Driver’s anger as authorities cancel his ‘inappropriate’ number plate after weeks of waiting and $437: ‘What is so controversial about it?’
- Video producer Tom Scott had his number plates rejected
- His plates ’69YOLO’ were deemed to be ‘too controversial’
A driver is furious after authorities cancelled his proposed number plate because they thought it was ‘too controversial’ despite the plate initially being available for purchase.
Video producer Thomas Scott took to TikTok to reveal he bought the number plate ’69YOLO’ for $437 while browsing through personalised plates on the NSW government MyPlates website.
‘I bought this number plate and the government cancelled it because they thought it was too controversial which peeves me off,’ he said.
‘I was casually browsing what number plates you can actually get in NSW that are available and I saw “69YOLO” and I was like, “I have to have that”.’
He then showed his certificate of registration from Transport NSW that proved he had purchased the plates.
Video producer Thomas Scott (pictured) had his personalised number plate ’69YOLO’ rejected by Transport NSW who deemed it to be ‘too controversial’
But instead of receiving the plates, he was instead sent a letter that explained his plates were rejected because they were ‘deemed to give rise to controversy or public disagreement’ and ‘not appropriate to be displayed on a vehicle in NSW’.
The TikTok user was issued a refund for the money.
‘So I went back to the website and the number plate is now unavailable,’ Mr Scott said.
‘So my question for TikTok is what about this number plate is so controversial that it can’t be on the road?’
One viewer wrote in the comment section: ‘If you lodged a formal complaint they would have to give you a statement of reasons explaining how they arrived at this decision.’
‘All I can think about is the long standing joke of the number 69,’ another user said.
One viewer who claimed to have previously worked for MyPlates said: ‘Anything with 69 on it would be vetted.’
A Transport NSW spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the personalised number plate search online is only used to ‘confirm whether or not a proposed combination of letters and numbers has already been used’.
‘Once an application is received, it is assessed on its individual merits,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Any content that has previously been identified as offensive is blocked at this stage.
’69YOLO was judged to be offensive to community standards and rejected on this basis.’
Mr Scott was issued a refund and sent a letter that explained why his plates were rejected
Controversial Sydney lawyer Peter Lavac famously lost a court battle to keep his number plates ‘LGOPNR’ on his canary yellow Lamborghini back in 2021.
Mr Lavac had been locked in a feud since August 2020 with Transport NSW over the number plates, which are an abbreviation of the phrase ‘leg opener’.
His registration was cancelled in November and his number plates were stripped from his Lamborghini.
Mr Lavac launched an appeal to keep the plates, arguing they were a ‘tongue in cheek, funny, humorous, taking the p*** tribute to my reputation as a playboy’.
But Magistrate Greg Elks sided with authorities and shot down the appeal, deeming the number plates offensive, according to 7 News.
Renowned Sydney lawyer Peter Lavac famously lost a court battle to keep his controversial number plates ‘LGOPNR’ on his canary yellow Lamborghini
Mr Lavac was locked in a feud with Transport NSW over the number plates on his canary yellow Lamborghini for more than a year
Mr Lavac was informed by Transport NSW in a letter in August 2020 that he had to hand back his ‘LGOPNR’ plates.
He successfully fought the order in court as it was written under the wrong legislation.
He continued to drive his supercar with the controversial plates.
He then received another letter in October 2020 and had been gearing up for round two against the bureaucracy, despite backlash on social media.
The letter again stated he needed to hand in the offensive plates or his registration would be cancelled, but Mr Lavac and his legal team sent another appeal.
Mr Lavac was pulled over by a police patrol vehicle just 200 metres from his Manly home before stripping the plates from his car on December 4.
‘The officer told me he received an email from his boss directing him to stop me and seize my plates as my rego had been cancelled,’ he said.
Transport NSW deemed his customised number plates too offensive because the letters stood for ‘leg opener’
Back-up was called while Mr Lavac showed the officers his court papers about the appeal, but three more police officers arrived.
‘I thought it was a bit of overkill,’ Mr Lavac said.
‘They must have feared I was going to engage them in a wild west gun fight and then escape by speeding off in my high powered racing car.’
Police ended up winning the dispute, fiddling with screwdrivers to remove the plates.
Mr Lavac was not allowed to drive the car to his garage 200 metres away and was forced to call a tow truck.
He said the ‘fat cat desk jockeys and overxealous cops have balls’ to go ‘after’ him for ‘trivial mickey mouse bullsh*t’.
Arguing the original letter, Mr Lavac said that ’99 out of 100 people’ would have no clue that the plates referred to ‘leg opener’ which was thought up during a chat with mates as a ‘tongue in cheek’ nod to his reputation as a ladies man.
He later replaced the replaced the infamous plates with ‘XXLEGO’, or ‘extra large ego’.
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