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Back in the day, standard-issue Oregon license plates were in the format ABC 123, but we used them all up. Now we’re nearly through Q of the 123 ABC plates. What will we do once we get to 999 ZZZ? Go back to the old format? Introduce a seventh character? Why is no one talking about this impending crisis? —411 PLZ
Maybe you’ve heard of the Great Year 1000 Panic, when folks in A.D. 999 greeted the prospective ticking over of the cosmic odometer with a societal meltdown that made the Y2K scare look like beer-thirty. The Great Plate Rollover Panic will be like that—but only in the sense that neither panic is/was a real thing.
The A.D. 1000 freakout turned out to be a myth dreamed up by 17th century polemicists; the real millennium passed largely unnoticed. And Platemageddon? Well, it may be coming—but by the time it does, no one will care because most people will only be able to read emojis.
Your O.G.-Portland memory of the pre-2004 plate format is correct, however. (I suspect you also know your Ramblin’ Rod from your Tom Peterson, though I don’t recommend displaying either within 1,000 feet of a school). The ABC 123 arrangement was first deployed in 1964. It replaced the 1A2345 format, which will forever be identified with those classic 1959–1964 “Pacific Wonderland” plates. The 1A2345 layout, in its turn, had replaced Oregon’s original 123-456 design in 1955, a year fondly recalled for its big, squishy boobs.
Sorry, just trying to keep everybody awake out there. Those ABC 123 plates held sway from 1964 to 2004, a full 40 years. Since we’re only in year 21 of a functionally identical system, it may be a little early to start busting out those “THE END IS NEAR” signs. When the current schema does run its course, however, the authorities say they’ll simply switch to some as yet unused pattern, like 1A2 C34, ABC D12, or even (gasp!) ABC 1234.
When will that happen? As you note, PLZ, we’re currently on Q, the 15th of 24 letters in the DMV alphabet. (I and O are used only for vanity plates.) That puts us about 63% of the way to Platepocalypse, which the DMV says should arrive around 2039. This timeline gives Skynet and Agent Smith a full 14 years to eradicate humanity before anything happens, so why worry? Happy motoring!
Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.
