Nov 2022 Moscow UofI student stabbings (Boise, Grace: how much, lawyer, universities)

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by banjomike

I think Kohberg cruised past, saw the license plate, knew it was from Coeur d'Alene by the plate code, and very carefully went back to Pullman to get his murder gear.)

Highly unlikely. That is the type of thing that only a local would even know about, and Kohberg was not local to Idaho. I do know that Idaho, along with Montana and Wyoming have license plates that are county coded. Other states have done away with county codes long ago. But that is not something that most people would know anyway. To most people license plates are just random numbers and letters. Unless you live in a state that still has county coded plates, like Idaho. Then maybe you start to notice that every license plate in your community starts with the same digits. If you travel around the state, you might start to become familiar with other county codes, but that comes from local knowledge.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Highly unlikely. That is the type of thing that only a local would even know about, and Kohberg was not local to Idaho. I do know that Idaho, along with Montana and Wyoming have license plates that are county coded. Other states have done away with county codes long ago. But that is not something that most people would know anyway. To most people license plates are just random numbers and letters. Unless you live in a state that still has county coded plates, like Idaho. Then maybe you start to notice that every license plate in your community starts with the same digits. If you travel around the state, you might start to become familiar with other county codes, but that comes from local knowledge.

Actually, the county-coded plates are extremely popular in Idaho because everyone instantly knows where someone else lives.
The code is simple and logical, and out-of-staters who live here learn it right away. Especially the local codes.

Maybe they're mostly random numbers to you, but they're not, at least when it comes to the county coding.

Since Pullman is so close, the students there tend to pick the code up. For the kids, it's a fast way of knowing where a prospective date from Idaho came from.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Actually, the county-coded plates are extremely popular in Idaho because everyone instantly knows where someone else lives.
The code is simple and logical...

Yeah. When I see a plate with 7B or 9B, I give them a wide berth because they drive a little more aggressively than locals. Myself? I have a personalized veteran plate, so nobody knows where I live.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by volosong

Yeah. When I see a plate with 7B or 9B, I give them a wide berth because they drive a little more aggressively than locals. Myself? I have a personalized veteran plate, so nobody knows where I live.

Country folk come to town in the big city...

Down here, 8B drivers think 1J stands for one jerk... old joke. But it's true; a country driver just isn't used to city traffic as an everyday part of life.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Actually, the county-coded plates are extremely popular in Idaho because everyone instantly knows where someone else lives.
The code is simple and logical, and out-of-staters who live here learn it right away. Especially the local codes.

Maybe they're mostly random numbers to you, but they're not, at least when it comes to the county coding.

Since Pullman is so close, the students there tend to pick the code up. For the kids, it's a fast way of knowing where a prospective date from Idaho came from.

Yeah, but Kohberg is not from Idaho. So he wouldn't know that, and he had only been in Washington for a few months.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Yeah, but Kohberg is not from Idaho. So he wouldn't know that, and he had only been in Washington for a few months.

That's a big presumption.
Like I said before, it's simple. The state counties are in alphabetical order, and the number indicates which county's name starts with the letter.

It doesn't take months to learn- an outsider can read the plate as soon as he learns a few counties' names.
The county seat is usually the largest city in the county, the most probable place a person lives in since our population is so small.
It's one of those distinctly Idaho things.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Yeah, but Kohberg is not from Idaho. So he wouldn't know that, and he had only been in Washington for a few months.

Cloudy,
I don't think you have any experience with living in Idaho/on the ID border, correct? We picked up on the license plate identification of plates from North Idaho after just a couple of weeks of putting down roots in NID, even if we're not there full time yet. It is a popular habit, even a hobby. Everybody seems to be doing it. You can speculate all you want about what Kohberger may or may not have known, but locals here probably have a better sense of what he may have realized.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by volosong

Yeah. When I see a plate with 7B or 9B, I give them a wide berth because they drive a little more aggressively than locals. Myself? I have a personalized veteran plate, so nobody knows where I live.

Haha, thanks! 7B is our county.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

Highly unlikely. That is the type of thing that only a local would even know about, and Kohberg was not local to Idaho. ..........

And yet you know it and you live over on the Southern coast of Oregon and a lifelong Californian before that. You aren't local to Idaho. People not local to Idaho can know it. it is not any sort of secret.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Cloudy,
I don't think you have any experience with living in Idaho/on the ID border, correct? We picked up on the license plate identification of plates from North Idaho after just a couple of weeks of putting down roots in NID, even if we're not there full time yet. It is a popular habit, even a hobby. Everybody seems to be doing it. You can speculate all you want about what Kohberger may or may not have known, but locals here probably have a better sense of what he may have realized.

I know it, because I have lived in Montana and Wyoming, that have county prefixes. Those states make it much easier, because each county has its own number. I know if I see a Wyoming license plate starting with #1, it's from Casper / Natrona County. #2 is Cheyenne / Laramie County. A Montana plate starting with #2 is from Great Falls / Cascade County. #3 is from Billings / Yellowstone County. #4 is from Missoula and #5 is Helena.

But Idaho with the number-letter combinations is much more difficult. Even though I see Idaho plates everyday, and I'm familiar with the format of Idaho plates, when I started this conversation I didn't know one single Idaho license plate prefix. But I'm pleased to say that I have added 1A Boise / Ada County and K Coeur d’Alene / Kootenai County to my knowledge base. I'm not going to waste any time learning any more, because I would probably just forget them or get them mixed up.

Again this is way more information than most people know or care about. First you have to know that some states have county prefixes in their license plates, to even know that it is possible to tell where in a state a car is registered. 99.99% of people outside the few states that do that, don't have that knowledge. For example someone from Pennsylvania.