For years, vehicles in Abu Dhabi have borne licence plates of many colours. Their days are numbered, however ... Here’s everything you ever wanted to know—and more—about the new series of vehicle number plates in the capital.

Features of the New Plates
The new number plates will all have a red section to the left, with the colours (which denote the geographical area of registration) being replaced by codes – from 1 to a theoretical upper limit of 99 as Abu Dhabi needs more places of registration.

 

White plates have already been replaced with code 5; soon red plates will be replaced with code 4, blue with code 7, grey with code 8, and green with code 9. Bearing a maximum of five digits, each code will be able to accommodate 99,999 cars.

The numbers on the new plates were specially fashioned by a German design team so that they cannot easily be changed. For example, the shape of the new number six cannot be transformed into a number eight with a permanent marker.

Other security features include a hologram sticker, a laser-engraved serial number, and embossed numbers. Furthermore, the plates will be attached to cars with specially designed screws that screw in easily enough but won’t come unscrewed. These unscrewable screws will then be covered by caps which won’t come open once they’ve been closed. The aim is to ensure that the plates can’t be changed or stolen.

Why, when, and how
The old plates may have looked quite attractive, but the new ones should unify the shape of vehicle number plates in Abu Dhabi, making them comparable to most modern global specifications and standards. They should also to help accommodate the growing number of cars in the capital and to stop confusion on the road – and yes, they have been tested for speed camera visibility.

Motorists are not required to replace their old plates immediately – though if you want, you can get a new plate now for AED 40. Otherwise you can wait until you reregister your car.
The number plates of other types of vehicles, such as taxis, motorcycles, pickup trucks, buses and trucks will remain unchanged until a decision is made about them in the future.

The significance of digits
In the past, certain numbers were reserved for certain people. When he was alive, for example, only HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayhan and his entourage were allowed to use the number one. In those days, the lower the digit was, the more important the person driving the car.

These days, the police allow Emirates Auction to hold periodic auctions of number plates. Only 15 special numbers will go up for auction at any one time, and people will pay plenty for the bragging rights; number one on the code 5 plate, for example, sold for AED 52 million in February last year. Though it seems more than a little insane, we can take some comfort in knowing the money at least goes to charity.

To some extent, the law of low digits still applies as it did in Sheikh Zayed’s day. In addition to the special numbers that are sold at auction, the police will give other special numbers—usually two-digit numbers— to people they deem important. The good folks at the licensing department don’t know the criteria the police use to determine who is worthy of one of these special gift plates, but they have noticed that many of these gift plates go to royals.

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