Automobile license plates (or simply numbers) are means for registering a car, motorcycle, equipment special purpose, trailer or other vehicle on the territory Russian Federation and look like special signs consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, usually applied to a metal plate (although there are exceptions) or to the vehicle itself.

The license plate must be installed on the front and rear of the vehicle. The only exceptions are motorcycles and trailers, for which the number should only be on the back.

License plate format

Most of the license plates currently used in our country are made according to the 1993 standard (GOST R 50577-93). Small deviations from this standard are registration numbers belonging to route vehicles, vehicles of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the numbers of trailers, motorcycles and equipment working in construction.

The number of characters on the numbers made according to the standard is 3 letters and then 3 more numbers. The letters are the series of the registration plate, and the numbers are its number. The license plate may not contain any letter from the Russian language: only those Cyrillic letters that have analogues in the Latin alphabet - A, B, E, K, M, H, O, R, C, T are allowed to be applied to the identification plate of the vehicle , Y and X. To the right of the standard number, a separate quadrangle is allocated, in which are located: below - the flag of the Russian Federation and the abbreviated name of our country in the English version (RUS), and above them - the numerical index (code) of the region of the Russian Federation, where this vehicle was put on accounting. All numbers on the registration plate are larger than letters.

Regional codes of registration plates

According to the SDA, all vehicles must be properly registered. Each subject of the Russian Federation (regions, territories, republics, as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg) has its own numerical code, which is common to all Vehicle registered within the subject. The number of sets of numbers that a certain region can have is limited and, according to GOST, is just over 1.726 million pieces. Numbers consisting only of the number "0" do not exist.

In the first years after the introduction of new numbers, only numbers from 01 to 89 were used to designate regions (this is exactly the number of entities in Russia at the beginning of 1993), but every year the number of registered vehicles increased, and numbers with possible combinations of letters and numbers was not enough. In order to "plug this gap", since 1998 they began to use numbers that began with "9", but they soon ended. In 2005, three-digit indices of regions were used.

After the start of the new GOST, the registration plates of the old model were not withdrawn from circulation, and cars with Soviet-era numbers can still be found on the roads. These are white license plates containing 3 letters and 4 numbers (1980 samples) and black numbers with 4 numbers and 3 letters (1958).

Russian license plate types

Registration marks of the vehicle. As already noted, the new GOST began to operate in 1993 and assumed a license plate format containing a letter, 3 digits, then 2 more letters and a region code. A year later, the Russian flag and the inscription "RUS" appeared on the number (although in some regions, numbers of the 1994 model began to be issued only with the onset of the 2000s).

Until mid-2008, a license plate belonging to a truck or bus transport had to be duplicated on the back of the vehicle in large letters and numbers without fail. At this time, this requirement is not mandatory.

Registration plates issued to trailers. The format of such a number is 2 letters followed by 4 digits. Just like trucks, until mid-2008 it was mandatory to duplicate the license plate on the back of the trailer, but this rule has now been abolished.

Registration plates of motorcycles, mopeds, scooters and motonarts. Must be made of a square plate with reflective properties, on which 4 numbers are applied on the top line, and 2 letters on the bottom line. In addition, the region code is placed at the bottom right, and the abbreviated name of our country in English (RUS) is placed a little higher.

Registration plates of tractors and their trailers, as well as other agricultural, road-building and self-propelled equipment. The format of the number is practically the same as the previous paragraph (motorcycles): a reflective square with 4 numbers printed on it (on the top line), 2 letters (on the bottom line) and a region index in the lower right corner.

Transit registration plates- intended for vehicles deregistered or not yet registered with the traffic police. The modern format of such a number is 2 letters, then 3 numbers and then 1 more letter. These numbers and letters are applied on thick paper, which has the property of a background glow in the "ultraviolet". This is done so that the security fibers are visible, confirming the authenticity of the license plate. For the same purpose, a hologram sign is placed in the upper left corner. Since this number is made of paper, it is laminated on both sides for durability.

The modern format has replaced the old transit numbers. These square-shaped paper license plates were placed under the windshield and rear windows TS. The old transit license plates had to be replaced, as they were “not visible” to the widely used cameras with automatic recording of violations. Yes, and tinted windows also made such a number worse readable.

License plate of the vehicle, irrevocably leaving the borders of the Russian Federation. These registration plates are for cars that are exported from Russia. The license plate format is 2 letters followed by 3 numbers, and the letter “T” is placed on the left side of the number.

Registration plates of vehicles belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The standard for this number appeared in 2002. The number has a blue background, and on it are applied in white:

• 1 letter followed by 4 numbers for cars and trucks;
• 3 digits followed by 1 letter for trailers;
• 4 numbers at the top and 1 letter at the bottom - for motorcycles.

On the right side of the registration plate, as with conventional vehicles, the index of the region of registration is put. The only exception is transport belonging directly to the Ministry of the Interior: their index is 77.

Registration plates belonging to vehicles of foreign diplomatic and trade missions. Symbols are applied in white, the background of the sign is red. The main meaning of such a license plate is contained in three digits that correspond to the state code according to special classification, followed by one or two English letters. The literal part is deciphered as follows:

• CD- a car with such letters on the license plate belongs to (or is registered in the name of) a person who heads a specific diplomatic mission (ambassador or other diplomat with his authority);
• CC- such a letter designation indicates that this vehicle is registered in the name of the person who heads the consular department or representative office;
• D- this letter indicates that the car is under the jurisdiction of a diplomatic mission, consular office, organization with international status or belongs to a person who works in these organizations and has the status of a diplomat;
• T- in this case, the vehicle is registered by a person who is an administrative and technical employee of a diplomatic mission, consulate or international organization, that is, does not have a diplomatic status.

License plates for registration of vehicles belonging to military units or other formations of executive authorities of the Russian Federation at the federal level. The license plates for the vehicles described are non-reflective, have a black background and white letters and numbers. For cars and trucks, the format is as follows: 4 digits followed by 2 letters, the format of registration plates for motorcycles, trailers and other special vehicles is similar to the corresponding civilian vehicles.

As for the index, which is applied on the right side of the license plate, it does not match the table of Russian region codes. The number written in place of the region number means that the transport belongs to a specific Russian military district, branch of the armed forces or federal level authority in which military service is provided.

The other day we reported that a new standard car numbers are being developed in Russia. Today, the first sketches of new license plates appeared on the network, as well as fresh details of the expected changes.

Sketches of new license plates were sent by the Russian Automobile Federation to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

The changes will affect both automobile and motorcycle license plates. In particular, plates for motorcycles can be reduced in size, and American and Japanese cars will be given plates of a different format (since their standards for fixing numbers do not correspond to Russian ones).

Most motorcycles have a smaller number pad than the Russian badge. Therefore, the standard proposes to revise their dimensions. Sketches of new motorcycle numbers look like this.

And this is how the square-shaped signs for Japanese and American cars look like.

Rooms for classic and sports cars it is proposed to supplement with the letters "K" and "C", respectively.

These can be car license plates.

The possibility of transferring the region code from the right side of the number to the left, and even a complete rejection of the region code, is being considered.

Such numbers are proposed to be made for mopeds and bicycles.

Also among the initiatives are the replacement of metal license plates with polymer ones, equipping them with microchips, as well as revising the requirements for license plate areas that can be drilled for installation in non-standard places.

The revision of GOST-50577 is provided for in 2017. According to the latest data, public discussion of the first edition of the standard will begin in the fall of 2017, the final edition will be ready in the spring of 2018, and approval is scheduled for October 2018.

Amendments being developed by representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation provide for a reduction in the size of registration plates for motor vehicles, also similar rear numbers will be able to get the owners of American and Japanese cars. Another change could presumably be their own state signs for retro and sports cars.

Research Center for Security Problems traffic initiated the development of a new edition of the state standard for license plates, Kommersant reports with reference to the head of the center Oleg Portashnikov. He noted that one of the problems is too small a platform for a rear number plate for foreign-made motorcycles (245 mm x 160 mm). The frame adapters used do not have sufficient reliability: it is not uncommon for the signs to bend and come off due to the wind flow on high speed. The new edition assumes that the "motor numbers" will be closer to Western standards.

GOST revision is also possible for cars of Japanese and American origin, as many of them have non-standard places for attaching numbers. It was proposed to allow car owners to make additional holes in the signs, as well as for foreign cars they can make rectangular rear numbers for their regular mounts.

Special numbers may appear on cars participating in competitions and vintage cars. They will allow the former to drive on public roads during the rally, and the latter to operate under special conditions, for example, leave only on weekends, stay away from highways, within a certain distance from the place of residence of the owner and others.

Sketches of new numbers developed in the Russian Automobile Federation were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The department noted that the revision of GOST-50577 is included in the standardization plan for 2017. The approval of the national standard is expected to take place in October 2018, and 3-18 months after that, the document should come into force.

In the summer of this year, the Kolesa.ru portal reported that. According to the initiative, the department should only assign a number, and each car owner will make it in specialized workshops at his own expense.

The news about the new license plates has already managed to make some noise on the network. But how true is it that a new license plate standard will be introduced in 2020? In this we figured out with the maximum depth of study of the issue.

What's wrong with the current numbers?

The current series and format, in principle, can be called obsolete for a number of reasons:

• the image of numbers itself has several problems - although it is adapted for the Latin alphabet, it still contains Cyrillic letters, there is no electronics and high technology(yes, this is quite relevant in 2020), identification occurs immediately by 3 components: letters, numbers and region (if you do not pay attention to the inscription RUS);
• the set of characters and numbers in modern numbers has long been exhausted - back in the late 90s, additional regions had to be introduced, when possible combinations of characters simply ended in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Judge for yourself on the last point: the license plate uses 3 combinations of 12 letters of the Russian alphabet and one more of 3 numbers. That is, in each region (numerical designation of the region, to be more precise) there can be 1,726,272 variants of such numbers. But only in million-plus cities there are a little less cars. Add to this the ability to change the number of the same car, and we get that there are not enough registration signs for everyone.

One thing becomes clear: the problem needs to be solved! So the expanses of the network were full of information that supposedly in 2020 the standard for new GRPs will be introduced. Is it true or not? Let's figure it out!

Is it true that new license plates will be introduced?

In fact, there are 2 main variations of this news - from completely crazy to having the right to life. Looking ahead, we note right away that none of the options for innovations regarding a different number format as of January 30, 2020 is true. There are no regulatory legal acts: neither GOSTs, nor Federal Laws coming into force, which would introduce another image of the GRP.

What is the information about the new numbers? It differs only in appearance and the format of such signs.

4 letters, 4 numbers

One of the options for the new law on changed numbers suggests that instead of the current combination of 3 letters, 3 numbers and an area code, the new GRP will be:

• or 3 letters and 4 numbers,
• or 4 letters and 3 numbers.

Here's what it will look like:

At the same time, it is proposed to leave the set of letters the same - 12 characters of the Russian alphabet. With a little calculation, you can calculate how much the number of all kinds of license plates will increase in the new format:

• 4 letters, 3 numbers - 20.7 million license plates,
• 3 letters, 4 numbers - 17.3 million GRZ.

That is, the new combination gives about 10 times more variants of state registration plates than the current format. This is encouraging, but it may not be enough. For example, in Moscow, where there are the most cars, 12 regions and 3 variants of the numerical designation of regions have already been used - and this is more than both of the above options.

But that's not the point. The very essence of innovation is that it does not exist and is not planned yet. That is, this type of designation does not have a single normative act in the legislative framework.

"Proof": You will not find the new number format shown in the photo above on any of the official websites of Russian legislators:

• nor on the website of the legislative base of the State Duma of the Russian Federation,
• nor in government discussion papers,

License plate with an interesting design

We are talking about Artemy Lebedev's studio. Here developed new design according to all the standards of "usability" (reasonableness) of registration signs ... And they even successfully sell new numbers. This is how they look:

Of course, this has nothing to do with the official replacement and release of license plates with such a design. It's just that the studio has released its own series and is selling it. However, a number of publications picked up this idea and released it as news about the modified GRP standard. So that's not true either.

What is true?

The truth is that, indeed, legislators are developing a new GOST, which should solve a number of problems with current numbers. But we are not talking about the problem of lack of room options. The number of numbers, letters and their combinations, locations remain the same.

New forms of numbers will simply be developed, which will allow them to be installed on a number of vehicles with a non-standard installation site - this applies to many motorcycles, as well as cars imported from abroad. For example, Japanese or American, where the number is almost square. This is how it looks.

Rosstandart approved a new standard for state registration plates of vehicles: the corresponding order is posted on the official website of the department. The new GOST R 50577-2018 changes a similar document with the number 50577-93 and comes into force on January 1, 2019.

Rumors about changes in GOST have been around for a long time and are overgrown with new fantastic assumptions. However, in reality, the changes are not so significant and will not affect the bulk of motorists. They are important primarily for owners of cars imported from Japan and America through "gray" channels, owners of classic and racing cars, motorcyclists and owners of off-road motor vehicles.

According to Kommersant, which managed to get acquainted with the new document, ten new types of registration plates are being introduced in the country. For cars with non-standard plates for attaching numbers, two-line rear plates are legalized. They eliminate the need for adapters, and now it will be possible to drill non-standard holes for fasteners in the numbers, as long as the symbols are not damaged.

The new format is for classic cars: A large "K" will appear in a separate section on the left. And for sports cars allowed on public roads, a sign of the same format will differ in the letter "C". By the way, veteran cars with square license plates can also be equipped with two-line signs.

A gift to motorcyclists - reduced size numbers: 190x145 mm instead of the current 245x160 mm. Such signs will be placed on most mounting platforms for imported motor vehicles, which have occupied this market almost entirely. The same numbers will become mandatory for ATVs and scooters with a displacement of more than 50cc. There are no plans to equip small-capacity vehicles with state license plates yet. In addition, motor vehicles of foreign diplomatic missions will now have numbers with a red background, like their cars.

However, it is not worth hoping that the new license plates will save you from the ubiquitous traffic cameras: the manufacturers of such equipment assure that by the time the new GOST comes into force, the cameras will be supplemented with the function of recognizing such numbers.