We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "dennis@home"
saying something like:

How about a mis-spaced number plate?

Is that a fail?

Yes.

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m3s06000301.htm

So is a "honeycomb or similar" background to the plates.

OK.. so why might it be a safety issue..

people that have vanity plates tend to be arrogant and drive badly?
people are trying to disguise the plates so they can speed without getting
caught?

Given a minute or three I can probably find more reasons.

More spurious nonsense, you mean.
Admit it Dennis, you're just spouting ******** for the sake of it.