Anyone know the law regarding having a small front plate?
 

and is it the same as not having a front plate i.e. having the plate in the window rather than on the bumper?

this is referring to a standard plate and not private plate.

is it just a fine ? or points aswell?

ive basically made the text on my import plate a little shorter so that it fits on one line and chopped the top and bottom of the plate. doesnt block as much of the front mount as the import plate did.

not sure where i stand with regards to the law though

Eddy

aint got the link but im sure there is a section on the dvla website on plate sizes etc and you defo cant have it in the window i got thefine to prove it lol

has to be standard size. £30 fine for me. a few years back.

Legally its a full size standard plate that you'd get on any normal car, depends what the cop was like and your attidude if asked, as long as you don't go stupid you 'should' be fine, anything smaller than 3/4 size and I'd say your pushing you luck and asking for a pull!

i'll get a picture later tonightso you can see its size.

so sounds like if its not ok, itll be a fine.

:freak3: read this post first and thought I'd come to the wrong forum ..

but thats about right for Scoobynet :lol1:

100% a no if not legal size, there are a few cars that can legally get away with it, Evos with square front plates for example and IIRC imported classic impreza's pre a certain year can have a 3/4 plate on legally.

Oh and if you have a private plate with less numbers/letters than standard you can shorten the plate as long as you keep the correct font, height of plate and gap to the left and right from the letter outer digits.

Search on here as there have been some very good links posted in the past.

it has to be in the centre and visible and the correct size. or you can get points on your licence but i think they just tend to hand out fines instead.

^^^^^^
That would make all the police Evo's and all other Evo's illegal would it not?

along with alfa's?

i think it'll have to go to the side then

There was some loophole in te law pointed out recently.

I know there are some exceptions mentioned, such as wether the car's OE front bumper actually has the space/recess to have a full size plate, but not sure if they re-wrote it yet.

I have a 3/4 -390mm x 84mm on mine with standard lettering etc. Touch wood not problems.

Steve

Only imports can have a reduced size front plate. It's only a £30 fine for each illegal plate. But if they keep on booking you for it they can give you points i think.
But as long as your plate has a BS number on it in the corner they cant complain.

Brother got a 60 pound fine a few months ago while his car was parked outside on his works car park, He saw 3 blokes standing outside his scoob, when he went outside he asked what they where doing and they where police, and told him his front plate was illegal(small numberplate) and gave him a 60 pound fine. He said he had the original in the boot and he will put it back on straight away and they said it didnt matter and that he would still have the fine.


Also I had an argument with a copper for nearly 30 mins while on the petrol station forecourt in my old Evo 6, the copper said that my numberplate was illegal(standard square evo plate), When I explained that it was an import and they have square plates, she told me I was wrong and she knew the law, after about 20 mins she phoned up someone who put her straight. Much to my delight as I like being right, she told me to go on my way and that she will let me off this time.

where did you get that from? if i can get standard lettering on it that will be perfect.. also do you have a pic of it?

mine is 300 x 200 3 years now no problem

My 3/4 plate, slightly smaller text, however having no border you can get the text reasonbly large, smaller than std (so illegal) but clear and visable and has been hassle free for me, touch wood!
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/P1020159.jpg

my plate is probs just a lil larger than this one..

sorry dave for using your pic https://www.scoobynet.com/album.php?...pictureid=3961

any pics of it mate?

cheers

That is the 3/4 one.

If you look at a std plate its a fair bit bigger than this.

I think you'll find those swirls are an illegal font! LOL. :lol1:

im not sure of the actual law but i had my smaller plate on various cars over the last 5 years, i got stopped 3 times before i actually got a £60.00 fine, now i have a correctly sized and spaced plate with most of the white surround cut off, my current plate is actually smaller than the one i got stopped for, but so far so good

i got stopped just over a month ago for a small front plate and was fined £60.i then bought a private plate and sent off my documents to dvla so i could get them changed to the new one and put it on my car.as the dvla had my docs i couldnt get a proper size one made for my car but thought it would be a waste of money anyway as i would be paying for some plates making with the new reg when my docs come back.within 2 weeks since being fined i got pulled again and explained to the police i was waiting for my docs from dvla then i would get a proper size one made with the new reg.now if i was that police man i would have said fair enough but make sure when the new docs come through that it gets changed.oh no he slapped me with another £60 fine.what pissed me off is that i was insured,taxed,mot'd and all fully legal but just because my front plate was too small i get 2 £60 fines.if i was a smack head that had just burgled someones house i would have got a slap on my wrist and topped up with drugs while i was at the cop shop.:mad:

Needs to be standard sized lettering, spacing & font, after 2001 most display postcode and bsau number IIRC....also needs to be mounted at the furthest point forward on the car

A mate got pulled twice in a month for a smaller one and the second time it flagged he had been pulled for the same offence.... he got 3 points

Still bloody double posting :cuckoo:

tbh if its cledar and ledgable then they tend not to be to bothered as long as it looks more or less right and you don't give them cheek if styopped

This is my Legal Import plate
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...CSDEC09009.jpg

It would be a £30 fine, and if they really wanted to be ar*ey they could also give you a vdrs, which means you have 7 days to get a legal size and get a garage to stamp it. They normally charge another £25 to stamp the sheet.

I would suggest the police would only act if the number plate was silly small or silly lettering. It would also depend if it was a normal beat officer or a traffic officer.

If you did get pulled i would suggest you appologies, state you didnt realise and offer to get it changed straight away. If you are ar*ey or have an attitude you WOULD get a ticket. Its all about the attitude test.