France: Pink plates on France's roads
As of 1 January 2026, pink number plates have begun to appear on France's roads.
The surprising, bright pink plates signify a temporary registration. Traditionally, French cars display fairly mundane white-background plates on the front and rear of vehicles, so the pink plates are very conspicuous.
The new colour scheme replaces the WW trade plates used by dealers for cars that were not yet registered, and for test drives. The pink plates are comparable to the UK's trade plates which employ red characters on a white background.
The change to France's trade plates is not just cosmetic. The temporary WW plates previously used were similar in appearance to standard number plates, and so were harder to spot in traffic. Concerns over misuse and fraudulent use of trade plates prompted the government to change the plate design to something easier for police to recognise at a glance.
Historically, France has experienced issues with drivers keeping trade plates after their cars are fully registered and using them to evade penalties and charges. They have also been used on vehicles involved in other crimes. The new, pink plates are valid for a maximum of four months and that period can’t be extended.
The introduction of the pink plates coincides with France implementing tougher penalties for speeding. As of December 2025, drivers caught driving 50 km/h (31 mph) over the limit face a criminal conviction, confiscation of the vehicle, a fine of up to €3,750 (around £3,250), a possible three‑month prison sentence and a driving ban.
Ghana: 5% of number plates in Ghana may be fake
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has claimed that nearly five percent of the country's registered vehicles are displaying fake number plates.
In a television interview, Julius Neequaye Kotey said that fraudsters are using methods including reusing plates from written-off cars and duplicating customs documents in order to copy registrations. Mr Kotey emphasised that number plates are considered security documents, and said that the manufacture of plates should be done by a single authorised company to ensure security.
"In terms of security, it will help the Ghanaian consumer. You don't just allow anyone, anywhere to emboss number plates. That plate is a security document, so we need to be cautious and circumspect about who embosses number plates and for whom," Mr Kotey said.
Ghana's drivers are advised to be cautious about where they obtain their plates in order to avoid legal issues.
International: Private number plates in Grand Theft Auto
As we, and many of our customers, are always saying, a good number plate can be the perfect finishing touch to a nice car. That's true in the real world, but now it's also true in video games!
GTA Online players have had car customisation options for a while now. There's even an auto shop, Benny’s Original Motorworks, that players can unlock in order to pimp their rides. Perhaps not quite so well-known is the option for customised licence plates.
Here's how to get your personal plates.
- Visit the Rockstar website. The exact address is https://www.rockstargames.com/gta-online/license-plates.
- You'll need a Rockstar Social Club account, and it must be linked to your game file so you can log in to the site.
- Sign into the Social Club through the Rockstar website, then.
- Click your icon in the top right corner.
- Click through the drop down menus in the order Account > Settings > Linked Accounts. Select your GTA. Click New Order to get started.
- You will see a field where you can enter the word you want for your plates, along with background options. Your plate text is limited to eight alpha-numeric characters - letters, numbers or a combination.
- Note that offensive character combinations are not allowed, so don't try to choose slurs, insults or obscene messages.
- The system will show a preview of your plate. When you're happy with it, click Next to go to the screen where you can select which car you want to assign the plate to. To guarantee that your desired car is listed, ensure that you've driven it recently in the game.
- Click on Place Your Order.
- Once your order is placed, load a new live session in GTA. You should see a pop-up prompting you to visit Los Santos Customs to fulfill your order.
- Get into your chosen vehicle, drive to Los Santos Customs and into the opening garage.
- Choose Process Order and pay the fee.
USA: 2,000 custom license plate requests rejected by Texas DMV in 2025
Nearly 2,000 Texas drivers had their vanity plate applications rejected by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles in 2025. 1,951 plate requests were declined, many due to the inclusion of potentially offensive combinations.
The most frequent cause for rejection involved the characters DV, which can be seen as a reference to the disabled veteran designation. In 349 cases, refusal was because the letters DV were used in restricted or suggestive ways.
Slang, acronyms, symbol substitution and "leetspeak" (a bit like Regtransfers' "Platespeak" which involves substituting numbers for letters, such as using 4 for the letter A, 5 for S etc) were all frequently used by applicants, and just as frequently spotted by reviewers.
The DMV also refused 101 character combinations that made anatomical references and 100 requests featuring the number 69.
Many plates were declined because, if granted, they would contain messages deemed aggressive, insulting or provocative. The acronym FAFO, which implies a threat regarding consequences or retribution, appeared in 39 declined applications. Others were refused for messages that were only apparent when viewed in a rearview mirror, and would convey taunts such as 1UR-SL0W and MOVEE MF.
Other declined combinations included CKNBUTT, ON1YFNS, H4WKTUA, L8R LSER and H4WKTUA.
