Stopped for my Number plate after 10yrs...oh well :)

[Benzowner]

Welcome to the ever growing club I had legal font just slightly miss spaced, the number and first 2 letter were together and the first and last letter were gapped. Had to change mine. Interesting thing though, as I was changing them, the officer brought over a cadet and explained to her that their cameras would not recognise the spacing, absolute bull droppings I thought , and then told him that their camera recognised it on the Severn Bridge as did Kens cameras in London, he actually smiled and said I know, ah well.

 

[jaymanek]

lol... well it was gonna happen

I had my black plates on the W123 for 4 years before anyone noticed...

 

[SilverSaloon]

forget the plates - what about your badges! wasnt aware of that particular AMG model

Seriously, i'd go for the correct font, get rid of the flag.

 

[SimonsMerc]

What on earth is C2BER supposed to say?

 

[SilverSaloon]

What on earth is C2BER supposed to say?

CYBER?

 

[BTB 500]

I suspect that non-standard fonts and spacing can stop some of the automated plate-reading systems from capturing the reg. correctly. Use of these systems is growing rapidly, so it shouldn't be a surprise that people are being picked up for dodgy plates more often now.

I assume some of the "creative" plates I see in central London are helping the owner to avoid paying the congestion charge.

 

[nullogik]

Apparently, the police will also stop you if you strategically placed number plate screws so that the heads help to form what looks like a different letter or number than what is printed.

I've seen a number plate screw head positioned between two close 1 1 to form a "H"

 

[Howard]

I've seen a number plate screw head positioned between two close 1 1 to form a "H"

So chavvy , really cheapens the car .....

 

[stats007]

They've probably done you a favour to be honest. The quicker this sort of thing is stopped the better. Especially when the DVLA are coining it in on the back of it .

 

[BTB 500]

Apparently, the police will also stop you if you strategically placed number plate screws so that the heads help to form what looks like a different letter or number than what is printed.

I've seen a number plate screw head positioned between two close 1 1 to form a "H"

Of course. Screw heads are often placed to 'link' characters or to turn them into something else (black cap to 'add', yellow or white to 'blank out') e.g.

G into a C
C into G
9 into S
6 into G
4 into A
V into Y

Etc. This is often combined with a dodgy font to make it work better, sometimes individual characters on the plate use different fonts!

I've seen all of the above, some on high-value cars like a new Bentley!

 

[neilrr]

You are bang to rights, a proper crim. You should be dragged to the tower and flogged on the green to within an inch of your life,
boiled in oil until your skin peels
stretched on the rack until your bones are dislocated
placed on the wheel that turns over glowing embers
your skull crushed in the head vice
your eyes pierced with poisoned porcupine quills
burned at the stake
hung, drawn and quartered

and fined £30

I'm glad you agree with me, though I favour a more moderate response.

 

[Ian Hunt]

Mine are legal font but misspaced slightly, there's no gap between the number & the next letter.
I was stopped once in the Jag & advised I should change them or risk losing them. I didn't
I believe that whatever the spacing, plates are supposed to have the postcode of the company that made them & a BS number on them; obviously misspaced ones won't have. A minor point but something else that one could get pulled up over.
Also if the car is pre 2000 you are allowed fonts that are slightly different as long as they are "clear & legible" as this was when they changed the rules slightly. I think you'd have to maintain that the plates are the same ones that have been on the car since that time.

 

[Howard]

You are allowed A slightly different font for pre 2000 cars , not different fonts ( plural )

Plenty of places will mis-space the plate with the BS number and their postcode on it.

Trouble is , if you have been flagged as having mis-spaced plates ( which is quite possible ) and you haven't changed it , the next time they see you and put the plate into their onboard computer , it will show that you have been spoken to about your plates , they will see that you haven't acted and you could well lose them , as you have had a warning and not sorted it out.

 

[BTB 500]

Also if the car is pre 2000 you are allowed fonts that are slightly different as long as they are "clear & legible" as this was when they changed the rules slightly. I think you'd have to maintain that the plates are the same ones that have been on the car since that time.

The date is actually 1st September 2001, and yes it applies to plates fitted from that date (not when the car was made/registered).

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/media/pdf/leaflets/displayofnumberplates.pdf

If you have legal plates showing the maker's details you won't get away with claiming they are 7 years old if they're not.

 

[flango]

You are allowed A slightly different font for pre 2000 cars , not different fonts ( plural )

Plenty of places will mis-space the plate with the BS number and their postcode on it.

Trouble is , if you have been flagged as having mis-spaced plates ( which is quite possible ) and you haven't changed it , the next time they see you and put the plate into their onboard computer , it will show that you have been spoken to about your plates , they will see that you haven't acted and you could well lose them , as you have had a warning and not sorted it out.

Mis spaced number plate offences are not recorded on the PNC or any of the other databases the police use even if you have been stopped several times and even had a warning from the DVLA. Therefore it won't come up as a flag in a ANPR equipped traffic car. Only if it is seriously misrepresented will they take action against you. In 6 years I have been stopped 4 times, let off twice, 2 x £30 fixed penalties and a letter from the DVLA. Have still not changed them, The last stop was after I went through a VOSA check point and the motorbike cop who stopped me said " I don't want to do this but I have to, sorry and yes we do actually have better things to do" the DVLA sell them knowing that they are likely to get mis spaced thats how they price them also my other half tells me CPS would never proceed in court for such a minor offence as simple mis spacing, if a number or letter has been deliberatly altered or changed to look like something else by the addition of tape or a bolt etc then different story. On the hipocracy note and choosing which laws we abide by funny how 2 traffic cops who live on my street have private cars with mis spaced number plates as does the lawyer on his S class, you pays your money and takes your chance

 

[SimonsMerc]

CYBER?

It doesn't :-(

 

[gina2201]

you'd probably get away with the font if the spacing was correct

Possibly true, I had the same font on my car I had but with correct spacing and never got stopped, neighbour who is a policeman said he/they would go on if it was legible or not. You see some which are all curly and swirly and italics and its totally illegible!

 

[fyonn]

Boys, it's the law of the land. You cannot pick & choose which laws you will obey, disobeying the ones you find inconvenient.

actually, you can and you should pick and choose which laws/orders to obey, and this is backed by the international war courts. of course, you also have to take responsibility for the laws you choose to ignore/break but nevertheless, we can and do all choose which laws to obey.

A210AMG chose to ignore that law and got told off. he can now choose to do something about it, or choose to ignore it again

dave

 

[SilverSaloon]

It doesn't :-(

Its pronounced: Seetwober.

 

[SilverSaloon]

I dont think its worth risking "you can get away with the spacing if you change the font etc etc". A210AMG has got away with the current plate for 10 years..... he may get away with another 10.... then again he could be stopped next week again. I reckon if you have been caught once and its on record, go legit after that.