Congestion Charge/Pre 1971 number plates
Congestion Charge/Pre 1971 number plates
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Discussion

V8rumble

Original Poster:

67 posts

221 months

Sunday 26th October
quotequote all
At the end of November there is an “Defender” meet starting in Belgrave Square. I plan to take my 1965 Series IIA which wears black and silver number plates. I think the consensus is that ANPR cameras don’t read these number plates, but I am not certain .
So I plan to pre register the car and provide a credit card that in theory means every time I drive into a chargeable. Zone payment is made. My theory is this will avoid any penalties for non payment but also won’t incur a charge as the ANPR cameras won’t realise my car was there. Any one has any thoughts on this?

normalbloke

8,234 posts

238 months

Sunday 26th October
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What credible source do you have that they won’t be readable?

Hawkshaw

183 posts

54 months

Sunday 26th October
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AIUI, if ANPR cannot read a plate, it will alert a human operator who will be able to read it.

Mandat

4,322 posts

257 months

Sunday 26th October
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V8rumble said:
At the end of November there is an Defender meet starting in Belgrave Square. I plan to take my 1965 Series IIA which wears black and silver number plates. I think the consensus is that ANPR cameras don t read these number plates, but I am not certain .
So I plan to pre register the car and provide a credit card that in theory means every time I drive into a chargeable. Zone payment is made. My theory is this will avoid any penalties for non payment but also won t incur a charge as the ANPR cameras won t realise my car was there. Any one has any thoughts on this?
Give it a go. The cameras are not infallible.

On my previous, non-ULEZ, car I was only charged intermittently when I drove in the CC zone, perhaps only 1 in 5 times.

When ULEZ came in, I was getting charged the ULEZ fee every I drove in the zone, while at the same time the CC fee was still only charged 20% of the time.

I presume that the ULEZ & CC systems don't share the same cameras or database, hence the anomaly, however it goes to show that for whatever the reasons, the cameras are not 100% perfect.

balham123

104 posts

18 months

Monday 27th October
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There was definitely a rumour that black and white plates were unreadable by cameras, I think that's why so many modern cars use them. Possibly for supermarket car parks and the like they are effective, I would be amazed if proper ampr camera had a problem

V8rumble

Original Poster:

67 posts

221 months

Monday 27th October
quotequote all
What credible source do you have that they won’t be readable?


Some years ago I was driving a 2001 Morgan in Wandsworth. It has a 6 digit non dating number plate. It was wearing Black and silver number plates cos they look better on old cars. Two police motorcycles pulled me over . I told them I had just been to a show and had the appropriate yellow and white number plates with me. The policeman said the biggest issue in London was terrorism and the cameras can not read the black and silver. This was about maybe 10 years ago. Things could have changed

sospan

2,754 posts

241 months

Monday 27th October
quotequote all
Us Morgan owners are sometimes mistaken for terrorists. My 2002 Plus8 showed as ULEZ compliant but that eventually changed. I think the TFLdatabase management is not the best maintained.

OutInTheShed

12,599 posts

45 months

Monday 27th October
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V8rumble said:
What credible source do you have that they won t be readable?


Some years ago I was driving a 2001 Morgan in Wandsworth. It has a 6 digit non dating number plate. It was wearing Black and silver number plates cos they look better on old cars. Two police motorcycles pulled me over . I told them I had just been to a show and had the appropriate yellow and white number plates with me. The policeman said the biggest issue in London was terrorism and the cameras can not read the black and silver. This was about maybe 10 years ago. Things could have changed
What ANPR can and cannot read can be a messy area.
Years ago, I used to struggle to get out of a certain airport car park because I had a shed with an old format number.
Other times, ANPR has been known to recognise random text on the back of a van as someone else's number.

It's evolving software, treading a line between failing to read and falsely reading.

If the machine fails to read, a human might or might not intervene.
My solution is generally not to drive inside the M25.

the-norseman

14,724 posts

190 months

Monday 27th October
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My thoughts on it are, what a pointless thread.

You'll either get charged for congestion charge, or wont.

Speed Badger

3,311 posts

136 months

Monday 27th October
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ANPR can read them just fine. It's vehicle front grilles they like to read as 111101111011 sometimes depending on what it is!

CHLEMCBC

907 posts

36 months

Tuesday
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Google's AI mode says this:

No, standard UK ANPR cameras cannot reliably read black number plates, as modern ANPR systems are designed to work with the reflective white and yellow backgrounds required on all vehicles registered since 1973. This is because black plates lack the necessary reflective material, causing them to be difficult to read in both day and night, although they are only legal on vehicles registered before 1973.
Why black number plates are not read by ANPR cameras
Lack of reflectivity: Modern number plates use reflective materials to be visible to ANPR cameras, which use infrared light to read them.
Non-reflective characters: The characters on a black plate are not reflective, making them hard for the camera to identify.
Incorrect background: UK law requires front plates to have a white reflective background and rear plates to have a yellow reflective background for all vehicles registered after 1973.

normalbloke

8,234 posts

238 months

Wednesday
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CHLEMCBC said:
Google's AI mode says this:

No, standard UK ANPR cameras cannot reliably read black number plates, as modern ANPR systems are designed to work with the reflective white and yellow backgrounds required on all vehicles registered since 1973. This is because black plates lack the necessary reflective material, causing them to be difficult to read in both day and night, although they are only legal on vehicles registered before 1973.
Why black number plates are not read by ANPR cameras
Lack of reflectivity: Modern number plates use reflective materials to be visible to ANPR cameras, which use infrared light to read them.
Non-reflective characters: The characters on a black plate are not reflective, making them hard for the camera to identify.
Incorrect background: UK law requires front plates to have a white reflective background and rear plates to have a yellow reflective background for all vehicles registered after 1973.
Why did you choose to do that?

the-norseman

14,724 posts

190 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
normalbloke said:
Why did you choose to do that?
Because its cool to drop "ChatGPT" and AI into convos at the moment.

normalbloke

8,234 posts

238 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
the-norseman said:
normalbloke said:
Why did you choose to do that?
Because its cool to drop "ChatGPT" and AI into convos at the moment.
If only it was..it’s utterly tedious at the moment. Almost reminds me of this, but at least at the time this was slightly amusing…

https://letmegooglethat.com/

speedking31

3,757 posts

155 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
CHLEMCBC said:
Google's AI mode says this:

Non-reflective characters: The characters on a black plate are not reflective, making them hard for the camera to identify.
Errr... The characters on yellow/white plate are not reflective.