For a couple of weeks now there's been an S-Type Jaguar parked in my street completely covered.
I don't blame the owner for wanting to keep the frost off but is it legal to hide the number plates and tax disc of a car parked on the public road?
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Welliesorter,
I bought an X Type car cover when I bought the car - never used and still in box - I have offered it for sale at half price a year ago in the Classified section.
I got the idea from an IAM colleague who covered his Jag -as he was Chief Instructor to our County Police drivers, I assume he was well within the law...but as I wasted £180 on the cover, I am not the smartest person to reply.
Matt35.
PS - Any reasonable offer accepted!
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I got the idea from an IAM colleague who covered his Jag -as he was Chief Instructor to our County Police drivers, I assume he was well within the law...
But was he parking his on the road or his own driveway? Apart from hiding the tax disc and number plates, the cover makes the car a lot less visible at night, as I discovered when reversing into a gap in front.
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A neighbour covers his Z4 with a custom made cover. We live in an OK area so I can only assume it's to protect it from the elements. I would have thought the paintwork is going to suffer more damage putting it on and taking it off than the British climate could throw at it. BTW it's parked on his drive and he has a garage (full of boxes as they often are).
ChrisM
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Motorbike owners seem to get away with covering their numberplates and tax discs in London to avoid parking tickets when they park on pavements. Aparantely it's an offence for a warden to tamper with the bike to get the details.
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Welliesorter/Chris,
On his driveway.
Same garage conditions as mine!
Matt35.
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Why not have a word with local Plod? Mention that there is a vehicle parked, not displaying any tax disc or plates. If nothing else, it is causing an obstruction.
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"the cover makes the car a lot less visible at night, as I discovered when reversing into a gap in front."
I hope you're not trying to tell us that you hit his car and want to blame the fact that he had a car cover?
Kevin...
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Offences.
(if parked on a road)
1. Fail Display an excise Licence
2. Fail Display and/or obscuring a Registration Mark
3. Keeping a motor vehicle on a road without being fitted with reflectors.
and oh so pendantic cop
4. Failing to maintain glass so affording any driver a clear view of the road.....
Being in a tabloid mood, over to you DVD for the Act and Sections.
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I hope you're not trying to tell us that you hit his car and want to blame the fact that he had a car cover?
No, but if I had I think it would certainly be a mitigating factor.
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No, but if I had I think it would certainly be a mitigating factor.
perhaps a bit of \"Due care & attention\" would help?
How dare he cover his car up.....i mean he must be doing something wrong...get a life!
{Putting text inbetween \"lesser than and greater than\" symbols make the text invisible. Simply use the \"quote original text\" button. That is what it is there for. DD}
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Sorry, I side with those that think this one is wrong. A car, if parked on a public road, has to comply with the appropriate regs on reflectors, visibility of plates etc. For the same reason a skip sited at the side of the road has to have reflectors and have a functioning orange beacon (not that you see a lot of those).
If the cover has appropriate reflectors, then fine. If not, then illegal and rightly so.
ND
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perhaps a bit of "Due care & attention" would help?
Indeed it would. I exercise this and haven't, so far, even come near to colliding with the car.
Since I posted the original message I've come to feel more strongly about this. The cover is navy blue and the jelly mould shape of the car makes it hard to determine where it's edges are, especially when the view is obscured by a rainy windscreen and mirrors. It's a narrow street (room for single file traffic when a car is parked on either side) and I honestly believe the car to be a hazard, except that the cover might protect it, and any vehicle colliding with it, from very minor scrapes. Do I plan to do anything about this beyond exercising due car and attention, and parking elsewhere when possible? No.
My original reason for posting wasn't to whinge about my neighbour but because I'd toyed with the idea of getting a cover (the type that hides just the roof and windows) myself for frosty nights and wondered about the legality of using one.
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Surely any legal cover for road use should have cut-out transparent sections for tax disk and number plates, and have regulation reflector strips along the front and back? They are made to measure for specific cars after all.
They are widely advertised eg for storing and preserving classic cars. The fabric is waterproof but breathable - it is not just like a bit of old tarpaulin.
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If they are strictly legal, surely this is a godsend for anyone who wants to keep his untaxed vehicle on the public road?
Father in law tried one once - it lasted exactly one night before "walking".
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Surely any legal cover for road use should have cut-out transparent sections for tax disk and number plates, and have regulation reflector strips along the front and back? They are made to measure for specific cars after all.
This one does appear to be made for the car (I haven't studied it too closely) but it has none of these things.
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I very much doubt they are legal but plod just don,t bother. The ones near me are stored on road on cars which dont move from one week to the next even in summer and dont move for months at a time in the winter. They are on roads where parking is at a premium for and the residents who live close by must be very unhappy when they can't find a space.
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Expanding on PU's correct report:
Ignoring possible obstruction, then
If on a road subject to a speed limit other than 30 mph then the car should display front and rear position lamps and rear number plate illuminated during the hours of darkness. The cover provides no exemption.
If on a road subject to a 30 mph limit then it can park without lights (reflector required) providing it is not within 10 metres of a junction, or in a marked parking area or marked Layby either by signing or different road colour.If within the 10m of a junction then ,lights required as above. RV Lighting Regs.
As PU says Excise Licence must be displayed and Registration numbers must not be obscured all of the time.
If the cover over the car has that much over that it touches the road then one could consider without lawful authority, deposit anything whatsover on the Highway and in consequence a user is injured or ENDANGERED. Offence under Highways Act.
Council can, by notice, order anything deposited on a Highway that causes a nuisance to be removed forthwith. Highways Act.
But I would throw the sledgehammer away and approach the guy and nicely, neighbourly point out the problem he is causing of which he may not be aware of. You now have the law to rebut if he says he is doing nothing wrong and it may give an Insurance Company some ammunition to claw back any claim made of them if someone hits his vehicle whilst covered. Ways and Means Act.
DVD
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