> Most people never think twice about the random mix of letters and numbers the DMV assigns them.
I started thinking about it when someone parked next to me in a nearly-identical model - same brand, year, etc, the only difference was some roof accessory - and a nearly identical license plate. (Think ABC D12 and ABC E12). I started trying to open their car door, and was confused until I noticed some things in their front seat that were clearly not ours.
Later that week, I was shopping around for car tires, and saw that some shop - PepBoys or something - let you punch in your license plate and let you know what kind of tires you need, and that their API response included the car make and model. I thought about poking around it, and seeing if there was a pattern to the way my state assigned license plates, but never got around to it.
(They live in town, too, and I've seen where they park. I should go introduce myself to our car twin.)
Had two GM 3500 cargo vans, one a 2002 Chevy Express, the other a 2001 GMC Savannah. Same vehicle different badges. Noticed the keys were a bit similar and found that the Chevy key could in fact unlock the GMC with some wiggling but not the other way around. It did not work in the ignition lock.
Back in the 90s, I was on a trip and ended up parked next to a car which had a car alarm that responded to the key fob for my car alarm. It was very disconcerting.
Around 2009ish I parked our dark grey Prius next to another dark grey Prius while going to the Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market and when I came back to the car, there was a third dark grey Prius parked next to the two original dark grey Priuses.
I started thinking about it when someone parked next to me in a nearly-identical model - same brand, year, etc, the only difference was some roof accessory - and a nearly identical license plate. (Think ABC D12 and ABC E12). I started trying to open their car door, and was confused until I noticed some things in their front seat that were clearly not ours.
Later that week, I was shopping around for car tires, and saw that some shop - PepBoys or something - let you punch in your license plate and let you know what kind of tires you need, and that their API response included the car make and model. I thought about poking around it, and seeing if there was a pattern to the way my state assigned license plates, but never got around to it.
(They live in town, too, and I've seen where they park. I should go introduce myself to our car twin.)