Got 'done'...

[Harry]

Drove into London yesterday morning, park in a pay and display bay and start doing some work aas i am early for my meeting.

The traffic passing me is slow and out of the corner of my eye i can see this policeoffice on his motorbike and because the traffic was slow he stopped infront of my car. Gets off his bike and i pretend like i've not seen him and carry on with my work. He stands outside my window for around 5 seconds before i look up with a surprised look on my face. i open the door and he asks what my license plate is meant to read as he can never make them out.

i get out of the car and go round to the front of the car where we discuss the ins and out of personalised license plates. now don't get me wrong i know my plate do not confirm with the strict guidelines of the law but i still find it ridiculous!!

This is the plate....




He fined me for £30 quid for illegal spacing of the letters!!! Not because the fake screw covers (which i just glued on) obstruct the bottom of the "8" to make it look like an "R" and not because the "1" isn't supposed to have a tail on it, but because the spacing isn't correct!!

I'd just like to know whether this has happenend to anybody else, Abyss, i know you might've got a bit of grief for yours.

My girlfriend raised and good point (as she also has a personalised plate with illegal spacing), what about the drivers with private number plates, they can have whatever their wallets will allow and there is no standard format for them.

[AJA]

To be honest mate, the spacing of your letters is way out. They're not just a little bit out are they.

So -

1. The spacing is completely way out
2. You have glued on fake screw covers
3. the '1' has a tail.

I think that the combination of all three made him look twice at the number plate. I don't know whether he could of done you for all three things.

Just my opinion mate. I'm not having a dig at you.

[andy.l]

hmmm

they do look a iccle outa the ordinary m8,
you also got to think on wots gone on in london in the past few
months aswell they are bound to pull anyone that has (dodgy lookin
plated as they will think) they cant take any chances,

have they said u must get them back to normal or anyfin ???

[Adamant]

It's obviously H18 RYM and any copper could see that so it's not as though you're getting away with a pull.

It's probably because ANPR would have a problem with it.

[Andy]

be honest mate, when you fitted the plate and had the glue in your hands as you were sticking the fake caps on, im betting you thought to yourself 'i'd be suprised if i dont get stopped for this' and already had your blurb ready for when the inevitable happened........

[Adamant]

£30 fine is probably a quite light "let-off". I'd guess they could give you points if they wanted?

[Duncan]

Gotta agree with AJA, Andyvec and Andy m8 - the spacing between the Y and M is rather huge.not to mention the tail on the 1.

Don't forget, even the people with personalised number plates still have to abide by the regulations etc for spacing eg a well known comedian has the reg COM 1C. He would, or should, get pulled if he spaced it so that it read COM1C as it would no longer read how it is written down in the vehicle registration document.

At the end of the day, £30 isn't too outrageous, and no points, so maybe you just need to resign yourself to the fact that they were pushing it a bit and rectify them to avoid getting pulled again?

D

[Harry]

i do agree with everyone who said that the plates look completely illegal, the dot in the 8 and the tail on the 1 etc etc.

but the amount of cars you see with some italic font or illegally spaced characters is ridiculous.

i've actually been collared for them before but only got a warning, they said that if they were traffic police then i would've got 3 points as well as a 60 pound fine!! now that scared the **** out of me!

i think what i'll do is get the legal ones made up and leave them in the boot, if i called pulled again then i'll say i've had them made but need to get to the garage to have them fitted. i'll probably end up with points and another fine, for which i'll kick myself!!

i was just wondering whether anyone else has had a similar experience.

i can understand what with everything that has gone on in recent months that precautions have to be taken, but the car isn't an old banger, i havent "intentionallly" made the plates illegible, and i'm in a suit so i don't think they would have cause to be suspicious. but that said, i do accept that even a bomber could drive a nice car and wear a suit.

[David2452]

i i havent "intentionallly" made the plates illegible, and i'm in a suit so i don't think they would have cause to be suspicious.

Now I don't want to offend anyone but ....................................

To paraphrase Harry Hill "Oh yes you have" (at least you have intentionaly made them completely different to what they should be i.e. a means of quickly & easily identifying your particular vehicle)

David

[Duncan]

Gotta agree with David. You have, by your 'actions', made them less legible.

Say your car was involved in a hit and run and I was an eye witness who only got a quick look at your plates. I couldn't register the plate as quickly as it is now, compared to how it should be.

I agree that there are worse ones out there. I've seen truely illegible script plates on cars. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Once again, not having a dig at you - but I can understand why the bike cop pulled you.

D