stephen30

How gutted am I? Never been stopped before and I was fairly calm, which was a shock. They stopped me for having a small front plate on my car. They must have seen me going one way then turned round and followed me to pull me over.
Fortunately, I got a £30 fine apparently the same as a parking fine which means I don't get any points. However, they are reporting me to the DVLA for a non complying reg plate and if I get caught again, then my car will be given a "Q" reg instead.
Has anyone ever heard of this? I hadn't and neither had my brother who was in the car too.
They were very good about it and chatted a lot about the Scoob etc. Even checked all the vin plates matched etc, which is good to know if someone had nicked the baby.
They also let me off testing the silver tinted windows to see if they let enough light through. The officer was convinced they would fail.

Steve

[Edited by stephen30 - 5/19/2002 10:28:21 PM]

Plantie

I had the police pull me about 2 months ago for having my number plate slightly messed with.... they took photo's, told me off and said they would report me to the DVLA... No fine though...

I still haven't heard anything.... but not expecting to not hear

Ray_li

Does the silver tint only come in one shading? and does anyone know for if they are realy too dark.

Ray

stephen30

It's fine on the back doors and the back window cos you can have as dark as you like on them. The front doors however are supposed to let 70% light through which I reckon they do as from the insode they are no darker than the light smoke tint that I've sen on loads of other cars.

Steve

Zagangaphile

I'm glad the police cracked down on such a dangerous crime to society as having number plates too small.
Makes crimes such as car jacking/burglary etc seem small in comparison

pslewis

Why not just have a 'normal' number plate like the rest of us??

It aids recognition if your car is stolen and they are trying to find it!! Imagine your response if they, after your love had been stolen, the police said, 'Yes, we think it was your car but couldnt read the number plate so let it go!!' ?? You would be pleased??

HOWEVER ........................ I DO agree that they could spend their time more productively chasing the Car-Hijacking gangs - they KNOW who they are (why not put them under 24/7 surveillance?) - ok, a dodgy numberplate may get passed the law - shock horror!!

Pete

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

BUT

It might just be that the ******* were driving in Steve's car having stolen it and the cops needing some excuse to pull it over not knowing it was stolen do so 'cos of the plate & then in the process catch the thieves...

OK - Unlikely but you never know

mattstant

I know for a fact thre is an official crack down on
"un official" plates via a motorbike cop i know.
This is down to new cameras being installed which can read and check in milliseconds for stolen cars.

have to say that some plates are just taking the **** these days
We have some god botherer's across the road from us and we regularly see G C S U S on a saab which with judicious location of fixing lugs now reads G E S U S (jeezus )
cant help laughing and thinking "tosser" every time i see it



[Edited by mattstant - 5/20/2002 12:58:58 AM]

stephen30

Thanks for most of the responses. Hopefully some people on here will learn from my experience and not get caught. Strangely as soon as i got back home, plate was changed back and the little one will be hidden away for track days.

Steve

MichelleWRX1994

I have silver tints on my rear windows, bit of a pain in the **** when reversing as I can see very little, but very good if you have stuff in the back of the car cos you can't seen in

Timbo33

I don't think Puff's idea is so ludicrous....the Police often need some reason to check a car they might suspect is stolen....I was pulled by the Police for a bit of silly overtaking. The officer let me off but explained the reason he chased me was he thought I'd seen him ( I hadn't) and was trying to do a runner.

He went on to explain that a lot of Scoobs are nicked by joyriders
and so they are on the lookout.

BuRR

One got nicked in a "Hanoi" burglary last week in Leeds (sneak in)

It was found about 1 hour later in a council-owned terraced inner-city street with the keys in the ignition. Probably ready for a job.

stephen30

top

MichelleWRX1994

I was pulled for over enthusiastic driving late at night, (not in a town area either) the police were concerend that the car was stolen.

I was quite happy about that in all honesty. (Although the Tracker would do a better job than the police )

JackClark

I got pulled for having a space in the wrong place. No fine just a check at an MOT station.

Joules

This all sounds interesting...

My front plate has the correct spacing and font. There are 5 characters so I have trimmed the ends of plate. I was told by an MOT station that the plate was ok because the layout and derision was correct??

There is method in my madness,,,,, I want as much air as possible to bypass the plate

J

skiddusmarkus

There has to be a minimum spacing between above and below each character.I think it's 1/4"

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

I was pulled over on Saturday on the M25 at the Swanley A20 exit

Initially it was for the number plate, which was my track one because some barsteward had backed into my car snapping the modified standard one in 2 (I have a short reg)...BUT they then decided that my exhaust was too loud (ie too big - HKS Hiper) and although no fine, mention of the DVLA or some such I do have to produce my docs this week and with 14 days get an MOT stamp on a little green bit of paper stating that I've fitted a quiet exhaust (something to do with article 57 in some rule book stating that you are not allowed to fit an exhaust that increase the noise generated by the car over standard)...

Anyway I've fitted the bung, the car is quieter, but it really doesn't want to pick up at low revs...*****...but lucky it wasn't worse

bluto22b

My favourite Arran sweater got pulled today when I snagged it on the door catch of my Forester.
Betty had to stitch it up.....Blutes

rr_ww

I'd be very surprised if they put the car on a Q Reg. Only normally reserved for "vehicles of indeterminate age or origin" SO if you could produce a V5, HPi VIN Engine number (O and your regular size rear plate) Surely that would cover you.

Richard

p.s. Just found out that Q regs are worked on a series of points. The deal with the DVLA is If you can accumulate enough points you keep the original reg,you need 8 points.

Body shell 5 points
Suspension (front & back)2 points
Axles 2 points
Transmission 2 points
Steering assembly 2 points
Engine 1 point

Active

I was pulled a month or so back, full treatment flashing lights, siren etc. Driving my wifes Metro, (awaiting delivery of the Scoob at the time). doing 32 ish in a 30 limit. Can I see your licence sir, luckily I had it with me plus Insurance Certificate..14 years with the same insurance company, 7 years protected no claims hence a yearly premium of £440. My licence is 17 years old with not a point on it, 59 yoa so I left my baseball cap at home.
My crime..forgot to fasten my seat belt! Who said our police force arn`t wonderful

NotoriousREV

The DVLA can and will withdraw your vehicle registration mark and issue with a Q plate for repeated infringements of the display laws, but you have 3 chances (i.e. 3 strikes and you're out).

Try selling your Scoob with a Q plate on it, it won't be fun.

The weekend before last in North Wales, the Vehicle Inspectorate had at least 2 road blocks set up, specifically to stop bikes and check for small number plates (mine is 7x5 not 9x7 although size isn't important, it's the size of the letters and the spaces between the letters that counts) and loud pipes.

Clearly, the police are clamping down on the most serious crimes and helping keep real criminals off the street.

I wonder how much Vehicle Inspectorate staff get paid to work on a Sunday and whether the fines (at £30 for each infringement) covered that? I overheard one biker talking about how he'd gotten a £90 fine, £30 each for small plate, race pipe and tinted visor.