James Bond-style Flipping Number Plates in use on our roads.

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Probably not quite 'James Bond style' as the article suggests... it simply masks the plate instead of displaying an alternative plate... but very interesting reading nonetheless.
 
On re-reading the article, I expect that the majority of people who bought this item did so as an act of bravado, or for the gadget effect, but in reality this device has very limited use.

When might one use it then? You can't just drive around with your plates masked, or you'll get stopped and fined. And it won't help you avoid parking fines when parking illegally - the traffic warden will notify the police if a car is parked on a public road effectively without plates.

And it won't help those driving without VED or insurance either - you would be better off taking your chances with being found-out by ANPR-equipped patrol cars than regularly drive around with masked plates.

And, if you jumped a red light, or past a speeding camera while driving over the speed limit, and got flashed, well it's too late to cover your plates then.

So it seems that the only case where this device might be 'useful' is if you deliberately plan on jumping a red light or speeding in front of a camera and can mask the plates just before the event.

That would work - but only in theory - because I doubt many drivers will actually be doing this.

If the first instance, if cameras up and down the land actually started capturing images of cars with masked plated, police would have taken more decisive action by now.

Then, for those handful of cases when this device was used in this way, the police would have no difficulty whatsoever in identifying the perpetrators if they put their minds to it. Given the amount of CCTV on our roads and in our cities, all the police have to do is look at the footage from other cameras in the area just before and after the event, and find images of the car before (or after) it masked its plates.

So very interesting gadget, but regardless of how many were sold in the UK, I seriously doubt that they are being used to enable driving illegally in anything more than a handful of cases.
 
Hmmmm. I know of one man that uses this on the front of his car. Allows him to go quickly through average speed. No plate so no detection. Therefore, no police to be chasing his car. Also camera vans etc will never get him. They never have assistance with them so again he won't get caught.

Plus gives his car a nice clean look on the front.


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I don't buy it. If I was sat in my police car and saw a car with no front plate I'd stop it and investigate.
 
Oh the kid says cool, but you know when the best car lawyer in the UK says don't...... DONT!


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As already said it's really not that 'James Bond' (especially photographed on a Peugeot 107) and as said it's a case of preempting your use.

Useless in most parking situations as you can't sit there with covered plates. Speed camera catch you out unless you cover your plates all the time.

The only time I could see this being of any use is entering a privately owned car park and avoiding their crappy 'charges'.
 
I had different plates on the back of my car for 5 years without realising it..

The plates were delaminating and looking tatty so I bought a pair from the "car spares place on the corner" which we all had in the old days.

Got the plates home and fitted them, not noticing the rear one had a couple of letters transposed. It went through 5 MOTs like that and was only noticed at the 6th by a keen new Apprentice...

Never got a speeding fine in all that time, but I don't remember being flashed either.

I don't think the ANPR cameras are the all-seeing terror the police make them out to be..
 
Just a boys' toy of little practical use and significant risk of falling foul of the law. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole!
 
I had different plates on the back of my car for 5 years without realising it..... Never got a speeding fine in all that time, ..

Well YOU didn't..... someone else got them..... :D
 
Several members on this forum "used"to drive around with no front plates and took issue with others who frowned on the practice.

Cloning is now a real problem in the UK and makes a mockery of our road traffic fines and detection process. Even worse, when you find out you have been cloned (usually when fines start arriving though your letterbox) complaining to the authorities places the burden of proof on you, often leaving you feeling like the criminal.

A good suggestion/tip. Have something distinctive on your car that can be seen by the camera. That will often give you the proof that you are the innocent party. My Son was able to prove his innocence when he could show that his car had a small windscreen badge and the offending car did not.
 
I think you can fit an alternative plate on the blank side so find a similar car jot down the number find some one to make your plates and bobs your uncle . You would think eBay would ban them .
Michael
 
Cloning is now a real problem in the UK and makes a mockery of our road traffic fines and detection process. Even worse, when you find out you have been cloned (usually when fines start arriving though your letterbox) complaining to the authorities places the burden of proof on you, often leaving you feeling like the criminal.

Indeed, I know of three occasions of cloning. One was of the car of a lady in her 70s who was in Australia at the time and was extremely cross because she thought her son had taken her car without permission. That one required a police officer neighbour to look at the photo. He noticed it was not the same car model. A second was a university professor who was alleged to have been in Manchester and hit a cyclist, he was actually north of Lancaster at the time and the car was off the road. The third was a young man driving an old Merc (black) - the actual car involved in the smash was white according to witnesses, thankfully.

I am currently dealing with a situation at work where we have had a Notice of Intended Prosecution but the usual driver states he was not in the car at the time. The photographic evidence shows what may be a Range Rover, may be grey and may have the reg of our vehicle. I can't see it, but younger eyes say it looks right. But still, it may be a wrong 'un.
 
Thousands of drivers using illegal 'James Bond-style rotating number plate covers' to avoid traffic fines.

The number plate concealing devices can be bought on ebay and the DVLA reckon it's not for them to deal with.



Thousands of drivers using illegal 'James Bond-style rotating numberplate covers' to avoid traffic fines - Mirror Online

in as much as it is a legal requirement to keep vehicle number plates clean ( along with lights , mirrors and windows ) these devices could serve a useful purpose in keeping the plates covered when the vehicle is lawfully parked off the public highway :D
 
Also useful for obscuring registration when posting pictures on a public forum...:rolleyes:
 
This is the sort of flipping plate I had seen in another article. So they are out there.


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If I used one of those (I Wouldn't!) and got pulled, when nonchalantly getting out of my car to be being questioned by the police, there would be a sparrow wedged in there. :doh: :D I'm good at that sort of thing.

One could use number plates with just a couple of transposed digits and have a few variations of the transposition, or as already mentioned, a cloned plate or two of cars that are the same model and colour.
 
Several members on this forum "used"to drive around with no front plates and took issue with others who frowned on the practice...

Clearly, you don't actually need this clever gadget if you simply want to drive around with no plates...

...Cloning is now a real problem in the UK and makes a mockery of our road traffic fines and detection process. Even worse, when you find out you have been cloned (usually when fines start arriving though your letterbox) complaining to the authorities places the burden of proof on you, often leaving you feeling like the criminal...

Yes, cloning is probably a far more serious problem than these so-called 'James Bond style' plates.

...A good suggestion/tip. Have something distinctive on your car that can be seen by the camera. That will often give you the proof that you are the innocent party. My Son was able to prove his innocence when he could show that his car had a small windscreen badge and the offending car did not.

Good point :thumb:
 
I think you can fit an alternative plate on the blank side so find a similar car jot down the number find some one to make your plates and bobs your uncle . You would think eBay would ban them .
Michael

Not easily done. The sellers can simply add to the description the words 'novelty item', or 'not legal for road use', or 'show plates for car shows only', or 'for off-road use only', or 'for export only', etc etc... similar to ho all these illegal bulbs and headlamps are currently sold on eBay for automotive use.
 

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