Every bit if the process of motorcar buying didn't cause enough headaches, they don't finish after yous've handed over your money and paperwork. Yous yet have to annals information technology, or else you lot won't get a license plate. For some, this is just another step to check off. Simply for others, it'south an opportunity to get a personalized license plate number. Even so, with how many cars in that location are on the road, is it possible for someone in another state to share your license plate number?

Each country has its own license plate number rules and laws

New York State issued the offset United states of america license plate in 1901, Motor Tendency reports. Since and then, each state has established its own plate plan. And they've only grown in complexity over time. It wasn't until 1956 that the size itself was standardized, Automobile reports. Plus, states used to issue new plates every year, Autoweek reports. And even today, some states offer hundreds of possible plate designs, NCSL reports.

As such, there's no one mutual dominion amongst how states number their license plates. A few plates apply 6 alphanumeric characters, while others utilise 7. Some states separate the characters into 2 groups, while others don't. Some states' license plate numbers start with letters, non bodily numbers. And sometimes, the order is randomized, too, non just the characters, Arizona's DOT reports.

Merely how are the license plate numbers themselves assigned? Once again, that differs from state to land. Some states go in ascending order, e.g. starting time ABC 1234 then ABC 1235, and so on. Others go in descending order. As for the numbers themselves, sometimes they're based on where the car is registered, Serra Toyota reports. Merely in some states, they're genuinely randomized.

And that last role comes with a slight risk of chaos.

Your license plate number isn't necessarily unique

The vii characters on your license plate aren't necessarily the only part of its designation. For case, in Illinois, where I live, EVs have 'EL' printed on their plates. And there are specific designations for heavy-duty trucks, antique vehicles, and cars with tinted windows.

Plus, some states take prohibitions on certain symbols, word, and letter combinations. In Minnesota, for case, but sure vehicles can use W, Y, and Z, the StarTribune reports. And of class, yous tin't employ put vulgar messages on your personalized or vanity plates.

An assortment of Russian license plates with different numbers by a bush
An assortment of Russian license plates | Vyacheslav Prokofyev\TASS via Getty Images

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However, because each Us license plate number has a maximum of 7 characters, as opposed to the Eu'due south eight, there are fewer allowable combinations, Autoweek explains. Using Minnesota as an example, the plate uses 10 numbers and 23 messages. The land currently uses the 123 ABC format, meaning there are 12,167,000 unique combinations.

To be fair, that sounds like a lot. Still, every other land has at least that many commanded combinations, too. And while there is a national database of plate information, Road & Track reports, each state'south registration process is separate. So, it'south entirely possible for 2 different cars in two dissimilar states to have the same license plate number.

Such a situation isn't but hypothetical. For example, in 2017, one Rhode Isle resident received numerous unpaid toll invoices for a New York-registered vehicle, NBC10 reports. Why? The NY truck had the same combination of letters and numbers as the Rhode Island-registered car.

My family member was recently in a similar situation. A truck passed through a tollway without paying, and the camera snapped a photo of the plate. That plate number belongs to my family member. However, the photographed plate was actually from out of state. It just had the same number combination.

Is this something worth worrying about?

Absolutely, the odds of this happening are fairly slim. Going back to the Minnesota example, the odds of some other 6-digit plate matching up are 1 in 148,035,889,000,000.

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Plus, in my family member'south case, it was an outcome with the camera non detecting the issuing land. It took a real person looking at the photograph to exercise so. The same issue affected the Rhode Island resident. As camera technology improves, the frequency of these incidents volition likely decrease.

Applying for a personalized license plate is one potential way around this. However, unless y'all really want information technology, it's not strictly necessary.

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