WARNING Pressed Metal Plates

[Mr E]

Interestingly, putting the BS info on the plate does mean that they necessarily comply with the regulations and that they have been tested by the BSI, it means that the the manufacturer "ensures they are made to comply with".

Also, the standard is very clear - the material must be of retroreflective material as Flanaia has pointed out.

I would not wish to state one way or another whether the plates supplied by the company doing the group buy are to standard, but it may be worth asking for a copy of the test certificate from the organisation that have tested it. This will either be the BSI or TUV as they are, I'm given to understand, the only two organisation that have the necessary equipement to test that the standard is met.

The standards marking thing is a little weird in that you might expect the mark to be applied only for those products that have been tested to ensure that the standard is met. However, you couldn't test every product that is covered by British Standards, so an element of trust has to be used. In most cases, a responsible manufacturer will ensure that the standards are met or exceeded - in cases where this is not done BSI, Trading Standards, the Police or anyone can get the product tested and if it does not conform then the manufacturer is in deep trouble.

If there is a certificate that shows the plates have been tested and comply then all is hunky dory - but it's a case of asking the right question as simply saying that they have the mark on them does not mean that they actually comply. The legislation also says that an EU mark is acceptable as long at it meets or exceeds the BS standard, so by inference that would have to pass a BS 145 test (and so meet the standard). Interestingly this is one of the few areas in vehicle legislation that covers this explicitly (the BS standard eing the over-riding regulation) - as an example, HID (Xenon) lights are technically illegal under UK law but as there is an EU standard for fitting them to a vehicle they are allowed to be used.

 

[wemorgan]

Does the term material not actually mean the number plate as a whole structure rather each individual material used in the construction of number plates?

 

[Palfrem]

Acrylic is not in itself a retroreflective material.

 

[flango]

Acrylic is not in itself a retroreflective material.

I believe certain acrylics are. all an acrylic number plate is usually all acrylic including the backing part that gives the retroreflective properties. Acyrlic is not just the solid sheet of perspex material we all think of, it can also be a film or acrylic paint for instance.

 

[Gareth]

Pressed plates are illegal, if you don't want a fine don't put illegal plates on your car.

Seems simple enough to me and good on the Police for issuing the fine and not just issuing a warning which just leads to people thinking they can get away with it (IMHO).

 

[crockers]

Bottom line is....are pressed plates worth the hassle?? Why attract attention?

 

[219]

There is no law at all in the UK regarding the material from which a plate must be manufactured.

SCHEDULE 2
REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION PLATES

PART 1
VEHICLES REGISTERED AND NEW REGISTRATION PLATES FITTED ON OR AFTER 1ST SEPTEMBER 2001 (MANDATORY SPECIFICATION)

1. The plate must be made of retroreflecting material which, as regards its construction, colour and other qualities, complies with the requirements of—

(a)the British Standard specification for retroreflecting number plates published on 15 January 1998 under number BS AU 145d(1), or

(b)any other relevant standard or specification recognised for use in an EEA State and which, when in use, offers a performance equivalent to that offered by a plate complying with the British Standard specification,

and which, in either case, is marked with the number (or such other information as is necessary to permit identification) of that standard or specification.

2. Where the registration mark is displayed on the front of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a white background.

3. Where the registration mark is displayed on the back of the vehicle, it must have black characters on a yellow background.


BS AU 145d talks about reflectivity and other factors but also does not require a plate to be made from a specific material.


In your case it seems the policeman used his ANPR camera as an instrument for measuring the plates reflectivity and on that basis it failed and so probably was illegal, but this is NOT because of the material it's made of.


Having said that, if police are going about with a little pocket book telling them pressed metal plates are illegal, even if wrong, it's simply not worth the hassle.


Regards,

Hmmm ,

From the above , I take it that they would NOT be illegal on a pre-September 2001 vehicle .

Also , the retroreflective bit is before the 'or' in the specifications , so it reads as though something which is acceptable in other member states ought to be here too .

 

[219]

Pressed plates are illegal, if you don't want a fine don't put illegal plates on your car.

Seems simple enough to me and good on the Police for issuing the fine and not just issuing a warning which just leads to people thinking they can get away with it (IMHO).

They are certainly legal on pre-1973 cars ( on which they can be black with white or silver lettering ) .

They 'may' also be legal on 1973-2001 cars , although this is unclear .

 

[Mr E]

Hmmm ,

From the above , I take it that they would NOT be illegal on a pre-September 2001 vehicle .

Also , the retroreflective bit is before the 'or' in the specifications , so it reads as though something which is acceptable in other member states ought to be here too .

I'd go with that - pre 2001 doesn't require retroreflective material for the plates.

The bit after the "or" is fairly unique in that it doesn't state that something meeting the standards in another EU state is acceptable (as has been the case with most construction regs - see previous comments on HID lights) but in this case there is the "equivalent performance" caveat. Today's ANPR cameras are designed to work with retroreflective plates to give the "best" results - hence the requirement - and a good basic test would be whether the number is recognised by an official ANPR camera. Daytime performance is not the issue - night-time performance is as you can't go around shining bright lights at drivers, so ANPR systems tend to use IR at night. The scattering around raised letters could result in the "blurring" of letters - B / 8 for example - which is why, so I'm told, that the standards WRT font, size, spacing and retroreflective performance are so tight.

Many countries also require retroreflective plates, but not all. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who can tell me what the German standard is and how it differs.

 

[Colin_b]

Sounds odd to me. Neither steel nor perspex/acrylic is retroreflective. It is the coating on the steel which can be, or the backing for an acrylic plate.

I suspect the issue is not the material or raised letters, more the quality of the metal plate coating. It wasn't sufficiently reflecting in the right manner.

I believe the laws on plates really mean 'we have to be able to read your plate with a camera', but get bogged down in detail, such as precisely how retroreflective must they be?

 

[Dieselman]

Steel plates are painted with bead reflector paint, which scatters the light, retro-reflective means the light returns to source, so appears much brighter.

If you stuck reflectite onto the steel plate it would probably be OK.

 

[JohnDeere8530]

why bother, they only look good on classic cars anyway

 

[219]

Some of us do run classics and not moderns .

 

[Colin_b]

Some of us do run classics and not moderns .

You don't need to worry about reflectivity, it hadn't been invented then. Black and white is good

 

[khimani_mohiki]

as black and white metal plates are legal on historic vehicles I would take it that they can be read by ANPR cameras, I cant imagine them allowing any car with black and white plates to be missed by speed cameras and congestion cameras etc, so if historic black and white plates dont have retroreflectivity and can be read by ANPR then why not modern pressed metal plates?

 

[spanner]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell everyone!

 

[219]

Yes , much was made , when ANPR cameras were first introduced , that they can 'reverse values' and read white on black plates as well as black on white .

Also , there are lots of 'reflective' pressed aluminium plates with black characters on white/yellow backgrounds in use since they were introduced in the late 1960's , long before the introduction of cheap & nasty plastic plates which split and/or delaminate all too easily .

A metal plate may dent if someone reverses into it , but it won't split or break into pieces .

 

[flango]

as black and white metal plates are legal on historic vehicles I would take it that they can be read by ANPR cameras, I cant imagine them allowing any car with black and white plates to be missed by speed cameras and congestion cameras etc, so if historic black and white plates dont have retroreflectivity and can be read by ANPR then why not modern pressed metal plates?

Black and White pressed metal plates on pre '73 cars struggle to be read by modern ANPR, as they are reflex reflective not retroreflective, we had that conversation. ANPR is different to Gatso etc which just takes a photo and does not rely on any further image processing or analysis which ANPR, congestion charging does.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Also , there are lots of 'reflective' pressed aluminium plates with black characters on white/yellow backgrounds in use since they were introduced in the late 1960's , long before the introduction of cheap & nasty plastic plates which split and/or delaminate all too easily .

A metal plate may dent if someone reverses into it , but it won't split or break into pieces .

Plastic plates don't delaminate if they're made properly. These have been on my car since I bought it nearly six years ago and still look as good as new:

Pressed metal plates had their own problems, particularly with the black finish being stripped from the characters over time.

 

[219]

A lot of delamination is no doubt caused by people drilling holes in the plates for fixing screws , or bending them around curved bumpers etc .

I have repainted black & white plates from time to time .