Hertfordshire motorists targeted in illegal number plate crackdown
By Chris Lennon, News editor
Friday, May 11, 2012
9:20 AM
MORE than 150 motorists in Hertfordshire have been penalised for using illegal number plates in a month-long police campaign.
Operation Dragon ran throughout March in a combined clampdown by the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire police forces.
In results revealed this week, a total of 278 drivers were caught using a misrepresented number plate – 156 in Herts, 60 in Beds and 62 in Cambs.
Depending on the circumstances, they received a fixed penalty ticket, a vehicle defect rectification notice or a police warning.
The operation focused on motorists with number plates that:
n displayed adjusted fixings or bolts which alter spaces or obscure characters to appear as something else.
n used any font that is not the standard DVLA approved ‘Charles Wright’ font.
n used offensive wording.
n were not easily readable or recognised by the naked eye.
Inspector Andy Piper, ANPR manager in the joint Beds and Herts Road Policing Unit, said: “The month-long crackdown across the three counties, when we specifically targeted this particular offence, will be repeated in the summer but is something we look out for on a daily basis.
“If you are displaying a number plate which is illegal, you will be pulled over and could face a fine of up to £1,000. “I would therefore urge anyone using a misrepresented plate, or who is not aware of the permitted layout, to familiarise themselves with the correct format and change it as soon as possible.”
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10 comments
Scorpion - if you drove at 40 in a 60 limit with no good reason you would fail a driving test under "failing to make good progress". If people are not capable of doing this they should not have a licence. 60 is not a target, just a max limit, but people should be capable of driving at this speed safely and I get the impression a lot of these mimser cannot. There needs to be re-tests every 5 years, I'd be quite happy to take them to keep my driving safe.
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NeilB
Saturday, May 12, 2012
As offences go, this is trivial......it's the sort of thing that any copper should be keeping an eye out for .......it does not warrant a "crackdown"! cwwhg....I'm glad your not my neighbour - nobody likes a "nark". What an awful world it will be, when everybody is watching everybody & reporting every transgression; and when to not report something that you must have known about will become an offence itself!
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Clarkson for PM
Friday, May 11, 2012
If you have to mess around with your number plate to make it read something else, you probably should have paid for a better plate instead of an el-cheapo personalised plate that to most people will look just like a normal one. Nobody is jealous of you - they're probably laughing at you (so best not use your rear view mirror too often).
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jonmorris
Friday, May 11, 2012
Scorpion - If you are unable to control a car safely at the legal limit in good conditions then you should not have a driving licience. This is called "making progress" and driving at 40 in a 60 without a valid reason can result in a fail on a driving test. I would be quite happy to re-take my driving test every 5 years, I'm not so sure everyone else on the roads would be so happy. To drive safely is a skill, some people are not bothered to learn it and some are just not capable of it. I would probably fail anyway !!! But at least any faults I have picked up over the years could be corrected.
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NeilB
Friday, May 11, 2012
Amazed at some of the comments. Fact is we're all under the same laws and we don't get to pick and choose. Coming up with silly excuses like "police are trying to get their money back for their supercars by busting people who have been encouraged by the DVLA to misrepresent number plates" is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. No one is forced or influenced by the authorities to get number plates that are illegal. It's really simple - there is only one fonttypeface that is legal and plate has to be readable. The law has been around for decades and it's obvious why - claiming ignorance or rights is not an excuse. It's not hard.
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Test Man
Friday, May 11, 2012
Just read your input, cwwhg, and can't really believe the smallmindedness it reveals. Would you have all babies who throw toys from their pram put down because, later in life, they might throw concrete from bridges? And as for the bit about "reporting dodgy numberplates", well, what a love for your fellow man that shows. Just a teeny bit jealous of your neighbour's number plate, are we?...
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scorpion
Friday, May 11, 2012
Neil - I think things would be a lot safer if MORE people did 40 in a 60 limit....! However, I share your concerns. I love Andy Piper's use of heavy words like "crackdown","targeted", "offence", "illegal", and "could face a fine of up to £1,000" to hide the fact that his officers want an easier life in their expensively-equipped (at our expense) supercars, reaching their income targets at the expense of people who've been actively encouraged by the DVLA and others to misrepresent their numbers for, in the vast majority of cases, a harmless bit of fun. Hands off the ordinary motorist, Andy, and stop your officers giving the force a bad name. Weren't you elected to make the roads safer and catch real criminals? (I await an evasive reply, no doubt majoring on tax and insurance, most criminals use a vehicle, etc, etc...)
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scorpion
Friday, May 11, 2012
The law is the law - if I have to keep my numberplate to a certain format then there's no reason why other people should get away with it. If you start breaking small rules like that then the MOT, tax or insurance might be next to follow. If I had my way there would be some easy way of reporting all the dodgy numberplates I come across whilst on the roads to Herts Police for them to follow up.
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cwwhg
Friday, May 11, 2012
Sloppy reporting from WHT as usual but the reason behind this is ANPR cameras. If people do not have standard plates ANPR cameras do not work.
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NeilB
Friday, May 11, 2012
I'd prefer it if they spent more time stopping drivers who are speeding, driving dangerously, doing 40 in a 60 limit etc, etc
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NeilB
Friday, May 11, 2012