Fixed Penalty Information

**pon** · 01-07-2009,07:16 PM

Hi All

Today the fines for not wearing seat belts and for displaying illegal number plates has doubled from £30 to £60.
The increases follow public consultation and aim to ensure seatbelts are used to reduce fatal accidents - the Home Office say that wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of dying in a 30mph accident by 60 per cent. The increase also covers misrepresentation of vehicle registration marks, including failure to conform with rules on font, size and colour of number plates.
The use of illegal number plates can have a significant impact on criminal investigations and crime detection apparently.

**Andy J** · 02-07-2009,07:36 AM

It's about time there was a greater penalty for ilegaly altering number plates for the sake of vanity, I've nothing against personal plates but I've seem some that have been blatently altered to the degree that it is hard to read what the original number should be and up till now the police seem to ignore it, let's hope it's enforced properly.

**eob** · 02-07-2009,11:24 AM

Originally Posted by Andy J

It's about time there was a greater penalty for ilegaly altering number plates for the sake of vanity, I've nothing against personal plates but I've seem some that have been blatently altered to the degree that it is hard to read what the original number should be and up till now the police seem to ignore it, let's hope it's enforced properly.

I doubt it. There is a female Peugeot driver that I see regularly at the junction of the A71 and the A77 in Kilmarnock. She (but most probably hubby) has altered two 1's with a black bolt to look like a 'U'.(You know who you are) This is on her second Pug now so she obviously hasn't been repremanded.
I don't know why, but it really annoys me when I see it.

Private plates themselves generate a 15 minute rant from me. My wife bought me one for my birthday once and it has been nothing but bother.
Bloomin DVLA

**hagis** · 02-07-2009,12:52 PM

Do you get points for having a dodgy set of plates? I'd hope so, I agree with the other posters on here. It's a minor offence but it still a legal requirement. It annoys me seeing motorbikes with tiny plates on them, obviously an attempt to try and cut down on the likelihood of getting caught speeding.

**mwvw** · 02-07-2009,01:01 PM

£30 or £60 doesn't make that much difference, unless you have more police to enforce the law and drivers realise that the likelyhood of being caught is greater then you're not going to see that much change.

**Crasher** · 02-07-2009,01:10 PM

Another stealth tax increase. It would make sense if we actually had Police officers out on patrol. The reason they don’t like doctored number plates is not for crime detection, it is so they can automatically send you a speeding ticket in the post for doing 33 in a 30 rather than having to examine the photo to get the number.

**Andy J** · 02-07-2009,07:46 PM

Originally Posted by Crasher

Another stealth tax increase. It would make sense if we actually had Police officers out on patrol. The reason they don’t like doctored number plates is not for crime detection, it is so they can automatically send you a speeding ticket in the post for doing 33 in a 30 rather than having to examine the photo to get the number.

It's hardly a stealth tax, don't display an ilegal number plate and you won't get fined, simple, some plates I've seen have been doctored so much that you can't make out what the plate should read. When I lived up north I regularly saw a 6 series BMW driven by a young male, the numbers on the plate were basicaly formed by using a 2mm ish black outline against the reflective yellow plate, you could just about read it if you were sat behind the car stationary, however any more than a car lenth in front and all you could see was the yellow plate, the plate had been on the car for some time as dirt was creeping in between the perspex and the yellow back.

These people deserve to get huge fines and points IMHO.

**Crasher** · 02-07-2009,10:22 PM

I don’t like illegal number plates either (especially those with non approved national flags) but perhaps if they put that much effort into catching rapists, murders, thieves and other general low life’s we could all sleep a little better. The only reason the authorities give a toss about chav number plates is it makes it more difficult to send out speeding fines. Reactive policing is not the solution, preventative action gets results. It is far better to slip on a condom than to shove the woman down the scrape clinic when the deed has been done!

**onzarob** · 02-07-2009,10:32 PM

Number plate rules are to help ANPR Cameras. I don't mind ANPR as it catches people who have No road Tax, Insurance or MOT. Which is good for us who shell £1000's because of to keep our car legal.

I just get annoyed when cameras are making criminals out of us who go 10% over the speed limit

**Crasher** · 02-07-2009,11:51 PM

I totally agree, it was 10% over I was doing but the ******** lied and said I was doing 37 when I know for a fact I was doing 33. I am ashamed to say I did not have the guts, time or money to fight them; I rolled over and paid up. The whole system is completely pointless (sic), they say it has reduced road deaths as they have fallen but the truth is that accidents themselves have gone up, safer cars are reducing casualties. The M1 near Nottingham proves that slower speeds and cameras don't work. Between 25 and 29 is daily carnage in a 50mph Specs camera area, almost every day there is a major incident.