Black license plates: a piece of nostalgia on Austria's streets!

Black license plates: a piece of nostalgia on Austria's streets!

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - In Austria, over 126,000 vehicles with the nostalgic black license plates - popularly known as "Black Taferl" - are still on the road. These license plates were originally issued from 1947 to 1990 and are still valid as long as the approval does not change. Surprisingly, these old numbers still make up 1.7 percent of the overall approved vehicles. "The 'Black Taferl' was a long time as the nation's business card," said Doris Wendler, CEO of the Vienna City Insurance. However, this number has decreased in recent years: five years ago, there were still over 165,000 vehicles, and ten years ago the numbers were more than 220,000. A particularly large number of black license plates can be found in Lower Austria, followed by Styria and Upper Austria, where agricultural vehicles such as tractors are still often equipped with these retro boards, such as OTS reported.

variety of car indicators in Austria

The streets of Austria are not only shaped by black and white license plates, but also by a colorful variety of other car boards. According to Autorevue there are different indications for special uses with special color combinations. In addition to the blue test drive landmarks and the green transfer labels, there are also white license plates with green writing, which are specially output for electric vehicles. This transparency in the label types is crucial for traffic safety because it makes it easier for the authorities to identify the different types of vehicle. The wide range of car indicators shows how individually the road traffic is designed in Austria, while most Europeans rely on standard color license plates.

The black Taferl, like other colored license plates, ensure that different vehicle categories can be clearly separated from each other. The Principality of Liechtenstein is also the last European country, which adheres to the classic black license plates, which further reinforces the nostalgic element of these panels.