How to loose your expensive number plate.
The following is re bikes but I assume it would also apply to those who get caught with illegal plates on cars.
Q:I have a one line number plate on my bike but the letters are of the required height and dimensions. I have still been stopped and told that I will be prosecuted for it. Is this right?
A:Motorcycles registered on or after 1 September 2001 must display a two-line number plate. Motorcycles registered prior to the 1 September 2001 may display a three-line plate, but one-line plates are illegal, irrespective of the date of registration of the motorcycle or the size of the letters. This is not an endorseable offence and will only involve a fine, normally a fixed penalty. Some forces are not issuing fixed penalties but are issuing a summons, in which case the fine will be higher than the fixed penalty. Some courts are now stating that if you are prosecuted 3 times for a small/illegal number plate they will take your registration number away from you and issue a Q plate, effectively wiping out the value of your bike. The characters must be as follows: Height: 64mm, Width: 44mm. They must be 10mm apart and have a margin of 11mm around the outside and 13mm between vertical lines.
www.whitedalton.co.uk/site/Useful-information/fast...m
Another reference to illegal plates
So take note! It is an offence to alter, re-arrange or misrepresent letters or numbers in order to form names or words. Characters must not be moved to from one block to another i.e. A123 BCD must not be displayed as A123B CD. If your registration plate is not correct you could be liable for a fine of up to £1000 and your registration may be withdrawn
www.ltv-vwc.org.uk/wheelspin/ws_nov99/Illegal_plat...m
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The law exists to deal with these poseurs - now let us see it enforced. Can it be done by cameras? Probably not so nothing will happen!
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sound all a little bit too anal for me, the purpose of a number plate is to make a vehicle identifiable so making your number plate "stand out" in the crowd can only be a good thing surely?
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Yes but messing about with it so that it can't be interpreted, like one I saw the other day which said SIDDIK, it isn't actually possible to work out, at once, what that is meant to be. Changing the spacing is illegal but relatively harmless - making it unreadable or undecipherable is another matter entirely.
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those racing bikes with minature number plates should be locked up frankly, they do tend to be at the idiot end of the spectrum
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The law exists to deal with these poseurs - now let us see it enforced.
not sure. Obviously a few high-profile prosecutions of people with extra screws in to change the wording etc. followed by forfeiture of their number plate would put the fear of god into the posers. But, I'm not sure they want it, surely the DVLA makes a lot of money from selling these plates. They ain't bovvered I reckon.
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>>The characters must be as follows: Height: 64mm, Width: 44mm. They must be 10mm apart and have a margin of 11mm around the outside and 13mm between vertical lines.>>
Well the plate on my bike: Character height: 55mm, Width: 40mm, 8mm apart, margin of 13mm left and right and 10mm top and bottom, 10mm between vertical (I think that means horizontal) lines.
So its too small? Well it is very clear (perhaps helped by only having six digits i.e. A12ABC as opposed to A123ABC) and has passed two MOTs.
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It would be real earner flunky! The plate would be confiscated/withdrawn, without compensation, and could then be sold to another poseur! They would love to confiscate as many as they can and sell them on. However, when I contacted them about a messed about plate they told me to contact the police as it wasn't a DVLA matter. This, despite the fact they advertise and sell the plates!
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I have zero sympathy with people who get booked for numberplate offences. The registration number is a legally required vehicle identifier, for very obvious reasons. Anyone who regards it as some sort of fashion statement and alters it accordingly has no cause to complain when they get nicked.
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Seems obvious to me that the best way to avoid trouble is to have a legal-looking car that may even turn out to be legal on closer examination.
But what in the name of, you know, something noisy, makes anyone except the constituted authorities give a fish's nipple for the legend on the front and/or back of your car? Strikes me as absurd, like a lot of faffing old women. Sorry chaps.
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