Darkened Car Number Plates

[Chekhov]

Can anyone tell me how these car drivers with illegal darkened car number plates get away with it ? Some of them are barely readable, esp in poor light, surely they must be illegal ?

Is there anyone on here who has  a darkened car number plate ?

Have you ever been stopped by the police and what did they say ?

[BigAl1]

43 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

Can anyone tell me how these car drivers with illegal darkened car number plates get away with it ? Some of them are barely readable, esp in poor light, surely they must be illegal ?

Is there anyone on here who has  a darkened car number plate ?

Have you ever been stopped by the police and what did they say ?

Because there are few police out on the roads and they have better things to do and I doubt that wardens are allowed to issue tickets for this

[HeHasRisen]

Same for people who have illegal spacing on their plates. 

 

Assume that these plates would be a straight MOT fail and they just swap them for the real plates the day they go in?

[BigAl1]

36 minutes ago, HeHasRisen said:

Same for people who have illegal spacing on their plates. 

 

Assume that these plates would be a straight MOT fail and they just swap them for the real plates the day they go in?

Are they part of the MOT?

[HeHasRisen]

1 minute ago, BigAl1 said:

Are they part of the MOT?

No idea, hence why I asked.

 

Seems it is - https://www.bnma.org/advice-centre/key-pieces-of-legislation/mot-number-plate-rules/

Edited May 11, 2022 by HeHasRisen

[Chekhov]

5 hours ago, BigAl1 said:

Because there are few police out on the roads and they have better things to do and I doubt that wardens are allowed to issue tickets for this

It depends how much time they have to spend catching them though doesn't it ?

It would obviously not be worth it if it took hours of time for each prosecution, but why should it ? Surely it's just fixed penalty notice ? Copper in his car behind the errant motorists, puts on his blue lights, errant motorist stops, gets issued with a fixed penalty notice, done.

But there's a wider point here too, why have these laws if they are never enforced ? It just brings the law into disrepute. So, either prosecute the motorists or scrap the law.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Chekhov

[L00b]

5 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

It depends how much time they have to spend catching them though doesn't it ?

It would obviously not be worth it if it took hours of time for each prosecution, but why should it ? Surely it's just fixed penalty notice ? Copper in his car behind the errant motorists, puts on his blue lights, errant motorist stops, gets issued with a fixed penalty notice, done.

But there's a wider point here too, why have these laws if they are never enforced ? It just brings the law into disrepute. So, either prosecute the motorists or scrap the law.

On the assumption such plates are designed to defeat optics on fixed speed cameras/ANPR units, chancing an occasional/unlikely FPN for defective plates -alternatively producer to show standard plates- is very small beer and ‘worth it’ (to serial speeders), relative to speeding fines & the insurance cost feedback loop.

Edited May 11, 2022 by L00b

[Chekhov]

25 minutes ago, L00b said:

On the assumption such plates are designed to defeat optics on fixed speed cameras/ANPR units, chancing an occasional/unlikely FPN for defective plates -alternatively producer to show standard plates- is very small beer and ‘worth it’ (to serial speeders), relative to speeding fines & the insurance cost feedback loop.

Aren't fixed penalty notices recorded ?

If so serial offenders should get increasing fines each time (for anything that is).

[Rockers rule]

41 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

It depends how much time they have to spend catching them though doesn't it ?

It would obviously not be worth it if it took hours of time for each prosecution, but why should it ? Surely it's just fixed penalty notice ? Copper in his car behind the errant motorists, puts on his blue lights, errant motorist stops, gets issued with a fixed penalty notice, done.

But there's a wider point here too, why have these laws if they are never enforced ? It just brings the law into disrepute. So, either prosecute the motorists or scrap the law.

Simple answer, Size, Shape, spacing etc etc are Mot issues enforceable of penalty's or failure at an MOT centre.

Personally while wrong, one of my daily drives has (in the eyes of the law) an incorrectly spaced plate , it was like that when i bought it 6 years ago & never been pulled or refused an MOT.

I'd rather see the police Bobby's concentrate on faulty light especially at night time. there can be no excuse most modern cars will tell you if you have a bulb out, and having a headlamp out - well - if you don't know one side of the road in-front of you is in darkness you shouldn't be on the road. 

 

Keep safe out there - check your lights  .

 

[L00b]

43 minutes ago, Chekhov said:

Aren't fixed penalty notices recorded ?

If so serial offenders should get increasing fines each time (for anything that is).

1. Presumably.

2. No idea.

 

Serial offenders don’t get increasing fines here. Just the same fine each time. Including for low-speed speeding (€45 FPN, no points). Foreign drivers/cars are conferred a ‘virtual’ local license in a government database, against which all offenses are recorded and FPNs issued.

 

Nice earner for the state (some people get done just about everyday, even though just as much of a Police low numbers/recruitment issue),  very little use/waste of Court resources (not worth contesting), and if you want to stop getting done and paying, just stop doing it/just sort it.

 

Under that principle, most peeps soon get fed up of shelling e.g. €450 per month (10 FPNs) for keeping ‘funny’ plates on, or casual speeding here, there and elsewhere,etc.