NZTA Rejects Offensive and Confusing Personalised Licence Plates

New Zealand drivers seeking to personalise their vehicle licence plates faced a crackdown last year, with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) rejecting 39 combinations deemed offensive, inappropriate, or simply unreadable. The rejections, revealed through an Official Information Act request, highlight the agency’s efforts to maintain public standards while allowing for individual expression.

Drug References and Sexual Innuendoes Banned

A significant number of rejected plates contained references to illicit drugs. Combinations like “PCOOK” and “2JMDMA” were swiftly denied. Similarly, plates with overt sexual connotations – including “HORNI,” “3SUMG,” and “RQQTER” – failed to meet approval standards. Even attempts to circumvent restrictions, such as “LUVBJ” (intended to represent Ben & Jerry’s ice cream), were rejected due to potential misinterpretation.

Violence and Confusing Combinations Also Prohibited

The NZTA also prohibits plates that allude to violence. Examples include “BASHED,” “W4RRIG,” and “308W1N,” referencing a Winchester firearm. Beyond explicit content, many applications were rejected for being difficult to decipher. Combinations like “MVVVVV,” “WVVVVV,” “666664,” “O33333,” “00Q0,” “Q000,” “X1XXX,” “X1XXX1,” “0A0008,” “ZIZ17,” “77Z7,” and “4I” were flagged as potentially confusing for law enforcement and other drivers.

NZTA’s Authority and Guidelines

The NZTA has the authority, under the Land Transport Amendment Act, to prohibit certain combinations of letters and numbers on personalised plates. Section 266 of the Act allows the Registrar to prohibit specific combinations, while Section 265 allows for the surrender or seizure of plates deemed likely to cause offence or confusion. KiwiPlates assists the NZTA in declining applications on its behalf.

The agency assesses each plate on a case-by-case basis, recognizing the difficulty in determining offensiveness. NZTA and KiwiPlates have agreed-upon guidelines to avoid issuing offensive plates. Plates can be declined if they contain objectionable or discriminatory material, breach legal standards, or use combinations that could confuse observers, including arrangements that can be inverted to create new, offensive combinations.

Borderline Cases and Discretion

While many proposals were rejected, some borderline cases were approved. The plate “B4DC0P” was approved after not being deemed offensive. Interestingly, “FTP” was allowed as a general sequence, despite staff acknowledging it could be considered more offensive than “bad cop.”