Number Plate Press Releases

100 Years of Cherished Registrations

June 2003

Not many On Your Bumper readers will have been around in 1903 but, if you had been, you would have witnessed a defining moment of motoring history - the birth of the car registration. The Motor Car Act of 1903 was introduced to help identify vehicles and their drivers.

County Councils and County Borough Councils were made Registration and Licensing Authorities. For the 17,000 vehicles licensed in 1903, the registration fee was 20 shillings and the fee for a driver's licence was 5 shillings.

The speed limit in 1903 was 20 mph and remained so until The Road Traffic Act of 1930 set a variety of different speeds for different classes of vehicles.

Interestingly (or alarmingly) there was no speed limit at all for vehicles carrying less than 7 people!