AlanG

What's the law in the UK regarding the size of the actual number plates if digits on the plates are of the correct size and font and are correctly spaced?

Do they have to be a certain size and shape or can they be different?

A

Stuart H Care to comment?

Rob W

I can answer this one as I just received a £30 fine for having wrong size numberplate/letters.
I had a small front plate which looked cool, but the cop that pulled didn't seem to think so and never gave me a chance to put the original one back on.
Afaik you cannot tamper with the size of letters or arrange them to form a word
They seem to be clamping down on this so do it at your own risk!

Rob

AlanG

Thanks Rob

My plate has the std size digits and correct spacing but overall width of plate is narrower than std but still gives a reasonable amount of reflective surface area, so was wondering if the plate had to be std width or can I get away with distance from digits to edge of plate (top, bottom and sides.

A

Dave T-S

Rumour has it that non standard plates - unapproved fonts, size of letters etc - are going to be cracked down on next year - connected with the new digital speed cameras being introduced.

Rob W

Allan,
I did that on one of my other cars and have never been tugged. I reckon it should be ok they just seeem to be worried about size/spacing of letters probaly due to the gatsos and forward facing truvello cameras, because the computer cannot read them

Rob

Rob W

Em Dave, you better take care

Dave T-S

Always do M8 - you've seen me drive

AlanG

Rob

When you got pulled, did you have the correct size, spacing, fonts on your plate?

A

matrix

funnily enough I was looking at this site earlier and found on the left hand side there is a link to a number plates page very interesting reading

Stuart H

Have a look at

AlanG

Stuart

Interesting bit about the trademark of the manufacturer and Bsi mark.

Mine when they were made up were plain without any markings at all.
How will this stand with regards to the law if the plates have been "unmodified"?

Cheers

A

CharlieWhiskey

Why oh why oh why do people think that 'digital cameras' can't read slightly different number plates(font's, size, arrangent etc.)???

I was involved with this sort of technology 10 years ago and we had no problem reading all sorts of numberplates on the M25 at over 80mph IN THE FOG!

There is no hiding place

chris

boomer

Chris,

you must be mistaken - it is impossible to drive at 80mph on the M25 (even without fog!)

mb

p.s. Out of interest, how do these cameras know what/where my number plate actually is? From the rear i could also be "SIDC" (especially if we changed to black letters on a yellow background)!!!

Dave T-S

Alan/Stuart
Yes I was bemused by the trade mark/BSI bit as well.....particularly as I have plain plates

SimonM

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by boomer:
<B> Out of interest, how do these cameras know what/where my number plate actually is? [/quote]


That's a point... would I be allowed to attach multiple number plates to the rear of my car (say about 20) all with different numbers? That way the cameras/police would not know which is real.

SimonM



[This message has been edited by SimonM (edited 17 December 2000).]

boomer

SimonM,

better still, if _everybody_ had a similar looking plate/sticker in the (front of the) car, these SPECS systems would get awfully confused...

Set mode SPECS computer
>08:01:02 Car A123BCD gone past the start
>08:01:03 Heck, car A123BCD gone past the end - that's 200mph!
>08:01:15 Oh no, car A123BCD has just gone past the start again
> 08:10:15.1 And again, again?
>08:01:18 No it hasn't, it has just finished
>08:01:19 ... and it has finished again, that's minus 29mph
>ACCVIO
Set mode Get Mi Coat!

mb

mully

Dear all,

Not absolutely sure if my source of information is 100% reliable, but i've recently been told that the maximum fine for an illegal registration plate is £50.00.

Now this nugget came from an acquaintence who imported a Ferrari 355 Spyder, purely as an investment to sell on. Not wanting to register this rather exotic piece of machinery, for fear of de-valuing it, but nevertheless desperate to test its potential as a babe magnet, he simply had his initials plus the No.1 printed on to a plate and drove it on the road for quite a few months before it was sold. His reasoning was "Who ever gets stopped in a brand new Ferrari?"

Now far be it from me to put silly ideas into irresponsible, immature peoples heads, but my T reg. Scooby may on rare occasions in the future become S11AUN,

Perhaps anyone reading this who knows otherwise could advise, i.e. Lawyers, Plod, Magistrates.

Happy Xmas, Shaun.

Stuart H

The maximum fine for having a numberplate which falls outside the specifications set down in law is £1000. However, the offence is normally dealt with by way of a non-endorsable fixed penalty.

As for just having any old plate made up and sticking it on your car, that is asking for trouble. Imagine I run a PNC check and discover that the scoob in front of me running on S11 AUN should actually be a VW Golf (for example). I'm going to assume the car is stolen/ringed/dodgy. You're then going to have a lot of awkward questions to answer 'back at the station'.

HunterB

What's the penalty for running without a front or rear number plate? Thinking about it, I realised I never see the front of my car, except when I'm checking the oil/washer fluid, etc., so I could be running without a front number plate without knowing for some time. How does Mr Truvelo cope with that? Would be the same with the rear (and therefore Gatsos) if I reversed into my garage at home and my parking place at work.

banshi

here is another option that I would emphatically NOT endorse.

Some people simply transpose letters/numbers. On camera can't be accurately traced. In an accident I assume the insurance claim would be complex. If stopped the plan is to claim an error by the plate manufacturer.
Including their name should sort that one