Lebanese lawmakers’ love for vanity car plates stalls traffic law

Joint parliamentary committees on Monday agreed on 420 clauses included in the traffic law, leaving only one clause pending. Hitting close to home for many lawmakers, the clause pertaining to vanity plates was at the center of controversy amongst members of parliaments.  

There are 1.4 million cars in Lebanon. Over half a million of those are never officially inspected by the car inspection center, commonly known as the “mecanique”. This reality justifies fears that a plate number might be used for more than one car, let alone the unknown number of forged plates.  

The Head of the Public Works and Transportation parliamentary Committee MP Mohammad Qabbani told LBCI that he is seeking the adoption of smart plates to curb theft and terrorism, adding that a special system will be applied to vanity plates with no area code to distinguish them from standard plates.

A number of MPs reckoned that, for decades, they along with a significant number of Lebanese have owned cars with pricey vanity numbers. They stressed that they will not take this matter lightly.  

And so, the vanity plates clause caused a delay in the adoption of the traffic law. Will the clause, expected to be forwarded soon, break the stalemate and lead to the adoption of a comprehensive law?