Is this illegal in England?

[james0808]

Whats the law on this?
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=17085

 

[Randomjim]

Ha ha worth looking into

 

[Nickynibbles]

I'd expect they could do you for not displaying the registration correctly. And besides, if you have your plate on upside down you'd not only look stupid but if you were caught on camera speeding your cunning plan would be undone by plod merely rotating the picture through 180 degrees & they'd be able to read the number plate still!!!!

 

[james0808]

I wasnt asking if i could get away with speeding,just wanted to know if it was illegal or not.

 

[scrupes]

Guidelines on how "number plates" should be displayed

All number plates including numbers those purchased through's sales scheme must be displayed in accordance with The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 (obtainable from Her Majesty's Stationery Office).

Rules for the display of number plates are set out in law, briefly these are: -

A number plate must be displayed at the front and rear of motor vehicles (with some exceptions).
Number Plates must be easy to read and meet the British Standard.
Lettering should be black on a white plate at the front and a yellow at the rear.
The background surface should be reflex-reflecting but the characters must not.
There are separate requirements for traditional number plates displayed on vehicles constructed before 1 January 1973.
Lettering and spacing must be of a set size. They must conform to one of the groups shown at:- Number plates fitted after 1 September 2001 or Number plates fitted before 1 September 2001.
Number Plate Law
The law states that,

You must not alter, rearrange or misrepresent the letters or numbers
Characters must not be moved from one group to the other (e.g. A242 ABC must not be displayed as A242A BC).
Offences may result in any or all of the following:

A fine of up to £1,000
The registration mark may be WITHDRAWN
The vehicle may FAIL the MOT test
Full details of the requirements are included in The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001



So i suppose the answer is yes, you can fit them upside down as there seems no wording to the contarary

 

[scrupes]

but i suspect you'd get pulled up and told to change it asap!

 

[colinra]

Number Plates must be easy to read and meet the British Standard.

How can it be easy to read if it is upsidedown...??

 

[voorhees]

How can it be easy to read if it is upsidedown...??

Do a handstand

 

[ianspibs]

......The law states that,

You must not alter, rearrange or misrepresent the letters or numbers
......

So i suppose the answer is yes, you can fit them upside down as there seems no wording to the contarary

Are you not contradicting what you have quoted ?
Surely by displaying the number plate upside down you are misrepresenting the letters and numbers and can be fined.

 

[ManicMunky]

not really, since the letters are all still there, un fiddled with.

 

[Nickynibbles]

Im pretty sure the bunch of people who hammered out the working on this act of law didnt think people would be silly enough to dislay it upside down so didnt consider it pertinent as a specific point. Law does however allow for implied terms to be legally relevant so i'd go so far as to say that its implied that inverting your number plate is an act to make the the plate unreadable, and thus illegal.

 

[arthurfuxake]

I'd expect they could do you for not displaying the registration correctly. And besides, if you have your plate on upside down you'd not only look stupid but if you were caught on camera speeding your cunning plan would be undone by plod merely rotating the picture through 180 degrees & they'd be able to read the number plate still!!!!

If you don't tell them to turn it 180 degrees, I won't either! They won't be able to work it out for themselves.

 

[TDI-line]

Very clever.

 

[auditek]

best thing to do is simply try it for a week and see what happens ?

 

[JamS3]

Yes illegal as upside down, 180 degrees or whatever is classed as misrepresentation and not the "norm"!

 

[fallmonk]

Not to be politicaly correct but shouldnt it be ,
"is this illegal in the UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


LOL ,
ONLY TEASING !