Been pulled for me number plates.

[gramey]

Ok so my 2p worth as an ex traffic cop, if I'd had a £1 for every person who said "Sorry. I'll change them over when I get home" but didn't, I could have retired earlier. That said generally if they were still perfectly legible it was a warning, miniscule letterbox number plates on bikes being the exception. A second transgression would be a ticket and if they were stupid enough to be caught a third time the plates would be seized and DVLA notified.
Minor infringements were dealt with when time permitted and at my discretion, contrary to popular opinion there were no targets, given that money from fines goes to central government not the police, I didn't see myself as being there as a revenue raiser for them.
I did used to get somewhat peeved though when such people would say "Haven't you got better things to do" or "Shouldn't you be out catching real criminals". The answers generally being "No" & "Yes", at this particular time I don't have anything better to do and if somebody reports a crime happening then you'll be watching me leave in a hurry.
Strangely I never got those comments when the motorcyclist involved in the collision I had to deal with had his brains coming out of every orifice in his head. Or when the impact had been so severe that your looking into a car where the drivers lower half is still in the drivers eat but his head and torso are in the passenger footwell. I also seem to recall wishing I had better things to do and real criminals to catch when I had to tell an 11 yr old that he was now an orphan and taking him to the hospital to see his surviving brother fighting for his life.
Number plates, speeding tickets, defective tyres, no insurance yes we would deal with those when time permitted but we would also deal with drink/drug drivers, drug dealers, stolen vehicles and fatal collisions, it wasn't all fun and games.
Back to the OP's circumstances was a ticket justified, probably not but he readily accepts it was a chance he took, just unfortunate he happened across Pc. Jobsworth, oh how bet he hates that name!

 

[gramey]

I got fined £90 2 wks ago for parking in a town I was not in.
Not my car yet same number and a mercedes. But now I have to try to
prove my innocence by saying my car is blue. But they won’t reveal the colour they have , or at least not so far. Lot of hassle.

Did they enclose an image with the fine? It's not part of my job but if I ever hear of these at work I ask people to email the images to me as often they use LPR (licence plate reading) software and automatically send out fines and don't always spot misreads. Failing that I can research the ANPR cameras and see if there are two cars activating cameras with the same registration number and I would then email the company in question to confirm such as they appear to have difficulty accepting it from car owners.

 

[SmartAmg]

Ok so my 2p worth as an ex traffic cop, if I'd had a £1 for every person who said "Sorry. I'll change them over when I get home" but didn't, I could have retired earlier. That said generally if they were still perfectly legible it was a warning, miniscule letterbox number plates on bikes being the exception. A second transgression would be a ticket and if they were stupid enough to be caught a third time the plates would be seized and DVLA notified.
Minor infringements were dealt with when time permitted and at my discretion, contrary to popular opinion there were no targets, given that money from fines goes to central government not the police, I didn't see myself as being there as a revenue raiser for them.
I did used to get somewhat peeved though when such people would say "Haven't you got better things to do" or "Shouldn't you be out catching real criminals". The answers generally being "No" & "Yes", at this particular time I don't have anything better to do and if somebody reports a crime happening then you'll be watching me leave in a hurry.
Strangely I never got those comments when the motorcyclist involved in the collision I had to deal with had his brains coming out of every orifice in his head. Or when the impact had been so severe that your looking into a car where the drivers lower half is still in the drivers eat but his head and torso are in the passenger footwell. I also seem to recall wishing I had better things to do and real criminals to catch when I had to tell an 11 yr old that he was now an orphan and taking him to the hospital to see his surviving brother fighting for his life.
Number plates, speeding tickets, defective tyres, no insurance yes we would deal with those when time permitted but we would also deal with drink/drug drivers, drug dealers, stolen vehicles and fatal collisions, it wasn't all fun and games.
Back to the OP's circumstances was a ticket justified, probably not but he readily accepts it was a chance he took, just unfortunate he happened across Pc. Jobsworth, oh how bet he hates that name!

Pity it wasn't a cop like you that pulled me then.

 

[SmartAmg]

Hi Tony,
This plate on the front of my car failed 18 months ago.
I was told it was because the letters/ number are Not solid black.
Seems strange because it passed at another garage, so I’m not really sure TBH.
Nice plates though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Mmm, they got it wrong,
those letters are legal, I've made sure of it, my new plates have got the BS Mark on them ( and I don't mean
bull s**t ) I noticed yours don't.
Are those digits correctly spaced.

 

[vtaylor78]

Mmm, they got it wrong,
those letters are legal, I've made sure of it, my new plates have got the BS Mark on them ( and I don't mean
bull s**t ) I noticed yours don't.
Are those digits correctly spaced.

I got my plates from a company on-line.. “ Plates for cars” based in the Republic of Ireland.
Awful customer service when I told them the plate had failed, simply didn’t want to know.
As I said it has passed before, but this particular garage I’ve never used failed it on the digits not being Solid black ??? Spacing was all ok.

 

[L John]

On a lighter note, my new plates,
A bit different than the norm, i always think a nice set of number plates, set a car off. ( Only my opinion of course)
But hey guess what?
They are absolutely, totally,
without any shadow of a
doubt, 100%. LEGAL!!!!!

"The legal details are a legal requirement for all number plates in the UK, and display the makers name, postcode and the British Standard."

I very much doubt you'd have any bother from plod with your new show plates being used on the road.
Mine don't have the makers details on the plates either, but I wouldn't claim mine are "totally,

without any shadow of a
doubt, 100%. LEGAL!!!!!"​

 

[Botus]

Mmm, they got it wrong,
those letters are legal, I've made sure of it, my new plates have got the BS Mark on them ( and I don't mean
bull s**t ) I noticed yours don't.
Are those digits correctly spaced.

it looks like the V is spaced too far left... but that's probably coz its a V and its actually correct,

 

[Botus]

as for the one about policing

when did you last come across a police officer who:
1) knew any element of the law
2) attempted to enforce it correctly
3) correctly addressed you, as they should as a public servant who has never met you before
4) believed that protect and serve were the priority (harass and annoy - is what the UK police have been using for 30 years)

 

[ajlsl600]

I got fined £90 2 wks ago for parking in a town I was not in.
Not my car yet same number and a mercedes. But now I have to try to
prove my innocence by saying my car is blue. But they won’t reveal the colour they have , or at least not so far. Lot of hassle.

dont tell em color until they show evidence of the offence . i was once accused of miss behaving with my sidearm, when i went to the tribunal i was quizzed on the matter the case was dismissed when my accuser was unable to give the side arms correct color , he chose black ! when in fact the gun was inox,stainless.. ..case over. make em PROVE IT

 

[ajlsl600]

as for the one about policing

when did you last come across a police officer who:
1) knew any element of the law
2) attempted to enforce it correctly
3) correctly addressed you, as they should as a public servant who has never met you before
4) believed that protect and serve were the priority (harass and annoy - is what the UK police have been using for 30 years)

that is,unfortunately, exactly my view. how can we get our offspring to respect the law ,when we ourselfs have little or none, my own views are simply a result of experience, as i am sure yrs are.

 

[curious]

+1

 

[Rotorhead500]

On the plus side... (and I admit this ones's a bit tenuous!)

At least you got pulled by a real, live occifer - at least it means there's one out & about.

The automated ATMs really shrivel my noodle!

 

[Chrishazle]

Interesting about the red border - in 1980 I bought a Citroen CX Familial (big 7 seat estate) in UK for export, it had a red border round the number plates. Took it to Greece for 3 years keeping the UK plates on it (legally in Greece) then re-imported it to UK and had IIRC to get the plates replaced by ones without the red border. Highly amusing when I pulled into the "something to declare" lane at Dover about 1am, on my own but car rammed with household goods as we were transferring back to UK. Customs guy looked, said "have you something to declare sir?" - i said yes, one car, did you not notice the red border on the plates?? I had all the required paperwork, so within 10 minutes I was on my way again!!

 

[SmartAmg]

Got me fine today,
100 squid, so that was an expensive tinted plate, still
I've paid so done and dusted, lessons learned, it won't happen again.

 

[Capra]

Surprised it took this long, but hey you live and learn.

 

[SmartAmg]

Surprised it took this long, but hey you live and learn.

You certainly do!

 

[SmartAmg]

Sorry, to bring this up again
but just read in today's paper, and it really pi55ed me off. Man whizzing along the M5 having a shave, pulled over by the police, got a warning and some advice!!!
I got done for tinted plates,
now while I readily admit the plates were illegal,
i think that proves I definitely got,
PC Jobsworth having an off day, who did me just because he could.
When a "warning and some advice " would have sufficed.

 

[alexanderfoti]

I have had the same, fine for plates when the real reason for being stopped was that they didn't like the acceleration rate at which I joined the carriageway from a lay-by with a short slip lane.

Its crap, but if the car had legitimate plates, they would not have had anything to fine me with, so as you say, its a risk you take.

 

[flowrider]

Sorry, to bring this up again
but just read in today's paper, and it really pi55ed me off. Man whizzing along the M5 having a shave, pulled over by the police, got a warning and some advice!!!
I got done for tinted plates,
now while I readily admit the plates were illegal,
i think that proves I definitely got,
PC Jobsworth having an off day, who did me just because he could.
When a "warning and some advice " would have sufficed.

I think it is the general look of the car that attracts the police. Once they stop you they look for a reason to fine you.

Correct if I am wrong but I think you car has been lowered, wheel spacers, aftermarket wheels, fancy decals and red interior lighting all attention seekers that the police look for.

 

[alexanderfoti]

I think it is the general look of the car that attracts the police. Once they stop you they look for a reason to fine you.

Correct if I am wrong but I think you car has been lowered, wheel spacers, aftermarket wheels, fancy decals and red interior lighting all attention seekers that the police look for.

They need to have reasonable grounds to suspect that you have committed a crime or are about to commit a crime before they stop you though.