Pulled Over.....

[davefrith]

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

[J4P RX]

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?

[davefrith]

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

[iaint]

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

Iain

[sadgoth]

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

[Schtoo]

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...

[Robertio]

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.

[duff]

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  ) 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

[Fish]

Mr.Media person.... might be worth posting this on 5ive-o forums.

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

[Shark]

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"

[/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

[scooby_si]

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

[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.

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.

[Shark]

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

[Nath]

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

[kevint]

Originally 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