Today I got the chance to....

[gordy.r]

..... sit in the back of one of Police Scotland's newest BMW 5 series traffic cars!

And.... it only cost me £100 for the pleasure!

 

Apparently my number plate is too small. Now I did wonder, when I bought the car, but after reading up and asking a bit of advice from a few people all seemed ok, but not according to my friendly local traffic officers this afternoon.

 

I am rocking 64mm in height characters, 44mm in length, 11mm wide, 15mm gaps etc etc but still I won a ticket inviting me to pay the Crown £100.

 

I am going to email DVLA or DVOSA tomorrow with an image and the exact measurements as from what I have read if the car doesnt have ECWVTA or provision to accommodate a normal UK sized plate then there is dispensation under article 14a. blah de blah etc.

 

I shall update when I have a definitive answer!

[heedthebaw]

Get a picture up mate. I try my best not to say anything regarding the police but in this day and age, with all the wrong in the world, this seriously merits the hassle of being pulled over and a £100 fine?

 

Utterly ridiculous.

[gordy.r]

I too am all for the police and everything that they do, and I was polite with them and offered to change the plates straight away as I hate being stopped for silly reasons and it is more of a hassle than anything else, but I think no matter what I said, I was getting this ticket. :-(

 

 

[Ross C]

I had a ticket issued for my plate from JM Imports. Pulled all the info myself and got it revoked. Sadly my laptop has died to be able to send you everything over and confirm the minimal legal size but its all in my glovebox in my car!!

[Ross C]

I too am all for the police and everything that they do, and I was polite with them and offered to change the plates straight away as I hate being stopped for silly reasons and it is more of a hassle than anything else, but I think no matter what I said, I was getting this ticket. :-(

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]186649[/ATTACH]

 

That sadly is illegal mate. The plate needs to have the name or postcode of the company that made the plate.

[Al Massey]

That sadly is illegal mate. The plate needs to have the name or postcode of the company that made the plate.

 

Isn't that only on new plates?

 

I thought if you still had the originals on it's ok?

[Ross C]

Isn't that only on new plates?

 

I thought if you still had the originals on it's ok?

 

Technically yes, but with most officers, they will try to force you to get you new plates. I had several try to do this to me, but got away with it as JM Imports is on the plate and the sizing meets regulation 14A's stipulation of import cars without a direct EU approval code. (Section "k" on your V5).

 

EDIT: Most import TT V5s will be blank next to section "k" whereas NAs wil have EXEMPT.

 

Its less a out what you can proce and more about how lenient the officers are. They hate being proved wrong (on several personal experiences).

Edited June 3, 2014 by Ross C (see edit history)

[drift_bear]

This is my plate test fitted to a stock front, can't remember exact sizes but it's correct for an import

 

 

I would suggest speaking to jurgen and get new plates made bud and try get the fine overturned.

[David P]

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?204814-The-Legal-Sizes-For-Import-Number-Plates-DVLA-Confirmed

[garethr]

You don't get to fit small plates just because it's an import.

 

The regs say you can use a small plate if the bodywork design means you cannot fit a standard plate.

 

There's nothing about the front of a Supra that stops you fitting a standard plate.

[Dim Sum]

I had a similar issue earlier this year.... well a bit different I wasn't displaying one but that's another story.

 

Here's what you probably want to know

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/2687/contents/made

 

So import car's can use smaller font and If I follow these guidelines and get a plate big enough to follow the rules and fit the characters, space in and etc I can get a custom (smaller plate) and it be perfectly legal.

 

Of course have to mount it

(a)vertically or, where that is not reasonably practicable, in a position as close to the vertical as is reasonably practicable,

 

“Size and spacing of characters: special cases

14A.—(1) This regulation applies in relation to any vehicle imported into the United

Kingdom which—

(a) does not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval; and

(b) is so constructed that the area available for the fixing of the registration plate precludes the display on the plate of a registration mark in conformity with the

requirements of regulation 14.

 

(2) In relation to a vehicle to which this regulation applies—

(a) each character in the registration mark must be 64 millimetres high;

(b) the width of each character of the mark, other than the letter “I” and the figure “1”, must be 44 millimetres;

 

© the width of every part of the stroke forming a character in a mark must be 10 millimetres;

(d) the spacing between any two characters within a group must be 10 millimetres;

 

(e) the vertical spacing between groups of characters must be 5 millimetres;

(f) the width of a margin between the mark and the top and lateral sides of the registration plate must be not less than 5 millimetres;

(g) the space between the bottom of the mark and the bottom of the registration plate must be not less than 13 millimetres; but, within that space, the space

between the bottom of the mark and the top of the name and postcode of the person by whom the plate was supplied must be not less than 5 millimetres.”(a)

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport.

[gordy.r]

This is my question, does the import TT have or not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval?

 

If it does then the argument about construction and fitting is invalid.

 

Obviously the imports come with a smaller reg plate holder and you could argue that point, but if it is complient with the ECWVTA then we don't have a leg to stand on :-(

[gordy.r]

This is my question, does the import TT have or not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval?

 

If it does then the argument about construction and fitting is invalid.

 

Obviously the imports come with a smaller reg plate holder and you could argue that point, but if it is complient with the ECWVTA then we don't have a leg to stand on :-(

[mellonman]

The thing that gets me is that motor bikes dont have a front plate at all , so why should it be deemed so important for a car to have one

[DaveR]

This is my question, does the import TT have or not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval?

 

If it does then the argument about construction and fitting is invalid.

 

Obviously the imports come with a smaller reg plate holder and you could argue that point, but if it is complient with the ECWVTA then we don't have a leg to stand on :-(

I'm not going to claim to know the exact law on this, I don't. BUT in the case of our beloved import Supra I would guess that common sense should (could ) prevail - the front plate holder may be smaller than a UK-spec's but is also open-ended so a plate of any width and virtually* any height can actually be fitted. To that end there isn't any particular reason why you can't have a standard UK plate.

 

On the other hand, I don't have a totally standard plate (because, having had one in the past, I think they look ****) and fitted the smallest legal (hopefully... ) one I could, so I feel your pain.

 

* virtually because at some point the height of the plate will be restricted by the bottom of it meeting the ground...

 

 

More importantly:

The thing that gets me is that motor bikes dont have a front plate at all , so why should it be deemed so important for a car to have one

They chin it off quite legally in America...

[gordy.r]

the front plate holder may be smaller than a UK-spec's but is also open-ended so a plate of any width and virtually* any height can actually be fitted. To that end there isn't any particular reason why you can't have a standard UK plate.

 

I see what you are saying, but my import reg holder curves down at either side, meaning a standard UK plate would either have to sit lower or at a raised elevation over the ends thus looking a bit weird and not being flush, or I would have to modify the holder.

 

Now I'm not one to shy away from common sense and if it means I'm not going to get stopped every 3 days then I'll put a standard UK plate on my car, but if there is a clause where an import is allowed dispensation for a small plate (and let's be honest in the case of 64mm letters versus 79mm they are not worlds apart in size difference), then I don't see why I should be getting slapped with a fine when plod doesn't know the regulations.

 

I'm guessing it is and always will be a grey area, and in general the law is always up to interpretation and we will always be on the wrong side of that interpretation lol

[DaveR]

I'm guessing it is and always will be a grey area, and in general the law is always up to interpretation and we will always be on the wrong side of that interpretation lol

 

Precisely. Mr Policeman doesn't generally know the law he's enforcing at any given time (in my experience) so what chance do we stand...?

[Dnk]

Good to see the new BMW police car etc is being put to good use

Edited June 4, 2014 by Dnk (see edit history)

[jamesmark]

I think a custodial sentence would have fit the crime more than a measly £100.

 

And now for a less serious note . Law is the law but this is where such things get enforced to a level where common sense does not prevail. A 14 day producer would have been a lot better. Yes it is not guaranteed you will keep the plate on, but neither is £100 fine.

 

We should not blame the coppers persay as they now have targets and if you are there and easy picking for them to get their targets then wouldn't we all do that if we had targets to meet? Or will we sweep this under the 'no I wouldn't' carpet to save face on here but you all really would, I for one would.

[JasonR24]

Wow this is pretty pathetic. In today's world police are more like tax enforcers for the rich. Sad times.

[gordy.r]

What got me was, that they didn't even measure it. I know it is smaller than a standard UK plate, Stevie Wonder could tell you that, but if you're going to do me, at least show me the figures. Ho hum :-(

[stevie_b]

I was surprised to see how big the plate was in post 3: I was expecting something that looks like the small print on a mortgage application form, but that one's not too bad from a common sense viewpoint.

 

Get a picture up mate. I try my best not to say anything regarding the police but in this day and age, with all the wrong in the world, this seriously merits the hassle of being pulled over and a £100 fine?

There are serious crimes being committed every day, but IMO that's not a reason to stop chasing people down for the small stuff. Ignoring the petty crimes (e.g. not displaying a number plate, or having a teeny tiny plate) would be a very bad move.

[Fitz]

I may be making this up but I heard that you can run a smaller plate if your registration is 6 characters in total or less?

[Lil]

I have a really small palte on the sup (this is how i bought it)

I've been stopped once and get a notice (6 months ago)

I printed some new number plates....

I thought about it for a second... and... NO!!!

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t1.0-9/1796553_10151859066365588_66784797_n.jpg

I put them in the windscreen instead...

 

But As far I can get this with the small plate.... I don't know what the issue is:

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t1.0-9/1794543_10151874246475588_2108192635_n.jpg

[David P]

The "issue" for the O.P. is not having the plate makers name and postcode at the bottom of the plate, this is mostly substituted with a free advertisement for a car dealer which is just as "illegal".