DVLA Demanding Information

[Marque]

Sorry to disagree but in the strict letter of the law GB covers England Scotland and Wales and not Northern Ireland Isle of man or Channel islands. The isle of man is not nor has never been part of Great Britain same wiht the channel islands note the word GREAT

Whilst Cym and Sco are legal NIR and Eng are not these are not recognised by the EU. The EU does not allow the UK to use UK on registration plates under no circumstances, none of these codes have been adopted by the UN (Eng & NIR)

Just to clarify what I was trying to say, "Great Britain" can mean either this country (political) or the largest island in the British Isles (geographical). However, "GB" is only ever used as an abbreviation for the country, so "GB" does include Northern Ireland.

The UN does not recognise any of the other four country abbreviations ("CYM", "ENG", "NIR" and "SCO"). Our government got the EU to agree that we could use these four country abbreviations on number plates to appease the nationalists in each country. You can even use the country's flag instead of the EU one.

EU-style number plates are only valid in the EU. In other countries, you must still use the "GB" country code in a white oval. (How many foreigners know what "CYM" stands for?)

The main problem here is with enforcement. I doubt that the nice Norwegians would complain if you drive in their country with an EU style number plate and no white oval. It might not be strictly legal, but why should they care as long as it is clear in which country the car is registered?

The country codes are only needed when you drive in another country, so why are they enforced here at all? Surely, it's the job of the country in which you are driving to enforce its own laws on foreign vehicles? It really makes no sense to enforce the rules here so pedantically. What a waste of time and money!

 

[Fandango]

Thats a whole new topic, you only have to write to the DVLA saying car registration XYZ 123 scraped me in a car park and they will happily give you the owners details without even checking your enquiry is legitimate or not. There is big money in selling personal details

You are wrong! But don't let that stop you purveying your paranoia on here.

 

[Dragon]

Report it and help stamp out number plate cloning, be a good citizen. It hasn't happpened to you yet, don't expect miracle if it does.

 

[flango]

You are wrong! But don't let that stop you purveying your paranoia on here.

Don't think so but then again it may be my paranoia

 

[flango]

Just to clarify what I was trying to say, "Great Britain" can mean either this country (political) or the largest island in the British Isles (geographical). However, "GB" is only ever used as an abbreviation for the country, so "GB" does include Northern Ireland.

The UN does not recognise any of the other four country abbreviations ("CYM", "ENG", "NIR" and "SCO"). Our government got the EU to agree that we could use these four country abbreviations on number plates to appease the nationalists in each country. You can even use the country's flag instead of the EU one.

EU-style number plates are only valid in the EU. In other countries, you must still use the "GB" country code in a white oval. (How many foreigners know what "CYM" stands for?)

The main problem here is with enforcement. I doubt that the nice Norwegians would complain if you drive in their country with an EU style number plate and no white oval. It might not be strictly legal, but why should they care as long as it is clear in which country the car is registered?

The country codes are only needed when you drive in another country, so why are they enforced here at all? Surely, it's the job of the country in which you are driving to enforce its own laws on foreign vehicles? It really makes no sense to enforce the rules here so pedantically. What a waste of time and money!

GB does not include Northern Irerland and never has done but UK does. GB is not a political term.

ENG and NIR are Illeagal and not recognised.

I refer you to the following link for clarification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_car_number_plates

 

[Fandango]

GB does not include Northern Irerland and never has done but UK does. GB is not a political term.

ENG and NIR are Illeagal and not recognised.

I refer you to the following link for clarification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_car_number_plates

How difficult is it to understand the term "abbreviation"?

And where is this ill eagle? Better call the RSPB

 

[flango]

How difficult is it to understand the term "abbreviation"?

And where is this ill eagle? Better call the RSPB

It's not the understanding of the term abbreviation it's the interpretation that matters

I agree about the poor bird though sad when this happens as a result of a late night, maybe we could get admin to put spell and grammar check on here?

 

[recycled]

Thats a whole new topic, you only have to write to the DVLA saying car registration XYZ 123 scraped me in a car park and they will happily give you the owners details without even checking your enquiry is legitimate or not. There is big money in selling personal details

cases like this make me weary who has got our info.
Thankfully not all are like this but you cannot deny it does happen

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/7226643.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1577626/Pensioner's-'killer'-got-address-from-police.html

yesterday i was in B&Q buying stuff for my home improvements and a woman got a mouthful from a disabled guy for parking in the bay when clearly she was not. Hope she does not call up the DVLA or others.

 

[hawk20]

The UK plate is wrong because the plates do not cover all UK cars. Great Britain covers England Scotland and Wales (and their offshore islands) and their registration numbers are done by the DVLA. These countries share a common driving test, MOT regime etc.

The United Kingdom is 'Great Britain and Northern Ireland' but Northern Ireland has their own driving licence issuing/testing body, own MOT regime and own car registration authority.

 

[Marque]

GB does not include Northern Irerland and never has done but UK does. GB is not a political term.

ENG and NIR are Illeagal and not recognised.

I refer you to the following link for clarification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_car_number_plates

"GB" is the international standard two-letter code for the country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (ISO: http://www.iso.org/iso/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/english_country_names_and_code_elements.htm.) It is also the only code recognised by the UN for UK-registered vehicles (UN: http://www.unece.org/trans/conventn/Distsigns.pdf.) In these and most other contexts, "GB" is just an arbitrary code; it certainly does not mean the island of Great Britain.

A Wikipedia entry is just someone's opinion; I'm afraid that the author of that article is also confused about the distinction between a country and an island. Our Olympians, for example, are all part of Team GB, including those from Northern Ireland.

I was wrong about the "NIR" code, sorry. (I did say that I included it from memory without checking.) Northern Ireland number plates are issued separately from the rest of the country for historical and political reasons (and not because "GB" excludes Northern Ireland).

None of the internal UK national designations is valid when you drive the car in another country: you should either display "GB" in a white oval or (in the EU only) have a Euro-style number pate with "GB" below the European flag. (DVLA: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/numberplateinfo.aspx.)

All valid designations (other than "GB") are permitted by the government simply to appease nationalists in England, Scotland and Wales!