Front number plate .........???
Discussion
Anyone help with the definitive size for a car front number plate?
The standard size plate fills most of the rad aperature on the TVR and causes the engine to run too hot. (Removing the plate on a trackday reduced the water temp by more than 10 deg.)
It seems like stick on plates (as E-types, Healeys, Morgans etc used to use) are no longer legal?
If the reg is short (like 11 ABC), is the plate still legal if the excess plate at each end is cut off, leaving the 11mm margin all round?
I can find no reference to the size of the plate - only to letter font, size and spacing.
I've asked at a local MOT testing station, Halfords (as licensed plate makers) and plod HQ and no-one can (or wants?) to give me the answer.
If the search engine had not been disabled, I'd have tried a search on PH first in case this has been covered before.
The standard size plate fills most of the rad aperature on the TVR and causes the engine to run too hot. (Removing the plate on a trackday reduced the water temp by more than 10 deg.)
It seems like stick on plates (as E-types, Healeys, Morgans etc used to use) are no longer legal?
If the reg is short (like 11 ABC), is the plate still legal if the excess plate at each end is cut off, leaving the 11mm margin all round?
I can find no reference to the size of the plate - only to letter font, size and spacing.
I've asked at a local MOT testing station, Halfords (as licensed plate makers) and plod HQ and no-one can (or wants?) to give me the answer.
If the search engine had not been disabled, I'd have tried a search on PH first in case this has been covered before.
Can anybody also say if it is legal to drill holes in parts of the plate to let air through. What is the minimum amount of reflective material that you must leave behind (as long as there is a border at 11mm from the letters.
For example if my reg were BBB 888 would it be illegal to drill out the centres of the letters and numbers, not leaving any reflective in the middles.
Russ
For example if my reg were BBB 888 would it be illegal to drill out the centres of the letters and numbers, not leaving any reflective in the middles.
Russ
So many questions so little time
Go to work on
[url]www.tinyurl.com/m7v5
If I recall the overall size is within the BS authorisation.
DVD
>> Edited by Dwight VanDriver on Wednesday 25th August 07:41
Go to work on
[url]www.tinyurl.com/m7v5
If I recall the overall size is within the BS authorisation.
DVD
>> Edited by Dwight VanDriver on Wednesday 25th August 07:41
Previous thread should help on number plate size: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&h=&t=11862
Mike
Mike
I'm confused.
You guys are concerned that your front plates may not be quite legal if you use stick-on ones, for which the penalty is, probably, £30 and no points, yet you, like me, will probably drive at over the posted limit with the risk of £60 and 3 points each time.
The best thing these days is a broken or obscured front plate to defeat the Talivans. In fact, I have a friend who drives long distances and his V6 Mondeo has a front plate which is snapped in half, with one half missing. It takes hi 5 minutes to take off the good one and fit the broken one. He's been using this for over 9 months, never been stopped and he is possibly Talivan-immune. His Road Angel locates the fixed cameras.
You guys are concerned that your front plates may not be quite legal if you use stick-on ones, for which the penalty is, probably, £30 and no points, yet you, like me, will probably drive at over the posted limit with the risk of £60 and 3 points each time.
The best thing these days is a broken or obscured front plate to defeat the Talivans. In fact, I have a friend who drives long distances and his V6 Mondeo has a front plate which is snapped in half, with one half missing. It takes hi 5 minutes to take off the good one and fit the broken one. He's been using this for over 9 months, never been stopped and he is possibly Talivan-immune. His Road Angel locates the fixed cameras.
The rules spell out the minimum size & spacing of the letters and the min. gap to the edge of the plate. Therefore you can infer the minimum legal size for your particular registration mark
www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regmarks/reg_marks_current_requirements.htm
www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regmarks/reg_marks_current_requirements.htm
Dwight VanDriver said:
So many questions so little time
Go to work on
[url]www.tinyurl.com/m7v5
If I recall the overall size is within the BS authorisation.
DVD
>> Edited by Dwight VanDriver on Wednesday 25th August 07:41
Thanks for the link. I've already read this document end-to-end
(yep, sad isn't it!) and it does not mention the physical plate size. It does however refer to the BS number. The BSI site wants 28 quid for a copy of the doc
- its almost cheaper to risk a fine if a smaller plate isn't entirely legal! 
Anyone got a copy or extract of the BSI standards document that applies?
griff50tvr.
Forget BS Standard it covers other matters other than size.
Size of characters in Regs are either 79mm or 89mm depending on date of registration.
Go to the Regs 14 (9) margin top bottom, lateral edges of plate must be not less that shown in line 7 of Table B.
So work out character size equate it to full number, add minumum margins from Table B and this should come up with the legal size for a plate?
DVD
Forget BS Standard it covers other matters other than size.
Size of characters in Regs are either 79mm or 89mm depending on date of registration.
Go to the Regs 14 (9) margin top bottom, lateral edges of plate must be not less that shown in line 7 of Table B.
So work out character size equate it to full number, add minumum margins from Table B and this should come up with the legal size for a plate?
DVD
Dwight VanDriver said:
griff50tvr.
Forget BS Standard it covers other matters other than size.
Size of characters in Regs are either 79mm or 89mm depending on date of registration.
Go to the Regs 14 (9) margin top bottom, lateral edges of plate must be not less that shown in line 7 of Table B.
So work out character size equate it to full number, add minumum margins from Table B and this should come up with the legal size for a plate?
DVD
I agree with your summary but ...... if you get pulled, there's bound to be a jobsworth in the BiB ranks
who's read the contents of the microdot at the end of the BSI Standards doc!!!!! Y'know what I mean? 
After a little more than a week, I got a reply from the DVLA. Here are some extracts -
"It is the Agency's interpretation of the Road Vehicle (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 as amended, that stick-on plates would fail to meet the necessary requirements of the British Standard BSAU145d. However, this is our interpretation and enforcement of the regulations is for the police and other enforcement agencies. Ultimately, matters of law are for the courts to decide. Therefore, if you wish to display a stick-on plate, you must satisfy yourself that you are acting legally, i.e. that the plates comply with the British Standard."
"I can confirm that there are no set measurements for the plate itself. Sizes can vary, but must comply with the current character and spacing sizes as set out in the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001."
So, if the DVLA reckon that a small plate with standard size, typeface & spaced letters and numbers, with a compliant margin, is legal then will plod play the same game?
Any BiB on here care to comment?
Anyone on here got pulled for a small plate where all letters, numbers, spaces & margins were compliant?
"It is the Agency's interpretation of the Road Vehicle (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 as amended, that stick-on plates would fail to meet the necessary requirements of the British Standard BSAU145d. However, this is our interpretation and enforcement of the regulations is for the police and other enforcement agencies. Ultimately, matters of law are for the courts to decide. Therefore, if you wish to display a stick-on plate, you must satisfy yourself that you are acting legally, i.e. that the plates comply with the British Standard."
"I can confirm that there are no set measurements for the plate itself. Sizes can vary, but must comply with the current character and spacing sizes as set out in the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001."
So, if the DVLA reckon that a small plate with standard size, typeface & spaced letters and numbers, with a compliant margin, is legal then will plod play the same game?
Any BiB on here care to comment?
Anyone on here got pulled for a small plate where all letters, numbers, spaces & margins were compliant?
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