Talk:Vehicle registration plates of Singapore

Some questions

1. Where do the numbers on class 3 and 5 on heavy/good vehicles come from? Why not class 2 and 6 for example.
2. Are there for film production or TV-productions special - generally invalid - plates for privacy protection? In Germany there were the letter "O" and "I" regularly used for this purpose since they could not be used in normal plates (it was easy to mistake them as the numbers 1 and 0 (zero)). -Toshi 07:10, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

3. The last digit on Singapore plates is almost certainly a type of checksum - I suspect it's a MOD26 or similar of the sum of the numbers and letters which is then matched to the alphabet again... (i.e. SAA1111 summed might = 276 - mod26 of that is 1 so the last letter might be A?). Does anyone know? Alternativey it could be a randomly applied digit - however it DOES work in preventing random counterfeiters from making number plates - if a cop punches in an incorrectly guessed number plate into his computer it is going to come up invalid - and I've seen a case in the paper years ago where this probably happened (a stolen merc was simply 'pulled over because of a licence plate problem'!). The lesson is if you're going to forge a Singapore numer plate copy one of a car of the same make/model and colour! It's a fantastic idea that Malaysia should copy - from what I've heard there has been cases of people seeing their own number plate numbers on other cars (which presumably have just been guessed at!). --PeterMarkSmith 17:47, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

From what I've seen, Malaysia (perhaps the East Malaysia side, they do use checksums in Sabah and Sarawak.Woodysee (talk) 04:32, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

4. I have seens license plates with a diagonal line dividing (blue and yellow (I think) bakground colors. These were all on white Toyota midsize cars. Does anyone know what these represent?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Bongomatic (talk • contribs) 17:50, 29 November 2006

5. Why are some letters used as checkdigits and not others?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.21.83.230 (talk • contribs) 20:58, 16 March 2007

To avoid confusion. --ZhongHan (Email) 11:35, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

6. I have seen cars with the NZ prefix twice. What is it for?218.186.13.3 (talk) 14:54, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Some answers

1. The numbers come from Singapore driver's licences and indicate which vehicle(s)he is allowed to drive. Respectively, they are:

Class 1   - Invalid carriages (such licences are rare/non existant and this class appears to have been scrapped)
Class 2B - Motorcycles not exceeding 200cc
Class 2A - Motorcycles between 201cc and 400cc
Class 2   - Motorcycles exceeding 400cc
Class 3A - i) Motor Cars without clutch pedals of unladen weight not exceeding 3000 kilograms with not more than 7 passengers, exclusive of the driver;
               ii) and Motor Tractors and other Motor Vehicles without clutch pedals of unladen weight not exceeding 2500 kilograms.
Class 3   - i) Motor Cars of unladen weight not exceeding 3,000 kilograms with not more than 7 passengers, exclusive of the driver;
               ii) and Motor Tractors and other Motor Vehicles of unladen weight not exceeding 2,500 kilograms.
Class 4A - Omnibuses
Class 4   - Heavy Motor cars and Motor Tractors the weight of which unladen exceeds 2500 kilograms.
Class 5   - Motor Vehicles which are not constructed themselves to carry any load and the weight of which unladen exceeds 7250 kilograms.

Reference - Classification of Motor Vehicles

- ZhongHan 08:25, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

2. To the best of my knowledge, there are no film production or TV-productions special plates for privacy protection. This is because TV productions do not show the licence plates as Singapore license plates are 4-digit, and there is a lottery where people pick 4 numbers, known locally as 4D. Many Singaporeans would use the 4 digits of licence plates that appear on film/TV, including licence plates of vehicles involved in accidents, etc.

Reference - Introduction to 4D (Please note that the link contains information pertaining to lottery)

- ZhongHan 13:00, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Claims that need to be checked?

The recently added comment (under 'SH for taxis/street hire cars') saying 'SJE - Singapore Johore-Express' looks suspiciously wrong? SJE is just a normal part of the SJ series for private cars, no? Sejtam (talk) 09:58, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

"absent on" ?

Should that not be 'except on' or 'excepting'? 'absent' is confusing (and possibly even wrong), making it sound like those letters won't appear (which would be perfectly clear from the preceding half-sentence) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sejtam (talk • contribs) 05:20, 28 May 2020 (UTC)