Number plate question

2-step · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:37

Wise people of motors

could someone inform me of the consequences of not running a front number plate?

like is it a fine and points?

thanks!

Sone · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:39

everyone thinks you are a *****

2-step · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:43

apart form that.... :rolleyes:

anyone got any helpful reply's ?

Sone · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:46

afaik its pretty minimal,

Just a £30 fine no points

Trifid · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:52

Sone said:
afaik its pretty minimal,

Just a £30 fine no points

£60 fine, no points. It is now the same as an illegal plate.

Morba · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:53

Sone said:
everyone thinks you are a *****

Really? I prefer no front plate on cars tbh. Couldn't care if someone doesnt have one.

semi-pro waster · 10 Apr 2011 at 12:55

Even if it's not going to cause you to get points but merely fined, in theory wouldn't it rather increase the chances of being stopped by the police and having to explain why you're not using a front numberplate anyway which would seem to me to be somewhat inconvenient?

Felix Da Housecat · 10 Apr 2011 at 13:03

I once lost my front numberplate when driving from York to South Wales once, only found out when I got there that it was missing and I didn't get any trouble from the police over it either.

Well seeing as there was the remains of the tape holding it on so had I got stopped it would have been easy to explain that it had mearly fallen off.

eidolon · 10 Apr 2011 at 13:07

I don't really see why it's illegal not to have a front number plate when motorbikes don't have them.

stoofa · 10 Apr 2011 at 17:07

eidolon said:
I don't really see why it's illegal not to have a front number plate when motorbikes don't have them.

I don't know why it would be considered illegal for me to make a third lane in non-moving traffic and me filtering down the middle in my car.

Oh, because it's a bike and not a car possibly?

Morba · 10 Apr 2011 at 17:24

stoofa said:
I don't know why it would be considered illegal for me to make a third lane in non-moving traffic and me filtering down the middle in my car.

Oh, because it's a bike and not a car possibly?

How on earth is that comparable?

Disco Boy · 10 Apr 2011 at 17:32

semi-pro waster said:
Even if it's not going to cause you to get points but merely fined, in theory wouldn't it rather increase the chances of being stopped by the police and having to explain why you're not using a front numberplate anyway which would seem to me to be somewhat inconvenient?

"Oh dear officer, I had no idea! It was there when I set off!"
or
"I know officer, I'm very sorry. It fell of earlier and I've picked it up *shows plate* I'm on my way to my garage to get it put back on, unless you have anything I could use to re-attach it?"

Savara · 10 Apr 2011 at 17:32

Hang on a minute... so can bikes not get done by those backwards facing (i.e. they take a photo of the front of the car) speed-cameras? I've only just thought about that.

Firestar_3x · 10 Apr 2011 at 17:34

I basically had no numberplate on the front of the MX5 for 2 years and covered around 30k in that time, never had an issue.

Semple · 10 Apr 2011 at 17:39

Savara said:
Hang on a minute... so can bikes not get done by those backwards facing (i.e. they take a photo of the front of the car) speed-cameras? I've only just thought about that.

Not usually. There was an article on the BBC news website a few weeks ago about some bloke getting caught speeding through a front-facing speed camera because he had a unique bike and gear so it was easy for the police to find him.

semi-pro waster · 10 Apr 2011 at 18:12

Disco Boy said:
"Oh dear officer, I had no idea! It was there when I set off!"
or
"I know officer, I'm very sorry. It fell of earlier and I've picked it up *shows plate* I'm on my way to my garage to get it put back on, unless you have anything I could use to re-attach it?"

Leaving aside that lying to police officers isn't generally a policy I'd recommend I was thinking more of the inconvenience of being stopped, potentially fined and presumably noted down as the recipient of a fine - this could happen on a number of occasions if you aren't actually going to put the plate on. I don't know whether the police check back on these sorts of offences or whether they even have the ability but if they do then those excuses become rather like "my grandma has just died so couldn't come into work today" i.e. a rather limited shelflife for use if you're stopped.

Then again - what are the chances of getting stopped for it? If the rewards are higher than you view the risk to be then go for it.

[TW]Fox · 10 Apr 2011 at 18:45

I do hate the fact we have to have a front numberplate

Infact I hate everything about our pathetic numberplate system, from the stupid oversized bits of perspex to the obsession with age identifiers.

Firestar_3x · 10 Apr 2011 at 18:48

Wish we had a rear plate only which was made out of pressed metal and of a slightly smaller size, still trying to decide if a plate issued once you pass which you keep for life is a good idea or not.

DM · 10 Apr 2011 at 18:55

Firestar_3x said:
Wish we had a rear plate only which was made out of pressed metal and of a slightly smaller size, still trying to decide if a plate issued once you pass which you keep for life is a good idea or not.

Plate for life is the way forward, never gonna happen though, too much money in the system we have now.

TheVoice · 10 Apr 2011 at 19:03

Removing the requirement for a front numberplate would result inANPR (and Truvelo) camera systems being less effective. Granted, from a speed enforcement point of view I doubt anyone would mind, but bear in mind ANPR is also used by police for far more useful things.