4 ms·
It's apparently confusing enough that if you ban odd license number plates then the cops don't want to arrest anyone whose license plate ends in 0 because they'
by contravariant 3y ago
It's apparently confusing enough that if you ban odd license number plates then the cops don't want to arrest anyone whose license plate ends in 0 because they're not sure if it is even or not. At least that was the case in Paris in 1977, when they alternated between odd/even license plates every day to limit the number of cars.
- eru 3y agoInteresting. Do you have a source for that?
- Snarwin 3y agoIt looks like bans for odd/even license plates were used in Paris in 2014 [1] and 1997 [2], but not before then. However, a similar scheme was used to ration gasoline in the US during the 70s [3]. The only source I can find for the claim about police confusion is the one cited by Wikipedia [4], whose reliability I'm inclined to doubt based on the 1997/1977 discrepancy. [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/03/17/290849704/to-clear-its-air-paris-tests-odd-or-even-driving-days https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/03/17/290849704... [2] https://www.wired.com/1997/09/paris-smog/ https://www.wired.com/1997/09/paris-smog/ [3] https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2012/11/10/164792293/gas-lines-evoke-memories-oil-crises-in-the-1970s https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2012/11/10/16479229... [4] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd%E2%80%93even_rationing#Dealing_with_0 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd%E2%80%93even_rationing#D...
- contravariant 3y agoThe wikipedia article matched my vague recollection of the event, but if they got the year wrong then it may as well just be a rumour at this point.
- eru 3y agoThanks!