Legality of Dubmeister pressed plates?

[devonutopia]

I had one of the finest Devon & Cornwall constabulary pull me over yesterday (whilst leading a group of Briskodians back to Exeter after the WSM meet.... great.....) and was told both my numberplates were illegal. Now I know my front one is - its just a sticker, meh! But the back one is a pressed metal plate from Dubmeister that I sent all my documents to, to get it made. I tried explaining this but I was still told I was supplied with an illegal plate. Where (if it exists) is the official line on these plates.

Got a replacement one to go on the front anyway, eventually....

PS: and just got slapped wrists luckily, no fine/points.

[jrw]

I got stopped a couple of years ago for my plates (dubmeister ones). Politely told them they weren't illegal, followed by them saying they are illegal, they aren't reflective, followed by me saying sorry but they are, it passed an MOT yesterday and the DVLA make no legislation about what the plates have to be made of as long as they meet their legislation re reflectivity, oh and its BS marked. At this point they got their torches out to check and couldn't get rid of me quick enough.

Safe to say they are legal, just like DRL's Some police just don't know all the law and like to try it on as an excuse to pull you and hopefully find something else wrong with your car.

As i say this was a couple of years ago now and haven't been pulled in the Octy (yet, touch wood) for my plates or my DRL's

http://www.theplatemarket.com/display_of_registration_numbers.php

[jrw]

Official Info here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/PersonalisedRegAndNumberPlates/DG_181503

I do have the link somewhere for the full info which is on my other PC - will have to try and dig out.

Suffice to say 3D lettering is allowed and no mention of what the plate has to be made of.

[Leodhasach]

Good to see that people have been able to explain that they are legal.

Recently, a cocky young guy in a mate's garage told me he wouldn't give my car an MOT because of my Dubmeister plates. I just said 'That's fine, I won't come here for my MOT then'

[Phil-E]

Got pulled over in Hull in the felly I had a while ago and I had some dubmeister plates fitted. Was just a random vehicle checking point at the side of the road.

They actually commented on how impressed they were with the plates and how they were suprised they conformed to all the requirments etc.

Phil

[SCVRS]

I have spoken to a few MOT testing centres and all seemed happy with mine! DVLA even list Dubmeister as a registered supplier of plates.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/vehicles/search.aspx?companyname=dubmeister&posttown=&postcode=&page=0&ext=dg

[ukcruiser]

i always thought they had to be reflective...

... so have 3D "Gel" letters and numbers on my plates (standard plastic plate, with the numbers "on" it.

They look lovely too.

Al.

[jrw]

i always thought they had to be reflective...

... so have 3D "Gel" letters and numbers on my plates (standard plastic plate, with the numbers "on" it.

They look lovely too.

Al.

They do have to be reflective? :S

[MoggyTech]

Legal or not, great excuse for plod to pull you over and check EVERYTHING if he's trying to up his ticket count.

[sharkrider]

Legal or not, great excuse for plod to pull you over and check EVERYTHING if he's trying to up his ticket count.

hasn't it just been changed? (or is going to be changed) from the previous government, where the 'ticket count' "targets" thing will be abolished?

its either done, or will be done soon.......

edit: we got followed into the travelodge (I was with the OP re:this story) and the police found 2 of the cars were not conforming to regulations, and both could have faced £60 fines / tickets or more for the infractions, and none were done in the end.... if they needed to get the "ticket count" surely both would have been done for the offences?

[anewman]

Legal or not, great excuse for plod to pull you over and check EVERYTHING if he's trying to up his ticket count.

Which if you're a law abiding motorist and pay attention to things like tyre tread depths, and bulbs - will just be an inconvenient waste of time.

OTOH if you do other silly things like dark black tints on your lights, illegal xenon aftermarket bulbs, and so on you need to be more concerned.

[MartynVRS]

I've no doubt they are legal as I've passed two MOT's at two separate testing stations. As long as you're not silly and don't do the obvious things that are illegal you'll be fine. Been driving five years and never been pulled. Always keep everything legal.

Slightly OT but someone in work was complaining he got a fine for a tyre that was on the 1.6 limit after being pulled on the way to work. As far as I'm concerned its law and a safety issue. We all know how badly tyres perform close to the limit and it looked "OK" to him.

[jrw]

Never been pulled in the VRS with them - got pulled once in the Bora but that was for 'speeding'.....to see if i had been drinking more like and they tried to tell me they were illegal even though it passed an MOT the day before.

[Volvomeg]

Ive been pulled loads of times but never had my car checked over, altho i am a mechanic so that might be why,

I had xenon day running lights on my 2 previous volvos and never got pulled for them, it was usually just for speeding

[alexandjen]

Never been stopped with my Dubmeister plates and it passed the mot a month ago

[rwbaldwin]

Take a look at post #61 and bertee's link in post #63 http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/157295-dubmeister-pressed-metal-plates-20-postage/page__st__60

[vRSLen]

Never had a problem with my dub plates either

[mannyo]

Never been pulled in the VRS with them - got pulled once in the Bora but that was for 'speeding'.....to see if i had been drinking more like and they tried to tell me they were illegal even though it passed an MOT the day before.

Number plates are not currently part of the MOT, its possible to have illegal plates and still pass the MOT.

[SimonJ]

Number plates are not currently part of the MOT, its possible to have illegal plates and still pass the MOT.

Are you sure about that? When I took my car for its last MOT the rear number plate was a bit dirty. The tester wiped off the bottom edge so he could see the makers name, postcode and BS mark.

[oilburninnut]

Number plates are not currently part of the MOT, its possible to have illegal plates and still pass the MOT.

My golf just failed the mot for illegal plates!!!!!

[softscoop]

Number plates are not currently part of the MOT, its possible to have illegal plates and still pass the MOT.

They have been for as long as I've been driving. A couple of my cars have had advisories for number plate deteriorated.

[rwbaldwin]

see http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s06000301.htm

[jrw]

Number plates are not currently part of the MOT, its possible to have illegal plates and still pass the MOT.

They are part of the mot. They have to be reflective and have legal font. I know people who have had cars fail for water ingress between the layers of plastic.

[Tech1e]

Been part of the MOT as long as I've been in the trade.

Also have to have makers details, postcode and bs marks now.

Sticker number plates are legal, as long as they conform to the regs.

[Nick P]

A plate can be legal without makers details, postcode and BS marks. This is because the The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 treat the registration mark and registration plate as separate things.

You need two things to legally avoid having makers details, postcode and BS marks:

1. The proper BS AU 145d prescribed font for the registration mark

2. The plate has to be made to a European state standard that meets or exceed the reflex reflectivity specs of BS AU 145d AND must bear a visible marking of said standard, e.g. a DIN hologram.

It's pretty much worth getting a set of such plates just so you can out-argue jobsworths. If you're REALLY lucky you might get the police to take you to court. This would be epic.