These Custom Quebec Licence Plates Were Rejected In 2022 & Some Of Them Are Weird As Hell
The SAAQ has rules, people.
A snow-covered car parked on a Montreal street.
Custom licence plates can be a sweet touch on an otherwise boring piece of metal: an homage to a loved one or a nickname, perhaps a reference to a cherished hobby? But not every licence plate request is made equal, and many are straight-up forbidden.
Narcity Quebec intrepidly uncovered a fascinating list of rejected custom plate requests, which they have graciously shared with the MTL Blog team so we can share it with the rest of you people.
There are a few reasons why a licence plate might be rejected by the SAAQ. First, all number plates need to use only the letters of the alphabet and the 10 numbers from 0 to 9. The letter O isn't allowed, but you can use the number 0 in its place. You can't just paste 00 for combinations of five to seven characters, and the same character can't be used more than four times in a row. The plate also needs to be clear and easy to read, according to information provided by the SAAQ to Narcity Quebec.
More interesting, though, are the content-based rules, which will be enumerated below. Let's take a tour through some of the best — and worst — rejected custom plates in Quebec, sorted by which specific content rule they're breaking.
Brand names are CANCELLED
TESLA, HONDA, LINUX, BUGATTI, MARYKAY and SPRITE all fell on the judgmental sword of the SAAQ. Number plates can't feature the names of brands, but words like "apple" that serve a dual purpose are allowed.
Trademarked references are FORBIDDEN
TIMBITS, PIKACHU, BRUINS and MINI0NS, AVENGER and MAD0NNA were all sent back to the drawing board, since the SAAQ also forbids any trademarked references, even those that aren't necessarily the name of a brand. Say goodbye to NASCAR and NEM0, too.
Abusive, sexual or vulgar language is BANNED
This is bad news for the Quebecers who attempted to get such gems as ASSMAN1, PRNHUB, DATASS, MUDNUT, SXYMILF, CALISS, FUCKY0U and, of course, 1ASSMAN. There was also the simple and elegant CUL, rejected before its time.
FCKC0PS also made a valiant effort, but despite the points being made, no exceptions were made for veracity.
Criminal acts are NOT ALLOWED
Encouraging acts like MURDER or PIMP1 are firmly verboten for the SAAQ. Iconic suggestions also include C0CAINE, ASSASIN, ST0LEIT, DEALER and SANSL0I.
Several extremely unsavoury suggestions include white supremacist symbols SS and LAMEUTE, which were rejected for being actively unsafe as well as deeply morally compromised.
Expressing a disregard for road rules is OFF LIMITS
FADED? Not while driving, thank you, says the SAAQ! 4RACING? Not on their watch!
Licence plates that recommend drifting, like DRIFTY, or speeding, like FASTLYFE, were also refused. DRSPEED, TW0FAST, and SHISHA didn't make it, either.
Finally, the SAAQ notes that impersonating an emergency services or police officer is not allowed. This seems pretty obvious, but maybe not to the person who submitted the bold number plate REALC0P.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
