Smiler

Nearly got away with it for two years..... Recently got a £30 fine for my altered number plate.

Traffic police took a photo of both the front and back, 28 days to pay fine.

Now what I want to know is....

What happens if I'm stopped again and given a ticket?

Does anyone know anyone who has actually lost their plate because it was altered?

Will the next fine also be £30 or does it increase?

Any why the photo? Has this happened other peope as well??

Spoon

They are hitting hard now.

If I was you I'd just conform.

They photographed my car and removed my plates at the roadside and kept them.

They didn't fine me though so I was lucky from that respect.

I questioned the legality of them keeping my plates when I took my documents to the station.

The girl on the desk got the Inspector to ring me at home later. He told me they were right to keep the plates as with the photograph they would be evidence should I put the same back on.

They would then have no choice but to report me to the DVLC with a view to confiscating the reg number.

With the registration recognition camera's nowaday's it has to be the way.

midget1500

they take your plates, then your car isn't road legal? how are you supposed to legally drive home, etc?

Spoon

I drove all day without plates on as I was due elsewhere. I had my 7 day retification slip with me as proof should I get stopped again.

The cameras never knew what hit them either.

pslewis

Why do people have altered plates?? I have a personal plate that reads what its supposed to read when legal ............... if you need to mess about to make your plate read something it shouldn't then you are asking for trouble!!

If you want B1 LLY then buy B1 LLY ........... don't buy something like P 81LLY and space it like that - you will lose the plate!!

I agree that P81 LLY is NOT quite as impressive as B1 LLY - BUT - if you can't afford the proper one just don't bother!!

Long live the Standards Institutes!!!

Pete

LEUVEN

Superb! that is exactly what I would do, id also go out of my way to pass every one I know of.

MadGrip

I have "S500 BEY" looks ok and wont ever have trouble with the cops.....


(well at least not over the plate)

GaryK

agree with pslewis everyone knows that altering the spacing is illegal so why go through the hassle by messing around! Beats me and most of the ones that have been changed look naff anyway!

Gary

PG

if you did get flashed by cameras I dare say they will look up history of similar cars (see if stollen ect) find out that you were stopped and had your plates cofiscated and BINGO double whammy collection !

NACRO

Slightly off topic but, I've recently reg'd my car over here in France- I still have the English plates and also some nice new French plates. Does anyone know if they wil bother to persue foreign drivers for speed camera offences. I'll be back in the UK (with the French plates on) for a few weeks shortly and wonder whether or not they'll be able to track me down and put points on my licence were I accidently to set off a few of their revenue generators.

Regarding the altered plates it seems a bit weird that they would confiscate them and leave you totally unmarked and able to escape prosecution if you set off some of their "safety" cameras.

Nevetas

If you have altered plates pay the price, its your risk, deal with it.

Spoon

Old man- The plate in question was as explained the last time a similar thread came up, a reg I've owned for many years and has just been the same lettering on the same plates and changed from car to car.

It is actually a very expensive plate and over the years hasn't attracted any problems from plod, even when stopped for speeding, so I've just not forked out unecessarily for more plates.

It was only slightly squashed together but otherwise fine, but I guess with the new camera's about and the need for the plates to be totally legal for the camera to recognise the registration, I was stopped.

The thing is, this happened a few months ago and I still see illegally spaced reg's locally to me who obviously haven't been stopped yet.

jag_h

you can get fined twice by roadside police (mine where both at £20 each mind). then with the second offence, i get a letter sent home by dvla warning if i get done again its a £1000 fine and they take the registration mark back, leaving you with a nice Q plate...

so now the rear is legal... after all thats where they see it...

Spoon

My front plate attracted plod initially.

Freak

I have been fined 5/6/7 something like that times over the last 2 years- and stopped a few times and not fined too.
No one has ever had their plate revoked..... ever.....for abuse of spacing.
They do send out letters yes- designed to scare you into changing it.
Touch wood havent been pulled for it since being on the bmw, although a traffic cop had a good look at it and frowned the other night at a petrol station.
As for the taking the plates at the roadside....that cant be legal surely?
Surely they
a) cannot knowingly encourage you commiting an offence by driving with no plates.
b) need some sort of warrant or prosecution pending in order to confiscate your personal property as 'evidence'?

Dracoro

So if they take your plate, you know what to do speed cameras can;t do nought if you've got no plates

Regardless, I'd like to hear the legal standpoint on this one. If you've no plates, then the car is illegal if on the highway? Daft thing for the police to do. They don't remove your tyres if they're illegal too do they?

Spoon

Does seem strange guys but the Inspector confirmed it's correct.

I also wondered how your insurance stood up having no plates?

Mind you I was too busy doing a drive off at a petrol forecourt to really be bothered

yoza

Yep me too.

Fined £30, and had a picture took of the plate. He said three pictures registered at the DVLA and they take it off you.

I asked him if he was in the serious crime squad, and how many burglars had he caught in the last month, didnt go down too well.

He did say that his actions had counted as a solved crime, and would be logged as such on his areas statistics.

Later Yoza

redwrx

I got pulled over on the motorway recently , why ..#?? not because i had an alter'd number plate, but because the lettering was 1.5mm to small ...yep, one of those square number plates that seems to comes standard on imports ..

when i told him it had been on the car since it came from the garage, and had been through 2 MOT's ..., and this is the first time ive been stopped in 14 years, i just got told i'd been lucky, and was then cautioned and had £30 fine thrown at me ... so much for being law abiding.

They even got a tape measure out at the side of the motorway.


Whilst i support the Police, and its a job i wouldnt want, surely they have something more worthwhile to do than this ... !!


My appeal result has just come through, and theyve sent my cheque back, ive had the plate changed now, as cant be doing with the mither.

Yep, theyre clamping down ....... thats what i was told.



*maybe everyone should stop buying personalised plates ...and when companies go out of business - then lets see who whinges.

Smiler

Thanks for the replies.

It was the front plate they initially saw.

As long as I get a warning letter "Once more and we take it away" then I'll stick with my current plates.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Why not get some vinyl lettering made up with your name or vehicle type on and have it all over the bodywork, perfectly legal and you will look like a **** but then so does mis spacing a plate, trying to hard I think.

I have a plate available to me (2 letters and 2 numbers) but I really dont fancy having it on my car so its still on retention till somebody wants to buy it for decent money.

Father Jack Hackett

I'm with PS Lewis on this one. Dodgy spacing and strategically-placed bolts are just sad.