PaulR Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hello All. Just a warning on something I unexpected and unwanted I received yesterday. My Z is below. I run that numberplate front and back. It's a UK Standard size, font, spec plate etc but missing a space between the 8 and the S. I am aware its on the wrong side of the law but it's hardly illegible. Yesterday I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution from Northumbria Police. I've driven past a 'Safety' Camera Van and the ANPR has picked up that it's a non-standard plate. I wasn't speeding and to add insult to injury the Van was parked outside my bedroom window and is there at least twice a month. Just a warning to everyone running non-standard plates. I wasn't speeding but they've still sent me a NIP. I assume it picks up funny sizes shapes and fonts too, although obviously JDM ones should be OK. Genuinely didn't know Scamera vans picked this up. NB - Not after sympathy...I knew the rules...just a warning to you all and shocked at getting done off a Speed Camera Van outside my own flat at single-digit MPH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Have they fined you or given you points or both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Bad luck bud, think its normally £30 fine for the first two then DVLA take the number off you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Bad luck bud, think its normally £30 fine for the first two then DVLA take the number off you. Is that a new thing as I have been done 6 times for my plates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Thought that was what Nixy was told a while ago, cant find the post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Quads Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Maybe they have improved the software so it can now ready slightly wrong space - would be a fairly easy change to implement in all honestly. It would mean they could read the plate and send on a NIP if its wrongly formed as well as for any other offence committed. I'm guessing if you used a totally non-standard font it would rely on a manual step to read the plate rather than being automated if you use standard font just badly spaced Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulR Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 Have they fined you or given you points or both? Dunno yet....sent the NIP back today....will wait nervously and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I hate the police when it comes to things like this. Whats the bloody point????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesterfield Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 They "can" take the number off you, but dont have to. I doubt they would to be honest. Why bite the hand that feeds afterall? Quite honestly the way that targets and financial incentives have caused the police to switch from crime prevention/detection to revenue generation is absolutely sickening in this country. The plate is hardly illegible, the vehicle is hardly some drab "blends into the crowd" type box, and you have hurt nobody. Yet you will undoubtedly get a fine for it. What a great way of building an improving relations between the police forces and the general public. Ive been done twice for various plates on cars - what a pointless and pathetic use of the police service. Fair enough if the plate is some daft italic scrawl, but being prosecuted for the above is just a complete joke. Lets not bother dealing with the crime issues that affect our country, the issues causing teeneagers to be stabbed to death on our streets, lets leave the drug pushers to flood our streets with crack and god knows what. Lets concentrate on stamping out these slightly mis spaced number plates and serving £30 notices to honest and decent citizens. Absolute joke - and I defy anyone to argue that prosecuting someone like the above case, is in the overall best interests of our community. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigphil Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 They are being particularly active in the north east at the moment. The annoying part is that the reasons they give are to combat terrorism and that misspaced plates restrict their ability to check for suspicious vehicles because the ANPR cameras cant read them which is obviously not true as they have done to be able to send the NIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Sad gits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 They are being particularly active in the north east at the moment.The annoying part is that the reasons they give are to combat terrorism and that misspaced plates restrict their ability to check for suspicious vehicles because the ANPR cameras cant read them which is obviously not true as they have done to be able to send the NIP. That's the ridiculous thing about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3FIDDYZ Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Love that plate, need it on mine Pain in the AR$E, sorry to hear you have been given grief... Didnt these things used to be a 7 dayer, ie you had to turn up at a police station within 7 days showing you had changed the mod? The whole numberplate thing is going to change very soon, Oct 1st I think... Plates cant be produced with any writting on them apart the reg and a euro or GB symbol... No dealer numbers etc. If companys produce them ie online numberplate companys then they can be subject to a £2000 fine, this includes show plates etc Cant figure out the bit about black/silver plates and not being legal on new cars, WTF can they just be on pre 1972 cars.... Bet its cause a few Police Chiefs and MP's collect old cars and dont want the crappy white / black, yellow / black ones... Am guessing that the system on the ANPR cams wouldnt pick these up as they are "readable" ? Fookin nanny state... Due to their incompetence of having a joined up system, a useful side of this system will never happen, ie an alert of 2 cars having the same plates on them in different parts of the country which could help to track stolen cars / plates... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIXXERUK Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 when i have been stopped in the past, i have been fined £30 and told to get it changed as it will be reported to the dvla, if the dvla get too many reports they will take the plate off you but the copper said he has never known this to happen he said it was because if someone had a "difficult" to read number plate then they could leave the scene of an accident without anyone getting the number plate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimm Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 when i have been stopped in the past, i have been fined £30 and told to get it changed as it will be reported to the dvla, if the dvla get too many reports they will take the plate off you but the copper said he has never known this to happen he said it was because if someone had a "difficult" to read number plate then they could leave the scene of an accident without anyone getting the number plate +1 This happend to me a few times. Now i run legal plates and no more hassle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z Boy Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Just take it off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mec Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 They are being particularly active in the north east at the moment.The annoying part is that the reasons they give are to combat terrorism and that misspaced plates restrict their ability to check for suspicious vehicles because the ANPR cameras cant read them which is obviously not true as they have done to be able to send the NIP. Argh yes the terrorism card, the panacea for all the country's ills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonb Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 What sort of terrorists are using very slightly mis-spaced number plates to cover their nefarious tracks ? I don't think we really need very much road-traffic protection from the numpty division of al quaeda's terror cells. Whenever I've returned from abroad after long enough to get used to foreign plates I'm always shocked at how big, bright and ugly everyone's numberplate has to be over here. Is there no sort of eyesight test for coppers ? Can't be long before we'll all need 4 foot barcodes on the roof and an inflight refueling rig for pumping £20s into any passing police cars without having to pull over. I'm happy to make concessions to my personal freedom in order to live in a civil and safe society, I don't even think we need a constitution to protect our rights ... but it would be nice if the authorities made law and order a priority not just filling in columns of an overpaid government consultant's spreadsheet. I can't see any likely way back to a normal society from this 'performance monitoring' culture that has overtaken life in the past 10-20 years. I understand the laudable sounding goal of ensuring our services are reasonable value for money but I don't understand the denial of the well-known and copiously documented downside that when given a box to tick or a target to achieve most people are lazy enough to limit their work to just achieving that vital database value instead of doing their job. Commiserations on the NIP, in real life there'd be no problem with the plate at all. I suggest you re-space it, drive everywhere at or below the speed limit and start selling heroin ... possibly stolen from the bodies of murdered prostitutes hidden in the trunk ... but up to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmJak Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Commiserations on the NIP, in real life there'd be no problem with the plate at all. I suggest you re-space it, drive everywhere at or below the speed limit and start selling heroin ... possibly stolen from the bodies of murdered prostitutes hidden in the trunk ... but up to you! Wouldn't get fined as much CCTV operators in Manchester watch bus lanes and send fines out in the post to the 'offenders.' Even though it's the police authority who lead the money spinning exercise, it's not actually police officers, and prob the same in the case of this heinious number plate crime. Traffic enforcement is now usually dealt with by civilians paid to send tickets. When the police officers enforced the law themselves there was a certain amount of discretion. At least pretty girls and free masons could get off with stuff. . . The country needs a complete overhaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrag Meister Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Just bought myself a private plate that would need the space closing if it were to read well but hey not gonna be much fun being fined on a regular basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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