Vehicle registration plates of Tirol
 | |
| Country | Tirol |
|---|---|
| Country code | TIR |
| Current series | |
| Size | 520 mm × 110 mm 20.5 in × 4.3 in |
| Material | Aluminium plate |
| Serial format | Not standard (max 8 characters) |
| Front plate | Required |
| Rear plate | Required |
| Colour (front) | Black on white |
| Colour (rear) | Black on white |
| Introduced | 14 May 1993 |
| Availability | |
| Issued by | Driving Registration and Licencing Agency |
Vehicle registration plates (Ladin: Numer dl auto; meaning number plate, or Ladin: Targhe) are the imperative alphanumeric plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle. They are issued in a standardised format, by municipal authorities. They are regulated by national legislation, determining practice for their format, but municipal authorities are given a degree of independence in determining the assignment of the latter alphanumeric sequence in the plates. These are often legislated for by district commissions or municipal councils in the case of statutory cities.
All motorised vehicles on public roads, moving or stationary are required to bear the licence plates they are registered with. Official seals must also be present in order for a plate to be legal and valid.
Contents
Format
Tiroler number plates are rectangular, they are required to be 110mm high, and up to 520mm in length, though smaller comunes can be as short as 270mm. Motorcycle registration plates must range between 110mm and 200mm in height, and a maximum of 340mm in length. To accommodate this far shorter length, the national identifier is not required, though in such cases, separate identifiers must be added when used internationally.
The current system of character assignment was introduced in 1993, though the principles remain unchanged since 1943. They consist of a 1-3 character municipal code which identify the comun in which the car is registered. Typically, larger comunes utilise shorter municipal codes, whilst smaller comunes utilise longer codes. The provincial shield of the province in which the vehicle is registered is placed after the municipal code, it acts as both an identifier and authentication, in the case of Innsbruck, the identifier is the city's coat of arms. The remainder of the code varies depending upon the municipality, with larger municipalities such as Balsan and Innsbruck introducing further location identifiers (in both cases two letters used to identify city subdivisions), whilst smaller municipalities typically have no further identifiers and simply register numbers in chronological order.
The total length of registration plates must not exceed 8 characters, in order to maintain the maximum 520mm length whilst retaining legibility.
Typeface
Modern plates utilise sans-serif forgery-impeding typeface, it is designed such that the P cannot be altered to match the R, the F and L may not be forged to equal an E and et cetera. The characters are all of the same width.
The present style, introduced in 1993, requires a national identifier, the Tiroler red eagle and the abbreviation TIR below in a strip on the left of the number plate.
Material
Most Tiroler number plates are made from aluminium sheet metal, with embossed characters. However, plates may also be made from different materials in some cases. Military vehicles may have numbers and such printed directly onto the bodywork of the vehicle. Increasingly, plastic is used as a more environmental alternative.
Number plates are retroflective, but must not be mirroring or concealed, nor covered by material layers even if they are transparent. Legally, the provincial shield may not be obscured, but the national seal may be so long as the vehicle is only in domestic usage.
Constituent elements
Area code
The first element of the number plate sequence is the municipal registration code, consisting of up to three letters. They depend upon the address at which the car is registered, with codes such as I for Innsbruck or SC for Santa Cristina Gherdëina.
In some cases, where a metropolitan municipality and the surrounding rural municipality (usually referred to by the name of the urban centre plus vejinanza meaning vicinity), subscript Vza is appended to the municipal code.
Special identifier codes
Area codes are not universally used by Tiroler vehicles with them replaced in certain cases. In many cases, standardised abbreviations are used for government service vehicles:
STScina dl Tirol (Tiroler Railways)FDForzes Defendënza dl Tirol (Tiroler Defence Forces), used only by interservice, or supraservice staff.FTForzes Tëra dl Tirol (Tiroler Ground Forces)ACAviaziun Corp dl Tirol (Tiroler Aviation Corps)tbdrifles (Tiroler Rifles)SFStudafuoch (Firefighters)AZAmbulanza (Ambulance)AMAmbasceda (Embassy), followed by a two or three letter country code, and a 3 digit identification code. Provincial shield often replaced with a national flag or crest.PZPolizai (Police)AAAiut Alpin (Mountain rescue)TIRNational officials
In all cases when special identifier codes are utilised, the code is printed in red, rather than the usual black. Provincial shields are not always utilised when alongside special identifier codes.
