Motorists risk £1,000 fines for dodgy number plates – is yours legal?

DODGY number plates are pretty common, as people try to add “personalisation” to their cars – or even avoid speeding fines.

But motorists with non-standard plates are putting themselves at risk of hefty fines.

Drivers are tweaking plates illegally with thousands of offences recorded each year

Here are the important rules and regulations to bear in mind when you customise your plates.

Is your number plate legal? 

While buying an approved personalised reg is fine, carefully placed bolts or tweaking the spacing to spell out a message is illegal.

So if you have a number plate with “11” in it, placing a black screw head between the two digits to form an “H” is against the rules.

Under law, plates must be legible and conform to a set standard so they’re easy to read as they provide essential info about your vehicle to insurers, police and other drivers.

Failing to do this can land you with the hefty fine, a failed MOT and the loss of the plate.

In a bid to cull the numbers of drivers out on the roads with dodgy plates, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and traffic officers are cracking down.

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What are the mistakes that could get you fined? 

To help drivers stay on the right side of the law, Regtransfers.co.uk has outlined the five mistakes that drivers commonly make with number plates.

1.The wrong colour 

Using the wrong colours. Number plates should have black characters on a white background on the front of your car, and be on a yellow background on the back.

2. Incorrect spacing 

Using the wrong spacing. As the example in the picture above shows, the correct spacing should read AC55 ABC.

3. An illegal background 

Using a non-conforming background that isn’t a plain colour, or stickers which interfere with the plate’s legibility.

4.The wrong font 

Only the standard “Charles Wright” font is acceptable.

5. An invalid flag 

On flags of EU, the UK and the British nations are allowed.

 

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