Mazda Rotary Club

I got pulled by the police the other day,

Winds down window

Me : "Hello good officer of the law"
PCSmiley : "Wheres your front number plate ?"
Me : "er..on the front and back of the car still I\'d hope"
PCSmiley : "no its not on the front!"
Me : "Really ?!"
PCSmiley : "Have a look"

So I got out the car and saw my plate exactly as I had positioned it

PCSmiley : "Its not the right size and its not road legal"
Me : "Ah now good gaurdian of the peace I looked into this on a thing we call the internet and saw that as its an import it doesen\'t have to be UK regulation size as the car does not have the space designed for it"

This stumped him for a minute, then he decided to run with it and quickly thought of something else

PCSmiley: "Well that may be Sir however it faces upwards and is therefore not forward facing and is therefore illegal"
Me : "Can\'t say I agree with you, I\'ve been caught by your friends before so its clearly visible, where would you suggest I put it then ?"
PCSmiley : "It needs to be on the front of the car, not on the bottom lip of the bumper"
Me : "Would it not face upwards as well then?, look the front is curved"
PCSMiley : "No Sir its got to be changed, its too low down"

I\'m sorry, since when was there a rule on how low down your number plate is ??!

To be fair he was very friendly, sadly for the thousands of people whose lives I have ruined through my bltent flouting of road regulations, the number plate still resides in its original position
but the conversation was quite amusing

There is a rule actually that states it must be displayed as upright as is reasonable possible.

Did you get off with it or get fined?

No fine just told me to change it

I haven\'t yet, afaik the fine is only £25 so i might just leave it

Someone at work told me they can give you three of these before you can get point etc

I always thought they gave you a pink slip to get signed by a MOT station but he reckons they don\'t do that anymore

Pretty sure there is a minmimum height from the ground for the plate\'s positioning - on their website somewhere...

Iain

You reckon putting on an American accent and saying \'well we only have to have rear plates at home\' would work? :bandit

To speak Japanese?

Been used once in Canada that I know of. How many Quebecois Police would be able to speak Japanese? He only had to produce the Japanese License and speak the lingo a little. He said the lady officer in question was saying many nasty and ugly expletetives in French that are not suitable to be displayed in a family friendly environment, regardless of the language.    his French is quite good, as was hers by the sound of it. ;)

Seriously considering it when I get back to Australia and happen to get pulled over, which is of course inevitable after driving in Japan for more than 5 minutes.

"Gomen ne Porice-san. Eigo Shabareranai" or some such garbage.

Well, it IS a Japanese car, isn\'t it? :p

P.S. Might be difficult if you are blue eyed and blonde. Then again, maybe not... :D

To the best of my knowledge there\'s no minimum height that the plate must be from the ground - take a look at a picture of a Westie/Caterham, if they have a non-sticky plate it is located beneath the radaitor.  I lost count of the number of times I ripped mine off :o anything more than a grain of sand was enough to take it off the car.
It should be located on an available verticle surface, which if your FD doesn\'t have a plate mount is a bit difficult - as with Caterfields there is nowhere that meets the legal guidlines.

when u mentioned about the plae mate the same happened to me cmoin back in my heavily modified clio i was in the fast lane and seen the cops starin at me in this merc jeep thing i thought nowt of it. they flew up behind me and i just kept to the speed limit. they passed me and then went back behind me anyway he lite em up and pulled me.

i jumped out and he sed wheres ur front plate i did exactly the same as you that its on the front (which was a lie cos i thought it made the front end look sh*t  ) :D he said it wasnt i said it must have feel off and the guy gave me a £30 pound fine even though i said i would get one when i got back to manchester.

even tho i got my fine back :rollin :rollin

Mr.Media person.... might be worth posting this on 5ive-o forums (http://www.5ive-o.com/web/index.php).

I happen to know that the boys and girls in blue might be found posting. ;)

Fish

PS. I NEVER upset the law, they just ask STUPID questions. :bandit

QuotePCSmiley : "Its not the right size and its not road legal"
Me : "Ah now good gaurdian of the peace I looked into this on a thing we call the internet and saw that as its an import it doesen\'t have to be UK regulation size as the car does not have the space designed for it"

[/B]

Where did you look this up?

I have a sticker plate on the front and no other options.  Ain;t had any bother yet, but would love to quote the book back at em if they stop me for it?

Don\'t want PC Plod having a bad day and taking it out on my poor car.

Gregor

legally they can always technically say stick ons r illegal thou as only E type can do them legally as i understand it but most have non probs if legally spaced etc as i understand it....
Si

Seen this debate a lot of times on the Net, but here it goes.

There is no minimum height the number plate needs to be.
The number plate needs to be within a specific size range.  Cars can not use motorcycle square plates.
The letters have to be from one of two approved fonts/sizes and have to be specifically spaced.
With one exception, the number plate must be vertical and can no be a stick on (the Jaguar E-Type is the one exception - it has a Royal warrant allowing it to be a stuck on plate on the nose).
The front number plate must have a white background, unless it was originally registered with  black plate/white letters.

The fine used to be £25, however now it is a sliding scale depending on the number of times you\'ve been previously stopped.  The police now have the option of a court summons and points.

reckon I\'ll leave it be for the mo.  Drive past the a couple pof police stations daily and nothings been said.  Reckon I\'ll wait till someone pulls me and then plead belief in the import loophole thing.  Should be enough to get me off the first fine at the least.  If the locals don\'t mind it then 1 good line should be enough if I\'m out of town.

G

Im taking mine off and putting it in my windscreen , so i will probally get pulled but ah well :)

QuoteOriginally posted by GaryS
Seen this debate a lot of times on the Net, but here it goes.

There is no minimum height the number plate needs to be.
The number plate needs to be within a specific size range.  Cars can not use motorcycle square plates.
The letters have to be from one of two approved fonts/sizes and have to be specifically spaced.
With one exception, the number plate must be vertical and can no be a stick on (the Jaguar E-Type is the one exception - it has a Royal warrant allowing it to be a stuck on plate on the nose).
The front number plate must have a white background, unless it was originally registered with  black plate/white letters.

There is another exception for imports:

Certain imported vehicles may be permitted to display number plates with smaller characters if:

The vehicle does not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval

AND

The vehicle\'s construction/design cannot accomodate standard size number plates

see http://tinyurl.com/9ak9 for full details

Kevin

look i found "PCSmiley" lmao
Yeah i\'d read that before but no-one could tell me if the FD had euro wide approval thingy.......isn\'t that the same thing which is or will be needed to import certain aged vehicles in from Japan soon like R34 GTRs etc?
I though certain cars were OK with square plates too dont recall them being not allowed eg evos n such like?
Si (http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/copper.gif)

they just want to be close to you by pulling you over :D

I\'ve Surrey Police HQ 1/2 a mile in one direction, and Guildford Police Station (7 storey building) a mile in the other, and I\'ve had no front plate for nearly 12 months.  I\'ve been pulled (for a discussion about speedo accuracy), and no comment then either.

So apparently I\'ve not got a probelm...!!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Archbish
So apparently I\'ve not got a probelm...!!!

They just wonder how the hell you fit inside an FD. ;)

Fish

QuoteI\'ve had no front plate for nearly 12 months.

At all mate?

Now that\'s gotta be illegal.  - they all blind down there then?

or do they only ever see the back of yer car!!!  :bandit

G

think you can just be unlucky with it. A lot of the police in my experience just don\'t give a rats. There\'s a few of them that will kick up a stink. Those are the ones scared of real crims :)

I forgot about the new SVA rules affecting front number plates.

Squares are certainly a no-no which is why the Alfa 156 in this country has an offset rectangular affair.  I believe FIAT group did actually lose in court to the UK Govenrment over this and the being allowed to offset the number plate was a consilitory ofer to them.

As far as I\'m aware they still give you the pink slip for MOT and plates, this after discussion with police chum (I use the word \'chum\' loosely............).

I got pulled for number plate in window instead of front - luckily was let off if i sorted it asap - alas had to as M11 traffic police are stationed er well, less than 1/2 mile down the road and I have to pass regularly :(

So those MX5\'s I\'ve seen with the sticky on plates are illegal then? Interesting..........

AFAIK the squares are allowed on imports............ and size of plate is not importnat - it\'s the 1cm gap round the letters that is. Oh and the spacing - but as far as I\'m concerned spacing usually means it says something - like me mate\'s HI 2 MR O and therefore more memorable???!!

They do seem to be quite understanding down here...  My rear plate is very illegal (spacing, characters, the lot!), and I\'ve no front plate, and I\'ve yet to be pulled anywhere for that.  Maybe it\'s (a) the type of car or (b) the way it\'s being driven or (c) the driver.  I\'m sure if I drove it like a **** round town, I\'d be done in seconds.  I don\'t think I\'m a particularly fast driver, but I think I\'m safe, and careful where plod might be hanging out...

btw - if you are careful with the rear plate, you can bury it deep enough under the bumper that Speed Cameras cannot see it as it\'s obscured by the top of the bumper.

I have a 2 line number plate, using the official sizes of font, and spacing as on the DVLA\'s site (for an import).  It mentioned the official spacing between lines so I assumed that they allow 2 line number plates (making it square).

Or is mine not square and I\'ve got the wrong end of the stick? :)

Template I made up from the DVLA dimensions :) : -

Nyeeea, what\'s up doc....

Hehehe LOL, I\'ve never looked at it like that before :)

And now that\'s all I will ever see when I look at it, darn it :( :P

Wont putting the plate there cause overheating problems?

Well, I could certainly do without it :(

I drove it around for 8 months with a much bigger garage fitted number plate on and everything was fine, but I really wish there was a legal alternative as I am aware of the reduction in air flow :( :( :(

Here\'s the old one :o

very very nice looking car though......

Heres my 2 p worth.

I drove around for all of 2 days with no front plate before i was stopped by plod. But then I did sit behind him for a mile or two. He obviously was bored, but i told him that stones kept smashing the front plate and id just taken off another broken one.

He gave me a producer and a pink ticket to get stamped by an MOT station to prove it had been done.

Did that then immediately took it off again and got me mate to make up one of these, which is smaller than reg but at least its forward facing.

(http://www.clarkee.me.uk/numbplate.jpg)

If i get pulled with this im gonna say the same story but also ask why its one rule for an e-type and one rule for an FD. Also how comes a motobike can drive past a Truvelo at 160 in a 30mph and they cant do him cos he has no front plate.

bee in bonnet.....moi?

chris get a bike plate you know you want to :D

perfectly legal too!

I have a square plate on the back - any ideas on the legality of this?

Will post pics when I get home, but I think the front stick on is legal size at least.  either way no hassle from plod so far.

hadn\'t thought, but it may be partially obscured by the rear bumper, but the faster I\'m going the less obscured it will be and the more I will want it to be covered up!

My number plate is in a wierd position on the passenger side. Not sure if I like this I might change it. Is this the standard position for plates in Japan or is mine just different?

(http://mysite.freeserve.com/paulsrx7/RX_7front.jpg)

Heres a quick shop i done of mine with number plate and fog lights removed.

(http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/1800/current_7_chop2.jpg)

Nath,

must say those alloys do wonders for your car mate, cracker:D

QuoteOriginally posted by clarkee
If i get pulled with this im gonna say the same story but also ask why its one rule for an e-type and one rule for an FD. Also how comes a motobike can drive past a Truvelo at 160 in a 30mph and they cant do him cos he has no front plate.

The E-type is because it got a royal warrant allowing it to, think it was Princess Anne who bought one (might be wrong about the actual member of the Royal Household).

QuoteOriginally posted by gsb876
Nath,

must say those alloys do wonders for your car mate, cracker:D

Yeah thats why i had a set off Ross after doing this shop :D

they look Rextastic:p