BuRR

On 22nd November 2002 the amendments to the display of registration marks - Road Vehicles Regulations 2002 - comes into force. The further requirements are that a registration plate must not compromise or incorporate any design, pattern or texture, or be treated in any way which gives any part of the plate the appearance of having a design, pattern or texture on it.

There is also further guidance on size and spacing of characters in "special cases". This can be found in the Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 2687.



....don't shoot the messenger

scoobyslut

Not shooting the messenger, but simply adding to this.

As of 1/103,the supply of number plates will require "proof of ownership" and identity of owner when going to buy new number plates for cars.
You will not be able to simply walk into a store/garage and ask for plates tobe made, as all details will be placed into a register and kept.
All number plate suppliers will be registered with DVLA and will not supply to anyone who cannot legally prove that they own the vehicle thus trying to cut down on the increasing game of "car ringing".
So Guys, next time you want new plates, remember to take reg doc, and at least drivers licence with you, or you walk away with nothing....

OR visit DVLA site for full info

RESSE

iTrader: (1)

Scoobyslut,

Thanks for the information - very useful.

Richard

Riftzone

does this include a honeycomb background ? how about the 3d letterings - yer know the legal ones not the show stuff ? does it apply from plates from now or retrospectively too ?

Katana

Burr, Scoobyslut, what about number plates on the bonnet (sticker type)? Is that legal as long as there are not texture either? Thanks.

BuRR

I'd take it as you read it.... looks like even the blue "GB" labels on the left side of a reg plate constitute an offence.

No honeycomb
No fancy letters (the typestyle is quite specific on the DVLA website)
No ghost images


Suppose at the end of the day, its how the whole issue is policed. From a professional stance, I personally don't mind as long as I can immediately tell what the registration plate is.

Imagine me being behind your stolen impreza for about 2 seconds (which is realistic, me being in a 1.4 Astra ) and trying to determine what the registration plate read, so I can pass it out to other units.

"Yes, bravo 1-0, just had a Subaru Impreza, reg I-SUCK" make off from me.... see what I mean?



[Edited by BuRR - 11/13/2002 10:49:34 AM]

BuRR

I recently spoke to a friend of mine, about the stick on plates.

As long as the plate is made from the British Standard reflective material (needs to have the BS stamp on it) and the letters the correct size, style and spacing, then we don't see a problem.

carl

But that is in contravention of EU law. The reason we changed the font was to allow the GB symbol to fit on the plate (otherwise incorporation of the symbol made the letters squashed up, breaking UK law)

Agree with you over the 'readability' thing though. I'm happy to see number plates with the letters pushed together to make a word, but when numbers/letters are deliberately disguised so it's no longer obvious what they were, e.g. a '9' made to look like an 'S', it's ridiculous. And don't get me started on those 'script' fonts that are completely illegible

[Edited by carl - 11/13/2002 10:53:17 AM]

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

how will garages go on then???

you know with theire logos and addreses etc!

carl

What's in the "special cases" section, anyway?

Katana

Cheers Burr.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Burr,

As Carl says, whats in the special cases? ...vested interest as Ive got a Jap import

Is there a link to the above?

Cheers,

DazW

[Edited by DazW - 11/13/2002 10:58:03 AM]

Jolly Green Monster 2

Glad I got my one front and five rear plates before this came in..

I would look a right muppet or suspect on the records..

Front and back for car, a rear for my two trailers, and a lightboard and one for trailers I borrow..!

I think the 3d letters are fine as they are within the standard font type but I could be wrong..

JGM

Brendan Hughes

JGM2 - did your five rear plates all have the same reg. no?

BuRR

Bloody hell, guys,

I've just copy/pasted out of a circular we've just received in the internal post. I know no more than is written down on this thread.

Also, I'm leaving work @ 12 for the Rally weekend so I won't be able to find any more out for you.

The internet is a wonderful place.... I'm sure the information you require is lurking around somewhere.

Also, I was led to believe that the little blue symbols on the plates were never actually recognised as law in the UK, just "adopted"..... but that's another arguement / discussion

At least square plates aren't mentioned...... yet!

Take care, guys

Dream Weaver

Just typical "Great" Britain IMHO. As a country we are so feckin arsey about stupid little things like this. Never mind people getting raped and robbed, as long as we havent got a GB sticker on our plates

Why cant we use the US system, where you can have what you want as long as its not taken??? And the plate is registered to you, not the car.

Makes me mad this place sometimes.

Thanks for the info the BuRR - guess that rules out the clever Kreature plate then

Jolly Green Monster 2

Yes... only got one car with a tow bar but got two trailers, a lightboard for the bike rack and sometimes borrow / hire a trailer so have a plate for that.. started off with one plate for the trailers and used to move it about.. got a bit annoying..

Oh just remembered there is another plate on my Dad's trailer as he has no tow bar on his current car for when he needs that moving I tow it for him..

It is nearly cheaper to keep the private plate and transfer it than it would be to replace all the plates when buying a new car!

Thanks again for the info Burr..

JGM

medders

Dream Weaver - i think you're missing the overall picture here. It's to stop people making there numberplates unreadable by the police and such.

It's been a problem for a while with people doing wierd and wonderful things with the lettering. As burr has already said, if you're car gets nicked and the police can't read the plate how will they be able to 100% identify it later?

They would obviously have to make the legislation as comprehensive as possible whilst still being concise. They couldn't list all possibilities of examples that would make the plate unreadable!
So they simply say, you will do this and you won't add anything. Simple.

As with all laws of this type, a bit of discretion will probably come in to play, but at least now, the police will actually have proper legislation to do something about it.

cheers

Paul

Edited to spell my name correctly

[Edited by medders - 11/13/2002 11:30:20 AM]

BuRR

I'm not taking my GB stickers off the plates, if that's any help?

Jolly Green Monster 2

Agree with you..

It does make sense what they are doing..

It is strange though how for years and years for example France and German plates are those small font difficult to read plates in comparison.. like has been said we should be grateful they are trying to make them readable so cars can be traced when stolen etc.. obviously the speed camera has had it's influence too..

JGM

Dream Weaver

Medders - if your car gets nicked, and the reg plate is unreadable by the cops then its your own fault surely.

Fair enough, people who really play around with things (italics, sirly letters etc), but what about a plate like say A13 XDD. Suppose Alex D buys it and has it as A13X DD with normal plates, normal numbers, no graphics etc etc. It is obviously A13 XDD but the cops/government still get arsey over it. Annoys me to be honest. The old traditional British upper lip thing.

Dream Weaver

Maybe its just the cops round here. The Lancs Boys in Blue are real tossers when it comes to ANY modification on a car.

When I had my 205 GTi (complete with 5" exhaust ) I was stopped 16 times in 12 months, never for doing anything wrong.

They are very arsey around here with plates, car mods, lowering, wheels etc.

I dont agree with the "lets be grateful" thing though. It should be my choice whether or not I want my car to be easily identifiable if nicked. If I am not bothered, then why not have some nice plates.

Not that the cops do anything if your car is nicked. Once had an XR2 nicked from Blackpool. Cops rang up about 3 weeks later. "The shell has been found in Liverpool, stripped". "We know who has done it, and will see if his car has new bits on it". 6 months later they rang again to say they had had no luck and that was it - great!!!

Jolly Green Monster 2

Because then when that guy living down the road (ie. not you) abducts a child into his car and is caught on CCTV, goes through a traffic light camera and two speed camera's with the Reg 'UP YOUR5'
there is no chance of catching him!?

If he was stopped the month before and given a producer and a rectify plate document and get them corrected then there might be a chance of finding the good damn kid!!!!!

Surely it is obvious....

JGM

carl

OK, I've found it folks
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/s...2/20022687.htm
Looks like there are special rules for non-EC type-approved vehicles (e.g. Jap imports).

Jolly Green Monster 2

Mind you all you get on a CCTV camera is that is was red mazda any way!! what use is that...

I suppose miss place but correct lettering is different but I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere.

JGM

Dream Weaver

But what I mean is Si, the guy will have the reg UP YOURS registered to him, in the same way we do now. But it would be registered to the actual bloke, and not the car.

Besides which, UP YOURS would be easier to make out than MK02 XYD or something.

A fair point though.

XRS

So who's going to tell Krud?

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

So JGM2 which part of this plate is hard to read then??

teejay

Ive emailed the DVLA regarding this and the Exhaust problems.

Re-Bitten Hero

Exactly Wurzel

French ones aren't too bad either. It's the Italian ones that are miniscule...

Cheers
Richard