehicles, postal vehicles, RTHK vehicles, etc.).
"LC": (Legislative Council) Legislative Council vehicles (LC 1 is usually the car of the President of the Legislative Council, LC 2 is the car of the Secretary-General of the Legislative Council, and LC 3 is the car of the Legal Advisor of the Legislative Council).
"ZG": The vehicle of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Garrison in Hong Kong, which is the pinyin abbreviation of the Mandarin Chinese ZhuGang (garrisoned in Hong Kong). These numbers are not under the jurisdiction of, nor issued by, the Transport Department. According to the information provided by the government, the "ZG" license plate has been used since the handover of the Hong Kong regime from China to Britain and the People's Liberation Army stationed in Hong Kong. It has been in communication with the relevant government departments before the license is issued, but the details are not disclosed. The font and size of the ZG license plate used by the People’s Liberation Army in Hong Kong refer to the format of the license plate number in mainland China, using West German font, which is different from the font and size of the general license plate in Hong Kong; but the color is in accordance with the Hong Kong license plate specification, with black characters on the front white background, Black lettering on a yellow background at the rear. Such license plates are not managed by the Transport Department.
"UC": (Urban Council) former City Council vehicle, which was discontinued and merged into AM after its dissolution in 2000. It is expected to become a civilian license plate in 2018.
"RC": (Regional Council) former Regional Council vehicle, which was discontinued and merged into AM after its dissolution in 2000. It became a civilian license plate in October 2011.
"CS": (Chief Secretary for Administration) the chief secretary of the Hong Kong British period, the special vehicle for the Chief Secretary of Administration after the reunification (the Chief Secretary was named Chief Secretary during the British rule; after the reunification, the Chief Secretary for Administration was Administrative Secretary, and later changed to Chief Secretary for Administration), there are no numbers on the license plate. Those with numbers are ordinary civilian license plates.
"FS": (Financial Secretary) Financial Secretary after 1995, special vehicle for the Financial Secretary during the SAR period, with no number on the license plate. Those with numbers are ordinary civilian license plates.
"SJ": (Secretary for Justice), a special vehicle for the Secretary of Justice, with no number on the license plate. The Department of Justice during the British rule used AG (Attorney General). It is estimated that in 2014, SJ license plates with numbers will become civilian license plates.
"CJ": (Chief Justice) before the reunification of the Chief Justice, after the reunification of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Chief Judge's special vehicle, there is no number on the license plate. Those with numbers are ordinary civilian license plates.
"VV": (Village Vehicle) Village vehicle. Usually issued to small motor vehicles in outlying islands (Cheung Chau, Hei Ling Chau, Lamma Island, Peng Chau). However, there are occasional special small vehicles in urban areas that are registered in the name of rural vehicles.
"HA": (Hospital Authority) Hospital Authority. But it is also issued to ordinary civilian vehicles.
No letters and numbers
"License Plate" of the Chief Executive's Special Vehicle
The chief executive's special vehicle does not have any registration number, but is indicated by the regional emblem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
During the colonial period, the special vehicle for the Governor of Hong Kong used the British St. Edward's crown emblem as the license plate to show that it represented the British monarch.
The license plate style of the former British Army Garrison in Hong Kong. The registration number of the vehicle of the British Army Garrison in Hong Kong is 2 numbers with 2 letters and 2 other numbers, example: "15KL44". Before the handover of sovereignty, the People's Liberation Army Garrison in Hong Kong once used unissued AD7xxx license plates, but has now switched to "ZG" license plates.
no letter
License plates numbered 1 to 10 were originally used by government officials, but now, except for the number 1 plate, all other plates without letters have been put up for public auction.
Holders of current number plates 1 to 10:
1: Served as the Commissioner of Police (hence the meaning of "first brother")
2: Wang Mingwei (the Financial Secretary used this license plate before switching to FS, Wang won it with HK$9.5 million on February 27, 1993)
3: Zheng Gongshi (formerly owned by Sir Zhou Xinian)
4: Zhao Shizeng
5: Liu Luanxiong
6: Run Run Shaw (nicknamed "Uncle Six")
7: Xiang Zhiqiu (deceased)
8: Luo Dingbang
9: Yang Shoucheng (formerly owned by Tang Zhaojian)
10: The number "9" license plate in Yung Wing Road was bought by Yang Shoucheng on March 19, 1994 at a price of 13 million Hong Kong dollars. At that time, the price was the highest in Hong Kong and was once the most expensive in the world. The United Exchange broke through and fell to No. 7 in the world. In the license plate auction held by the Transport Department on February 23, 2008, the "18" license plate without prefixes was sold for HK$16.5 million, setting a new record in Hong Kong.
According to the current law, license plates registered in the name of an individual must be handed over after the registrant's death; license plates registered in the name of a company can be owned permanently, so some people will transfer the license plate to the company after bidding for it.
special vehicle registration number
If the vehicle registration number belongs to the following categories, it is a special registration number and cannot be transferred:
All registration numbers without an English letter; or numbers of registration numbers that fall into the following categories:
(Number of units) 2, 3, 4 ,5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ("1" is reserved for the then Commissioner of Police)
(double digits) 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99
(three digits) 111, 222, 333, 444, 555, 666, 777, 888, 999
(four digits) 1111, 2222, 3333, 4444, 5555, 6666, 7777, 8888, 9999
(multiples of 10) 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90
(multiples of 100) 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900
(multiples of 1000) 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000
123, 234, 345, 456, 567, 678, 789
1234, 2345, 3456, 4567, 5678, 6789
(Other double digits) 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98
(two double digits) 1100, 1122, 1133, 1144, 1155, 1166, 1177, 1188, 1199, 2200, 2211, 2233, 2244, 2255, 2266, 2277, 2288, 2299, 3300, 33421, 3 , 3355, 3366, 3377, 3388, 3399, 4400, 4411, 4422, 4433, 4455, 4466, 4477, 4488, 4499, 5500, 5511, 5522, 5533, 5544, 5566, 5577, 5588, 5599, 6600, 6611 , 6622, 6633, 6644, 6655, 6677, 6688, 6699, 7711, 7722, 7733, 7744, 77666, 77888, 77999, 8811, 8833, 8844, 8866, 8899999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 , 9900, 9911, 9922, 9933, 9944, 9955, 9966, 9977, 9988
(Four-digit loopback) 1001, 1221, 1331, 1441, 1551, 1661, 1771, 1881, 1991, 2002, 2112, 2332, 2442, 2552, 2662, 2772, 2882, 2992, 3003, 3341313, , 3553, 3663, 3773, 3883, 3993, 4004, 4114, 4224, 4334, 4554, 4664, 4774, 4884, 4994, 5005, 5115, 5225, 5335, 5445, 5665, 5775, 5885, 5995, 6006, 6116 , 6226, 6336, 6446, 6556, 6776, 6886, 6996, 7007, 7117, 7227, 7337, 7447, 7557, 7667, 7887, 7997, 8008, 8118, 8228, 8338, 8448, 8558, 8668, 8778, 8998 , 9009, 9119, 9229, 9339, 9449, 9559, 9669, 9779, 9889
(Three-digit loopback) 101, 121, 131, 141, 151, 161, 171, 181, 191, 202, 212, 232, 242, 252, 262, 272, 282, 292, 303, 313, 323, 343 , 353, 363, 373, 383, 393, 404, 414, 424, 434, 454, 464, 474, 484, 494, 505, 515, 525, 535, 545, 565, 575, 585, 595, 606, 616 , 626, 636, 646, 656, 676, 686, 696, 707, 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 787, 797, 808, 818, 828, 838, 848, 858, 868, 878, 898 , 909, 919, 929, 939, 949, 959, 969, 979, 989
(repeat two numbers) 1010, 1212, 1313, 1414, 1515, 1616, 1717, 1818, 1919, 2020, 2121, 2323, 2424, 2525, 2626, 2727, 2828, 2929, 3030, 343321, 3 3535, 3636, 3737, 3838, 3939, 4040, 4141, 4242, 4343, 4545, 4646, 4747, 4848, 4949, 5050, 5151, 5252, 5353, 5454, 5656, 5757, 5858, 5959, 6060, 6161, 6262, 6363, 6464, 6565, 6767, 6868, 6969, 7070, 7171, 7272, 7373, 7474, 7575, 7676, 7878, 7979, 8080, 8181, 8282, 8383, 8484, 8585, 8686, 8787, 8989, 9090, 9191, 9292, 9393, 9494, 9595, 9696, 9797, 9898
license plate specification
The current legal license plate standards were established more than 50 years ago. However, there are more than 500,000 licensed vehicles in Hong Kong, and most of the license plates do not meet the requirements. Of the 6,300 government vehicles, only 13% had qualified license plates.
[ Knowing the law and breaking the law, 90% of Hong Kong government license plate violations , Oriental Daily, December 25, 2008]
Customized Vehicle Registration Mark Scheme
The self-defined number is a self-selected vehicle registration number scheme launched by the Transport Department in 2006. Citizens can also set up an 8-digit registration number that does not contain indecent language and is not the same as the registration number issued by the government.
other
Because the license plates used by the government (eg: AM) require people with a government vehicle license to drive, but the income of these qualified drivers is within the salary scale of Hong Kong civil servants, so since the financial turmoil in 1997, the government has increased Hiring contracted staff to drive government vehicles of different departments makes it difficult for all government vehicles to use AM license plates.
Some license plates of FU and FV are vehicles entering Hong Kong from mainland China. These vehicles are all left-handed, which is different from right-handed cars in Hong Kong.
Prior to 1983, the color of license plates in Hong Kong was set as follows: private cars with white and black characters, commercial vehicles with white characters on black background, buses and minibuses with red background and white characters; the front and rear plates have the same color.
There are two theories about the meaning of the "AM" prefix. One theory is the abbreviation of "Administration"; another theory is that when the government decided to unify the license plate prefixes of government vehicles many years ago, the license plates had already been issued to the prefix "AL", so the government decided to assign the next prefix "AM" to Government vehicles.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong Kong vehicle registration plate