Number plate fine

M

mad4slalom

Senior member
:hi all, just a little heads up to those on here that may run with tweeked or non compliant plates. On. Trip beteen gloucs and oxford 3 weeks ago I got snapped by a camera enforcement van. Was worried about a speed ticket as was 63 on the clock on a 60 road but really should be 50 in a van: so with speedo error I sitill could have been 8 or 9 mph over the limit. Anyway, letter from police arrives with no mention of speed but reported for non compliant plate, I have had for 15 years a pair of plates on my removal vans , M6VED and M9VED, which are a bit of fun, work related and what I call sensibly tweeked .the space between the digit and the v is half what it shoud be and the tail of the 6 and the 9 is slightly shorter. There is no question of a camera not being able to read it or no confusion as to what the number is.
Most police officers are not that interested in plates as have better things to do unless a plate is absolutely taking the piss.you are left alone. Now its a different ball game withe the vans after revenue and targets as you have no chance for the officer who may have had a friendly word in the past to do that, you just get hit with a fine. I had a £100 fixed penalty no option to plead your case, pay or go to court and risk £1000 fine. Thats all fine as I know plates were illegal , but unfair imo that they are now no longer £30. Even more so when a public order offence isnormally £80.00, so you can go down the town get pissed , abuse the club and pub door staff , smash some glass, urinate in a shop doorway, kick off in the kebab shop and taxi rank , verbally abuse the police when they ask you to go home and you refuse, then get a ride to the police station , a warm bed for the night and tea in bed in the morning. All for £80. Who makes this stuff up. Rant over , for now 😤
 
We need to be bolshi like the french and Italians, if a new law comes out that they don't like they simply ignore it , and the courts come to a grinding halt as a result and they still don't pay.
 
As you say, It's all about the money and it does seem steep for a number plate error. The camera can obviously read the bloody plate :thumbsdown:
 
Take a photo of the plates so we can judge for ourselves :thumbsup:

I know it's annoying, but when you deliberately flout the law, you must accept the potential consequences.

It's the same thing around here with all the average speed cameras popping up. 50mph limits on massive 3 lane wide roads. That's all well and good during rush hour, when you can't actually reach 50mph anyway, but at the dead of night, only vehicle on the road, you're still sat there doing 50mph on a road which was perfectly capable of having a 70mph limit for years and years, until some smart arse had a brainwave to bring in more income :headbang:
 
I think I'm right in saying that your plate was UNREADABLE on the automatic system which prompts someone to have to view images to read it manually and confirm the VRM, hence the non-compliance fine. Unreadable plates have implications beyond speeding enforcement, particularly ANPR dependant security, borders and emissions zone systems so there seems to be a push to enforce compliance. I cant really see a problem TBH apart from it being basic legal requirement half the illegal plates don't make any sense anyway :wink:
 
I'm just curious to know when you say "There is no question of a camera not being able to read" how do you know this? :?

I'm not having a pop far from it but I always think with these type of thngs, yes its petty at the end of the day but simply put the plate doesn't conform so expect to be pulled or receive a fine simple as. You may have got away with it for 15 years or the police have better things to do but it still doesn't make it right or above the law.

The way I look at is if my motor was nicked and I had a plate that was dodgy with readability then it might take longer for the car to be traced and then would think I wished I'd had the correct plate fitted :)

Tim.
 
Its been £100 fine for a while now and in my opinion not worth the risk moving or changing digits just to make the plate look better.
I think I have read that if you are caught a few times with an illegal plate it can be taken from you and your car issued another plate, possibly a Q plate.
 
Is it not reasonable in circumstances like this to expect a written warning from the authorities? It seems heavy handed to impose a fine on an otherwise law abiding motorist without at least giving the person a chance to rectify the problem. I am sure the OP would have taken appropriate action had he received such a warning and wouldn’t have felt aggrieved. As others have said the powers to be be treat motorists as cash cows.
 
i am rather certain this is cashcow rather then illegibility, about 10 years ago i was a computer engineer for a company that fitted hi tech stuff for the rozzers, fire service ect.. they fitted this plate recognition gizmo, and faced to a narrow slotted fenced giving about 5 inches at a 60 angle of passing cars, it had about 100the of a second to regognise a plate .. it did it every time
 
TitanTim said:
I'm just curious to know when you say "There is no question of a camera not being able to read" how do you know this? :?

I'm not having a pop far from it but I always think with these type of thngs, yes its petty at the end of the day but simply put the plate doesn't conform so expect to be pulled or receive a fine simple as. You may have got away with it for 15 years or the police have better things to do but it still doesn't make it right or above the law.

The way I look at is if my motor was nicked and I had a plate that was dodgy with readability then it might take longer for the car to be traced and then would think I wished I'd had the correct plate fitted :)

Tim.
Click to expand...
Fair point and yes I knew I was flouting the law but didnt see it as crime of the century, nor did most officers of the law due to the few that have mentioned it in fifteen years. I know that it can be read because I have had parking fines and box junction fines in the past,and before you shout “habitual Offender “ try delivering in london , I have had tickets whilst in the back of the van unstrapping a piano with doors open and ramp down, the warden could have poked his head around the back and checked we were delivering or told us to move on but to just ticket you with no discussion stinks, box junctions have been clear and then some one else dives in front of you from the side and you are left stranded like musical chairs😤. So not reckless or inconsiderate and have been driving cars , bikes and commercial vehicles since 1977 without ever incurring a speeding fine or other conviction. My point was more that you could get away with only 80 quid fine for all the hassle and police time wasted on public order offences and the fine doesnt seem to match th severity of the misdemeanor. I have put the legal plates back on now as it isnt woth getting caught again and risking Bigger fines.
 
Nictrix said:
Its been £100 fine for a while now and in my opinion not worth the risk moving or changing digits just to make the plate look better.
I think I have read that if you are caught a few times with an illegal plate it can be taken from you and your car issued another plate, possibly a Q plate.
Click to expand...
yes, they can withdraw your right to display a plate as that is really all you own when you “buy” a number.
i too have been told that they can issue a q plate but have not had this confirmed, I suspect it would automatically revert to its original plate. Q.s are generally issued when the actual manufacture date or registration date is in doubt, ie kit cars, chassis or body changes and imports. . , any way not worth the risk anymore now they have taken the discretion out of the equasion, so its back to the legal plates.
 
This is from a DVLA document:

“You can’t rearrange or misrepresent the numbers and letters on a number plate to form names or words, so that they are hard to read. For example, fixing bolts to change any of the letters or numbers. You could be fined up to £1,000 and your car will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates. In some cases, the registration number may be permanently withdrawn.
If you misrepresent a vehicle registration number you will not get back any money that you have paid for the registration number, or any other costs you have to pay.
You cannot use a registration number to make your vehicle appear younger than it actually is.”
 
The space won’t stop the system from reading the plate otherwise I wouldn’t have got these.

Spot the error?
 

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I used to have the plates on my Exige cup fitted with Velcro . Take them off when going for it....... never even a tug :D
 
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