Rochester License Plate

In 2006, near a Wegmans grocery store in Rochester, New York, I spotted a “BGG666” New York license plate on a winestone-colored sedan as it passed by me while I was walking. I then followed this car into the parking lot of the Wegmans to examine the car and confirm the letters and digits on its license plates. As far as my coincidence, “BGG” are my initials, and I owned at the time a winestone-colored sedan whose make, model, and year were the same or nearly the same as those of the sedan with the “BGG666” license plates.

I estimate the odds of the occurrence of this coincidence at one moment in time (as opposed to over a course of a lifetime) to be approximately 1 in 10 billion ((26 alphabet letters X 26 alphabet letters X 26 alphabet letters X 10 nos. X 10 nos. X 10 nos. X 250 car models X 5 car-color options) / 2 possible license-plate combinations (i.e., BGG666 or 666BGG)). Likewise, I estimate the odds of the occurrence of this coincidence over the course of a lifetime (as opposed to one moment in time) to be approximately 1 in 5,000 ((1/10 billion) X (75 license plates viewed per day X 365 days per year X 80-year lifespan)).