My dad's car has just failed its MOT on the spacing on the Number plate, is this part of the MOT? Didn't think it was...

Its spaced as W 80YCE - instead of W80 YCE

No characters round the wrong way or anything.

http://www.motester.co.uk/cog.html

^^^ See above link for MOT tests carried out.

Most people will either replace their number plates with originals or take it to a friendly tester.

For registered vehicles the plate must be

* present

* secure

* not faded, dirty or obscured

* be composed with correctly formed letters and spacing.

I've had number plate with italic font and its been through 3 MOT's and hasn't failed. According to this it should have failed.

i have two sets of plates for my car one speaced j9el B the other j 9elb , some palces are jsut picky... at the end of the day its an inconvience for you and them. and there not akeing any money out of it like repalcing an exhaust or something so why fail it! my mums is spced wrong as well she has been pulled 3 times for alsorts of diffrent reasons and the coppers didnt say a dicky bird about the plate its even go a bit of electric tape on it to make the 8 look more like a B lol !

Joel

they charged

"In Brief" part way down the page explains the requirement for vehicle registration plates http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regmarks/reg_marks_current_requirements.htm

Guess your dad won't be taking his car there for his MOT next year.

And http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/mottestersgarageowners/mottesting/carcomponentstested.htm under "Registration Plate"

i some times work with some one in VOSA(vehicle inspectorate) -any deviation from the standard number plate specification should not pass the mot test and they can and do pull cars with dodgy plates at roadside checks.

But he said they dont tend to bother unless the plates are harder to read or blatent

Can't see what's wrong with altering the spacing really. To my mind it makes it easier to remember the numberplate if you need to for any reason and that's what a number plate is for isn't it? You're more likely to remember W 8OYCE than W80 YCE aren't you?

I wonder what garage it was in Rushden?

A number plate is a number plate, not a way to give out personal messages..end of story.

I see far too many plates adjusted to spell names or words that have too much possibility to cause confusion, in the event of an accident for identification purposes for witnesses.

Its about time it was clamped down on.

A number plate is a number plate' date=' not a way to give out personal messages..end of story.

I see far too many plates adjusted to spell names or words that have too much possibility to cause confusion, in the event of an accident for identification purposes for witnesses.

Its about time it was clamped down on.[/quote']

Andy , what is the world coming to ..................I agree with you entirely .....

Andy , what is the world coming to ..................I agree with you entirely .....

and me

Feel deflated now......is it that bad to agree with me from time to time?? :confused:

Bah humbug :P

i have two sets of plates for my car one speaced j9el B the other j 9elb , some palces are jsut picky... at the end of the day its an inconvience for you and them. and there not akeing any money out of it like repalcing an exhaust or something so why fail it! Joel

No but if it did pass, and it was pulled over and checked, the tester might have to explain it! However he'd probably get away with it but it's unnecessary hassle. Lets face it failing a car is no skin off his nose anyway!

Oh and the police do clampdowns on this thing. I know of a few people pulled and issued replacement notices for Italics wrong spacings, and Fancy fonts.

i agree with the italics and fany fonts they can be hard to read but my font is totaly legal with no back ground images etc... it as clear as glass what it reads...

Joel

does people also know that it doesn't have to be reflective also doesn't have to be white on front and yellow on rear, you can have a piece of cardboard for no plate as long as it has correct spacing anf the figures are the same size all the way round this is acceptable for mot's....

K.... dont try to justify it for them....us testers always get a bad press, but its more hassle to fail the car than people think....:(

Plates are tested exactly as it says in the book;) and for the police its an easy pull.

Phil

Police were doing spot checks around here a few nights ago and pulled my friend for the spacing in his registration. Completely standard font, he has just moved the number 3 beside the ULL (so it looks like 3ULL). No other mods. Police officer told him to change it and if he saw him with it again he would get a fine.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the plates are clear and easy to read. As has already been said, it's the ones with the fancy fonts / italics etc that can cause a lot of confusion.

Personally' date=' I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the plates are clear and easy to read. As has already been said, it's the ones with the fancy fonts / italics etc that can cause a lot of confusion.[/quote']

But they arent clear or without confusion.If involved in an accident, and the car speeds away the chances of catching the driver are greatly diminished because of the greater possibility of mistaking the number plate.

Is it OK to drive on tyres with only 1mm of tread, or is it a case of "they are better than no tread so thats ok"?

But they arent clear or without confusion.If involved in an accident' date=' and the car speeds away the chances of catching the driver are greatly diminished because of the greater possibility of mistaking the number plate.

Is it OK to drive on tyres with only 1mm of tread, or is it a case of "they are better than no tread so thats ok"?[/quote']

I know a case where a drunk driver got away after causing an accident purely because the wirness misread the number plate! (by 1 digit!

The innocent other driver had his car written off and he and his mate were left trapped in a car,upside down and with a split fuel tank!

The drunk driver stopped,got out ,looked back then got back in and drove away.

The police said the occupents of the innocent car were lucky to get out alive -they were only freed when the fire engine arrived - as the damage to the roof was too severe to let them get out

One spark could have meant the drunk killed two!

Although lucky to still be alive abeit with an occaisonal limp,the innocent driver lost everything else - the car was 3rd party insurance - the scrap value didn't even cover the recovery costs!

The drunk driver?....Oh yes he had an altered plate (the missed digit)

co-incidence?....maybe

the facts are all correct.....I know.....I was the innocent driver.......so i find it hard to be sympathetic for anyone stopped for illegal plates(or drink-driving!!)...its beats the thrill of hanging upsidedown in a hot car smelling petrol anyday!

Oh by the way - the police couldn't do anything ....but we knew the driver......a kind of justice was done!

I

I

Most of the speed cameras around here take a picture of the front of the car, so the bikers get away scott-free.

Whilst we're on our horses, motorbikes may be the worst offenders of dodgy licence plate, not only do they only have the one on the back.... yeah I know the front plate was dropped for pedestrian safety - but that's by the by.... but most often they have the smallest unreadable plate known to man, there's larger print in the concise oxford dictionary - pocket edition.....

Don't even get me started on one of the most recent THINK BIKE adverts on TV .....

... and dismount

Ooh, that 'Think Bike' advert annoyed me, too.

Tip to bikers: don't overtake cars that are indicating right. You might get killed, and that would be a horrible thing for the innocent car driver to live with.

Why does that ad make it look like it was the car driver's fault??