Is it illegal to cover number plates when parkedon road?
Discussion
Is it illegal to cover the plates and if so who can this be reported to please as council don’t care!
Is it illegal even in a marked bay on a public road?
Culprit is basically doing it to avoid having to purchase a parking permit as wardens won’t remove the car cover, even just to see the number plate.
I’m wondering if there is a police route to go down to ensure they have their reg showing
Is it illegal even in a marked bay on a public road?
Culprit is basically doing it to avoid having to purchase a parking permit as wardens won’t remove the car cover, even just to see the number plate.
I’m wondering if there is a police route to go down to ensure they have their reg showing
mrbarnett said:
Ignorance is no defence, but until this moment I'd never considered that using a cover on my car (to protect the canvas roof from the winter) for many years had been illegal. Whoops...
Dont think a car cover would be, cars still road legal and in this case still has its number plate on. Removing your number plate while parked on a public road is the same as driving without a number plate. This is the mob rule response to traffic wardens becoming fat and not wanting to get out of their camera equipped smart cars.
Some roads, like where my sister lived in romford are completely over restricted - it was a long, straight, wide road which ran for about half a mile. All the houses had drop kerbs and drive ways which would fit one car however on the rest of the road it was completely no parking at any time.
They even patrolled on Sundays...
i mean, how can you have friends round if the nearest place they can park is half a mile away ?
There was an abundance of towels draped over bonnets and boots that day.
Some roads, like where my sister lived in romford are completely over restricted - it was a long, straight, wide road which ran for about half a mile. All the houses had drop kerbs and drive ways which would fit one car however on the rest of the road it was completely no parking at any time.
They even patrolled on Sundays...
i mean, how can you have friends round if the nearest place they can park is half a mile away ?
There was an abundance of towels draped over bonnets and boots that day.
Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994
Obscured registration mark.
(1) If a registration mark fixed on a vehicle as required by virtue of section 23 is in any way—
.(a) obscured, or
.(b) rendered, or allowed to become, not easily distinguishable, the relevant person is guilty of an offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) In subsection (1) “the relevant person” means the person driving the vehicle or, where it is not being driven, the person keeping it.
(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he took all steps which it was reasonably practicable to take to prevent the mark being obscured or rendered not easily distinguishable.
Now I can understand this is the vehicle is moving, but if it's parked and the number plate is merely obscured by something (e.g. a car cover), the number plate is still present and accessible.
Obscured registration mark.
(1) If a registration mark fixed on a vehicle as required by virtue of section 23 is in any way—
.(a) obscured, or
.(b) rendered, or allowed to become, not easily distinguishable, the relevant person is guilty of an offence.
(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) In subsection (1) “the relevant person” means the person driving the vehicle or, where it is not being driven, the person keeping it.
(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he took all steps which it was reasonably practicable to take to prevent the mark being obscured or rendered not easily distinguishable.
Now I can understand this is the vehicle is moving, but if it's parked and the number plate is merely obscured by something (e.g. a car cover), the number plate is still present and accessible.
I had to do a weird hybrid where Balham wasn't quite all electronic but had a LOT of parking enforcement. I wanted a cover on my Tuscan as it lived on the street.
So I went to a local sewing machine / haberdashery type place and persuaded a friendly Nanna type to insert a little window of clear convertible roof film in a patch (down where tax discs used to be in the bottom left of the windscreen)
She got it bang on from the chalk marks and so the plod / traffic wardens could see the tax disc and the parking permit. From that you got the Reg, Make and model of the car and the credentials they want in the first place.
I didn't get any hassle, as I assume this would classify as making reasonable efforts to display.
So I went to a local sewing machine / haberdashery type place and persuaded a friendly Nanna type to insert a little window of clear convertible roof film in a patch (down where tax discs used to be in the bottom left of the windscreen)
She got it bang on from the chalk marks and so the plod / traffic wardens could see the tax disc and the parking permit. From that you got the Reg, Make and model of the car and the credentials they want in the first place.
I didn't get any hassle, as I assume this would classify as making reasonable efforts to display.
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
Lunchtime said:
Thank you
It’s on a public road, but in a side bay separated by dotted white line.
Who could it be reported to do you think?
So not a public road...a private piece of land possibly?It’s on a public road, but in a side bay separated by dotted white line.
Who could it be reported to do you think?
Legality aside, don't most councils use the wording that a parking permit must be displayed in the window of the car in question? Surely this will net a covered car a ticket until the owner of said car can prove he has a valid permit? Maybe worth quizzing the warden on this if you can catch him.
My reason for caring is that I live in an area covered by parking permits and there isn’t a lot of parking available. This car I don’t think has a permit, but the council can’t check because they can’t move the cover! They could check if the plates were showing but they’re not. So I wondered if there is anyway to get the car to show it’s plates. I would ask the owner but I’ve not seen them!
This isn’t the only vehicle doing this and I guess for me, it’s the principle that I’m paying for a permit and would get a ticket if I wasn’t showing it, yet this vehicle is not adhering to the rules but gets away with it.
You could argue that they are just cleverly playing the system, but as someone who does the right thing, it’s just a bit frustrating that space is taken up by a car that isn’t a resident.
I can’t believe I’m the only one who’s come across this but I couldn’t find much advice online hence coming to this forum.
This isn’t the only vehicle doing this and I guess for me, it’s the principle that I’m paying for a permit and would get a ticket if I wasn’t showing it, yet this vehicle is not adhering to the rules but gets away with it.
You could argue that they are just cleverly playing the system, but as someone who does the right thing, it’s just a bit frustrating that space is taken up by a car that isn’t a resident.
I can’t believe I’m the only one who’s come across this but I couldn’t find much advice online hence coming to this forum.
Lunchtime said:
My reason for caring is that I live in an area covered by parking permits and there isn’t a lot of parking available. This car I don’t think has a permit, but the council can’t check because they can’t move the cover! They could check if the plates were showing but they’re not. So I wondered if there is anyway to get the car to show it’s plates. I would ask the owner but I’ve not seen them!
This isn’t the only vehicle doing this and I guess for me, it’s the principle that I’m paying for a permit and would get a ticket if I wasn’t showing it, yet this vehicle is not adhering to the rules but gets away with it.
You could argue that they are just cleverly playing the system, but as someone who does the right thing, it’s just a bit frustrating that space is taken up by a car that isn’t a resident.
I can’t believe I’m the only one who’s come across this but I couldn’t find much advice online hence coming to this forum.
Go on, admit you're a teeny bit jealous. This isn’t the only vehicle doing this and I guess for me, it’s the principle that I’m paying for a permit and would get a ticket if I wasn’t showing it, yet this vehicle is not adhering to the rules but gets away with it.
You could argue that they are just cleverly playing the system, but as someone who does the right thing, it’s just a bit frustrating that space is taken up by a car that isn’t a resident.
I can’t believe I’m the only one who’s come across this but I couldn’t find much advice online hence coming to this forum.
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