So.. stumbled on a write up somewhere..
No number plate on the front - £30 ish fine..
Illegal number plate - Jap - small - wrong spacing etc is actually
'worse offence' than not having one at all :p

A personal plate with the above offence - DVLA can take the plate off you ..

So.. consulted the legal size charts for front number plate..
Got one made .. put it on 4" strap brackets under the nose..

Now..When driving it flips under the car & allows movement over any speed bumps..
When slow or stationary it hangs all nice n legal..
Sorted.

Whilst fooling around with the cats toy laser pen .. (cat chases the beam around)
I pointed it across the road.. houses .. chimneys etc as you do..
I then looked at a neighbours nice new car parked a good 100ft away..
Hmm a white front number plate.. pointed the itty bitty laser pen at it..
It lit up soooo bright off such a tiny beam.

Now call me an old fool..
But..
The reflection off that plate back to a speed cam or van must be fabulous..
The reflection off a modern aerodynamic car must be low - but that number plate - wow..
Mine is now on hinges.. under the car when at speed.. also a legal plate.. see how it goes ..

Is there a question in there? or just a statement? lol

Lasers are very a concetratared powerful light source, so on a reflective surface intended to highly reflect regular bright light, it will look impressive.
Laser distance measurers use highly reflective boards to both increase distance and accuracy.

Look up "retroreflector", that is why is so bright.

I was tempted to go without a plate as I don't really like the plate on the front.
But.. the offence/penalty could be heavier for my small Jap plate.
The legal one on strap hinges is looking like a very good solution to me..

quote:

---

Originally posted by johnemms
I was tempted to go without a plate as I don't really like the plate on the front.
But.. the offence/penalty could be heavier for my small Jap plate.
The legal one on strap hinges is looking like a very good solution to me..

---

Bellow states pretty much 'anything' that plod says alters the view of the plate is a no no..
Looks like lead weights on the bottom of my plate to stop it folding under

Further requirements for registration plates
11.—(1) No reflex-reflecting material may be applied to any part of a registration plate and
the plate must not be treated in such a way that the characters of the registration mark become,
or are caused to act as, retroreflective characters.
(2) A registration plate must not be treated in any other way which renders the characters
of the registration mark less easily distinguishable to the eye or which would prevent or impair
the making of a true photographic image of the plate through the medium of camera and film
or any other device.
(3) A registration plate must not be fixed to a vehicle—
(a) by means of a screw, bolt or other fixing device of any type or colour,
(b) by the placing of a screw, bolt or other fixing device in any position, or

(c) in any other manner,

which has the effect of changing the appearance or legibility of any of the characters of the
registration mark, which renders the characters of the registration mark less easily
distinguishable to the eye or which prevents or impairs the making of a true photographic image
of the plate through the medium of camera and film or any other device.

[Edited on 16/6/14 by johnemms]

Read a post earlier ... Sounds extreme but...

Depending on how upset PC Plod is, and particularly if they then do a manual check and find that you have already been warned about it previously, they could either issue you with a FPN, or decide to make a point of it and simply sieze your car on the spot (its not just illegal but in the eyes of the law its un roadworthy).

They could then arrest you on the spot and drag you to a magistrates court where at the worst you could face BOTH an automatic level 3 fine (£1,000) and be required to pay for the car to have an MOT to confirm the licence plate is properly located before you put it on the road again, AND because you have chosen to drive a vehicle knowing it to be unfit for the road you could get at least 3 points on your license (the law explicitly requires the driver to be satisfied that any vehicle they drive is roadworthy).

Oh and points on your license will probably mean a bigger insurance premium.

Not entirely legal but I never fitted one to the front as I vainly thought it spoilt the look. I did however carry a brand new plate in the boot incase I got pulled. I had well rehearsed the "I've just been to buy a new plate officer as the old one fell off". I never got pulled and I even had a 20 min chat with a traffic plod at a petrol station who was asking all about the car, he never even mentioned the missing plate

It all kicked off for me with exotic & Ferraris not having one on the front ..
Seemed like a lot of peeps duck n dive with the front plate ..

I haven't had a number plate since the car was registered in August last year. I've followed numerous police cars/vans and never been questioned.

I'd rather take the £30 fine.

[Edited on 16/6/14 by daveb666]

I had a 2/3rds plate on one of my old tintops for about 4 years. I got pulled a fair few times, and only once did the 5-oh mention it. Got pulled for something unrelated, and he said I should get it changed, if he saw me again he would fine me. I guess he never saw me again as i didnt change it!
The bonus with 2/3rds is its such a small difference (emphasised even less on small car) that most dont notice it.


My bro has a 1/2 size one on his rocco, but gets told off often enough that keeps a full size one to swap to, hes never been fined.