Driving with no front plate
Discussion
It seems to be the norm that supercar owners drive around with no front number plate and use the excuse if questioned 'that it has just fallen off' or 'someone has stolen it'.
Recently there has been a plethora of average speed cameras in my local area so if I was to remove the front number plate of my car how long do you think I would get away with it, bearing in mind traffic cops seem to be a rare sight nowadays.
I would imagine you could use the stolen plate or plate fell off excuse once so my question is for PHers who have driven around with no front plate, how long have you got away with it and what has been the penalty when caught?
Recently there has been a plethora of average speed cameras in my local area so if I was to remove the front number plate of my car how long do you think I would get away with it, bearing in mind traffic cops seem to be a rare sight nowadays.
I would imagine you could use the stolen plate or plate fell off excuse once so my question is for PHers who have driven around with no front plate, how long have you got away with it and what has been the penalty when caught?
Presumably they find their way back on for the MOT.
A local farmer has been driving around selling produce in a Land Rover with trailer with a (badly) hand written rear numberplate ever since I moved to my current area (10 years now). See him most days but presumably it's never caused him a problem.
A local farmer has been driving around selling produce in a Land Rover with trailer with a (badly) hand written rear numberplate ever since I moved to my current area (10 years now). See him most days but presumably it's never caused him a problem.
Edited by ukaskew on Wednesday 7th June 21:14
crostonian said:
I'm tempted to give it a try, my car is fully legit, I don't drink so what's the worst that can happen if I get stopped! Might look a bit odd though a 5 Series with no front plate!
Leave some sticky pads on the front and carry a broken plate that has road scuffs on it in the boot....just fell off ocifer???GTIAlex said:
Non issue really.
If a bike doesnt need a visible front plate then neither does a car.
They do actually, under the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) regulations 2001. Motorbikes registered before (IIRC) 2001 can choose to display a front registration if they want to. Motorbikes registered after that are prohibited from doing so.If a bike doesnt need a visible front plate then neither does a car.
For cars, there is no such exemption or choice. A car must display a front registration plate.
Don't like the rules? Get a bike.
21TonyK said:
I had no front plate on my Lotus for 7 or 8 years. No issues at all. Always had a spare plate behind the seat with Velcro mounts as a replacement "sorry just done a track days and forgot officer" but never needed.
Mine came off in a field and I genuinely meant to re-fit it but just never remembered apart from when I was about to go somewhere, at which point there was no time and I've been doing that for well over a year.Some cars look 'right' without a front plate so it doesn't automatically catch your eye that it doesn't have one - I suspect a Mondeo without a front plate would stand out much more than my Lotus did.
Mine fell off and I ran it over. I didn't have a clue and drove from London to Wisley then to Stevenage then back to London all in a day. Found the plate on my street outside my house the next day.
Drove around without one on the front for over 2 weeks. Lots of Police cars saw the car and did nothing. I drive past a Police station every other day with lots of Police on foot on the pavements going in and out and nobody said anything. In fact one PCSO crossed in front of me at a crossing, looked at the front of the car with confusion and then carried on walking...
The ONLY person who said anything was the chick in my local petrol station. She said she saw the car drive up and was wondering if it would be a drive off but soon as she saw me get out she didn't need to worry. She gave me more hassle about it than any Police did!
Eventually the new plate turned up and I put it back on the car. The car looked so much better without a front number plate though...
Drove around without one on the front for over 2 weeks. Lots of Police cars saw the car and did nothing. I drive past a Police station every other day with lots of Police on foot on the pavements going in and out and nobody said anything. In fact one PCSO crossed in front of me at a crossing, looked at the front of the car with confusion and then carried on walking...
The ONLY person who said anything was the chick in my local petrol station. She said she saw the car drive up and was wondering if it would be a drive off but soon as she saw me get out she didn't need to worry. She gave me more hassle about it than any Police did!
Eventually the new plate turned up and I put it back on the car. The car looked so much better without a front number plate though...
I would say it is very much an 'attitude' offence. The chances of you getting pulled for it alone is pretty miniscule but if/when you are pulled for something else, it not only gives them another £60 they can whack onto your FPN and it may make it harder to talk your way out of a minor offence as just being a 'moment of madness' if they believe you've shown a capacity to disregard another (albeit minor) law.
Personally I can't talk though, Ive got a stick on plate, it's sized and spaced right but still a technical C&U failure as it lacks a BS kite and isn't entirely flat. At least I can claim negligence for that rather than wanton disregard of the law
Personally I can't talk though, Ive got a stick on plate, it's sized and spaced right but still a technical C&U failure as it lacks a BS kite and isn't entirely flat. At least I can claim negligence for that rather than wanton disregard of the law
I ran my TVR without a front plate for a few years with no issue at all, but since the barryboys started putting their front plates on the sunvisors, the local Police at the time started to crack down on them. Put my plate back on to save any potential grief, and never took it off again.
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