Thought I'd share this as the law is changing this year, so you may or may not need to change your plates!
I have the UktraTek ones and contacted Hills to see if they will still be legal, this is the reply I have just received:
The rules are changing slightly as the old standard for plates, ‘BS AU 145d’ has been upgraded to ‘BS AU 145e.’ BS AU 145e includes some additional clauses, and some refinements to existing clauses. One of the refinements is to the section which deals with the characters, and BS AU 145e now states,
‘The characters shall not be removable’ (clause 5.2.1)
‘The complete surface of each registration character shall be one shade of black’ (clause 5.2.2)
Clause 5.2.1 has the potential to preclude 4D plates, depending on interpretation of what is considered ‘removable’.
Clause 5.2.2 is pretty clear and removes scope for 3D, hi-line and carbon fibre characters, where the character quite clearly a mix of grey and black.
These changes will affect any plate manufactured after 31st August 2021 (unless the outlet has adopted the new standard early). As your plates were made prior to this, they were most likely manufactured to meet BS AU 145d (you can check this in the bottom right hand corner of the plate), and are therefore unaffected by the changes. In fact the changes will only affect you, if you buy a new set of plates after 31st August 2021, or before this date if you purchase them from an early adopter.
Just been out and checked mine, they are OK
I have the UktraTek ones and contacted Hills to see if they will still be legal, this is the reply I have just received:
The rules are changing slightly as the old standard for plates, ‘BS AU 145d’ has been upgraded to ‘BS AU 145e.’ BS AU 145e includes some additional clauses, and some refinements to existing clauses. One of the refinements is to the section which deals with the characters, and BS AU 145e now states,
‘The characters shall not be removable’ (clause 5.2.1)
‘The complete surface of each registration character shall be one shade of black’ (clause 5.2.2)
Clause 5.2.1 has the potential to preclude 4D plates, depending on interpretation of what is considered ‘removable’.
Clause 5.2.2 is pretty clear and removes scope for 3D, hi-line and carbon fibre characters, where the character quite clearly a mix of grey and black.
These changes will affect any plate manufactured after 31st August 2021 (unless the outlet has adopted the new standard early). As your plates were made prior to this, they were most likely manufactured to meet BS AU 145d (you can check this in the bottom right hand corner of the plate), and are therefore unaffected by the changes. In fact the changes will only affect you, if you buy a new set of plates after 31st August 2021, or before this date if you purchase them from an early adopter.
Just been out and checked mine, they are OK
