Strange one

[scottishvolvo]

M8 tonight about 5:15, volvo 240gl estate, black, possibly heading onto M77
NSP 8**H. Stood out because of the silver and black rear plate.
Looked in pretty good nick.

[S70 B5254T]

Must be a cherished transfer as the suffix "H" was issued in 1969/70 which is a few years before the 240 was released. Black & silver/white plates are only legal on pre-1973 registered vehicles, but I'm sure the police don't mind - most of them appreciate a well-maintained classic!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by 854 1984cc 20v

Must be a cherished transfer as the suffix "H" was issued in 1969/70 which is a few years before the 240 was released. Black & silver/white plates are only legal on pre-1973 registered vehicles, but I'm sure the police don't mind - most of them appreciate a well-maintained classic!

The police dont mind any form of illegal plate it seems by the huge number out there and the same ones out there month after month .....

[S70 B5254T]

Mmmm - think it depends upon the area you're in, as I happen to know that plenty of tickets are issued in our locality; but if they stopped and issued tickets for them all, they probably wouldn't have time for much else!

Plus, there's an element of chance involved, when you consider how frequently a car with dodgy plates passes a marked police car - there's never a police car around when you want one to come along and deal with the idiot you've just seen, whether they have illegible plates on their car, or if they've got their handheld 'phone glued to their ear whilst swerving in the road... etc etc!

[Clan]

There are ANPR cameras everywhere now , all they have to do is send the fines out .. and take them to court on a second offence . People take their illegal plates off for their MOT and put them back after and the MOT Testers know this .

[S70 B5254T]

As I say, there are plenty of tickets issued for plates in our locality.

ANPR is not and could not be used routinely for relatively minor traffic violations; it's primary use is to target terrorists and criminals who travel into different force areas; it reads legible plates automatically, so owners of the worst plates would not be traced anyway!

MOTs are a different subject; it varies from garage to garage (which is ridiculous in itself) but examiners who do choose to examine the plates can only judge the plate that is fixed to the vehicle during the test - even if they see the owner screw on a different set straight after the test, they are powerless to do anything about it. In any case, I've recently heard that the latest guidance to testers is not to bother examining the plates - probably because they'd have to fail so many vehicles due to there being so many variations of plates available for "Joe Public" to buy. The only way to deal with it is for the physical plates to be manufactured and supplied exclusively through local authorities, as in Germany.

Regards, Nick