Hi Guys
While reading through the latest Triple I see the photo on page 18 and the comments about its number plate. I hope the owner of the Skoda has a friendly MoT man (dont we all?) as the MoT testers Bible says "Registration Plates - Method of inspection". "Check that registration plates are fixed verticaly, or as near to vertical as reasonably possible"
"Reason for rejection" "Registration plates NOT fixed verticaly etc.etc.etc".
This isn't the worst I've seen. how about a 4x4 with the numbers and letters (no plate) stuck straight on to the front bull bars!
Morris Racer (Or BMW trialer)
I saw 2 cars with abnormally small front plates, 1 M plated and 1 Q plated car with non reflective plates on a trial. I don't really care but surely they are not legal?
ReplyDeleteWe don't want to fall into the hands of Mr Plod for
ReplyDeletesomething as easily rectified as illegal number plates. As we exit a section,
trailing slippery mud onto the highway, tyres at dangerously low pressures,
probably not going all that slowly around tiny country lanes on dinted rims, we
are often pushing our luck with roadworthiness so to give the law an obvious
excuse to stop us for further examination seems a bad idea.
Yours sanctimoniously,
Sqeaky Clean John
modern rally cars have number "plates" (actually not a plate but similar to the Skoda in question) stuck to the chassis of the car BEHIND the rear bumper, so if the bumper is ripped off, there is still a registration number on yellow visible from the rear of the car. Better than nothing I would think. Having had my front number plate smashed/knocked off twice now on trial sections, maybe the Skoda style plate would be a good secondary backup, like the rally cars - better than nothing?
ReplyDeleteBack in the 1990's when I was trialling my Skoda I had the mumber plate in exactly the same position as the Skoda on page 18 of Triple. Never got a mention from the police and passed every MoT without a murmer from the tester about number plates. On the plus side, it rarely got covered in mud, it was always easily readable and never got knocked off by mud or rocks. It may not comply with the letter of the law but by its excellent visibility it is certainly complying with the spirit of the law. Look at all those E Type Jags and real Minis that have number plates in that position; all easily read and still like that after 40 years on the road. If it was mine I would keep it like it is unless the police actually made a complaint or it failed an MoT test.
ReplyDeleteSome of the Caterham lads have been pulled for plates not in the letter of the law. One of their son's got pulled for incorrect font. So some Police do stop people for it - you may argue they must have better things to do, but letter of the law and all that. Might be you/a relative mown down by somebody with an incorrect plate/font/position that witnesses can't see? I go for the don't give them an excuse to stop you, and they probably won't . . . Having said all that, as I understand it, from the aforementioned Caterham lads, the fine for not displaying a plate at all, is less than the fine/points for incorrectly displaying one. Regarding rallycars, as my road car/tow car is a Lancia integrale, I was amused to discover the Italians don't fit a front one - but instead rivet it to the inside of the passenger door . . . ;-) Bri
ReplyDeletePosted on behalf of Ted Holloway - Hi Michael,..................As the police use number plate recognition as routine they are bound to be picky. Also vast amounts of fines relie on the number plate..............On a trials car we are required to mount the entrrant number in a correct manner. I have heard that the fact that the number plate was not to the required specification could be argued that it was not good for a camera conviction........Due to cloneing issues the police look for suppliers ID marks,so it maybe that self made stick on letters could cause the police to enquire in depth.........Ted H.
ReplyDeleteReading my Triple, for what it's worth (not that I really care) I note that the Skoda isn't alone in this respect. Check out the Frog-Eye on page 34. Even Alan Mills's wonderful 2CV reg on the opposite page is definitely dodgy in terms of compliance (speaking as somebody who has been pulled-up for incorrect letter-spacing on my personal plate...). Wouldn't be quite the same if it was C2 CVV though, would it?
ReplyDeleteI also believe in the "Don't give them an excuse to stop you ..." idea. Here is something from DVLA :- DVLA is determined to crack down on those who manipulate the letters and numbers displayed on vehicle number plates. DVLA are collaborating with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to address the problem with the police notifying the Agency of number plate offences. DVLA were recently involved with a national police operation - "Operation Larch". 48 police forces took part and it focussed on mis-represented number plates using Automatic Number Plate Readers (ANPRs). It ran from 28 January to 3 February 2008. Current figures show that over 6,000 mis-represented numbers were recorded by the police. It is still early days for a full impact of the operation and appropriate figures are currently being confirmed. The issue of misrepresented number plates has been highlighted and the police will be more vigilant. It seems crazy that you must now 'jump through hoops' with ID to get a number plate made at your local accessory shop - but you can buy on the internet a plate with any spacing/font/misleading characters, without any form of ID ! In the House of Lords the following points were raised last year :- "In other countries, such as Sweden, for example, number plates have the same provenance as bank notes. They are security-printed and distributed. Such a system should now be introduced in the United Kingdom." and ...."I am led to understand that at some fairs and markets there are stalls that will make any number plate, altered to reflect the customer’s requirements. These are outside the regulations and, to date, get away with this by putting up a notice that says something to the effect of 'these plates are for show use only'. Despite the financial aspects for the traders concerned, the ability to produce such illegal number plates should be curtailed." and ....."What are the Government’s intentions with regard to sorting out the absolute chaos in the supply and manufacture of number plates?" I always thought (perhaps wrongly) that the RAC/MSA required road-going competitors to comply with basic legalities, like Construction and Use Regulations, so as to ensure we don't attract unwanted attention. If they don't specify it then maybe they should?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIs it not the case that the people who drive big cars with dodgy number plates want to be noticed!!!
My wife suggest another theory Big car big ego little D*** !
This of coarse excludeds Trials cars!
Merry xmas everyone!
All depends on your starting point...
ReplyDeletewheel size? cue Class 8 looking unamused :)
New Mini and Fiat 500 look massive when compared to the older models
then again either way round it would give Dad the bragging rights in the pub for the Imp !!! :)