An age old question- Import Number Plates


Mikeh91

Mikeh91

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Joined
May 26, 2011
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116
Im sure this has been asked a good few times but after searching Im still looking for a definitive answer. After being pulled the last night for having a "non confirming number plate"

- Square "import" style plates whats they legal? Heres a pic of the rear plate

P1706_03-08-11.jpg


I tried explaining that the car was an import etc but I knew I was getting nowhere when he asked- Is the car Hyundai? :angry2:

Now stuck with standard English plates and a £60 fine :mad: Anyone had any experience of this in the past?
 
they are legal on imports mate so tell them to get to fcuk haha

my mate is always getting pulled for it, they should read the rule book before the waste peoples time.

keep the plates as they are mate ur not in the wrong
 
yeah mate as Dan says if the car is an import you are well within your rights to have them on and as for the fine dont pay it!
 
Ok people but can anyone supply the law text stating that he can have them? Cause that's what he will need to fight the fine :)
 
_JT said:
Ok people but can anyone supply the law text stating that he can have them? Cause that's what he will need to fight the fine :)
Click to expand...

If anyone had this to hand, would be a great help! :))
 
The Officer also claimed that to have 3D lettering effect is an offence, surely this can`t be right!?
 
Im led to believe that as long as the lettering is not italic then it is legal, so long as the font is still the same. Do you have basically the same font size etc just 3d yeah?
 
kammy11 said:
Im led to believe that as long as the lettering is not italic then it is legal, so long as the font is still the same. Do you have basically the same font size etc just 3d yeah?
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Yea, just a slight 3D effect.

Just spoke to DVLA/VOSA and claimed that 3D writing IS NOT illegal, and that as long as the plates confirm to import plate standards there isn`t an issue. Hopefully I`ve saved 60 quid :lol:
 
Edit: looks like you found your answer anyways ^^


Found some info on a few website:


Concession for Imported Vehicles

Following concerns about the expense of modifying vehicles intended for foreign markets and unable to be fitted with UK size number plates, the government responded with a concession for permitting some imported vehicles to display motorcycle size number plates. This will apply to certain imported cars, primarily from North America and the Far East.

Such vehicles will be permitted to display number plates with smaller characters provided the vehicle does not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval and the vehicle's construction cannot accommodate standard size UK number plates.

The specification for smaller sized number plates (for certain imported vehicles) is shown in this table:



Character height

64mm



Character width (except the figure 1or letter l)

44mm



Stroke (thickness)

10mm



Space between characters

10mm



More Info

Im looking on DVLA trying to find further info as if its on their site then its legal
 
Spudski: very good effort, but a judge or public prosecutor will not accept a text on a website as argumentation for why they were wrong. Not even if the website is from a government instance. If the webmaster were to put wrong information on the website, let's say "it's legal to shoot your neighbour", then the killer would not be prosecuted if the judge or prosecutor would follow the lines of the website :p

The only thing a judge or public prosecutor will accept is a law text with the name of the law book, article numbers and/or characters and the text and explaining how this applies to your situation.
 
_JT said:
Spudski: very good effort, but a judge or public prosecutor will not accept a text on a website as argumentation for why they were wrong. Not even if the website is from a government instance. If the webmaster were to put wrong information on the website, let's say "it's legal to shoot your neighbour", then the killer would not be prosecuted if the judge or prosecutor would follow the lines of the website :p

The only thing a judge or public prosecutor will accept is a law text with the name of the law book, article numbers and/or characters and the text and explaining how this applies to your situation.
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Thanks for the info, makes sense I suppose lol. Im sure there will be the real legal info somewhere lol
 
I've just had some private plates made up and wanted to be sure they were legal.

To quote "DVLA do not specify the size of plate your vehicle must display but do specify the font you must use, the height of this font, minimum margin size, gap between lines (if a two line plate) etc"

Check this site Import Number Plates and as suggested, print out a copy of http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2001/uksi_20010561_en.pdf and keep it in the car.

If stopped, just hand that over to them and see their response. Don't think you'll even have to understand it yourself TBH. They'll probably have lost interest after the 1st paragraph and send you on you're way. :lol:

I had my set made up at Halfords and specified they need to be legal. They came back as US import plate sizes which were on the car when I bought it.

Hope this helps.
 
Spudski said:
Thanks for the info, makes sense I suppose lol. Im sure there will be the real legal info somewhere lol
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Im going to ask for some form of verification from VOSA to confirm that square plates are legal, knowing the DVLA/VOSA should have that up for you all by Christmas :(( .. Cheers for your help though guys.
 
Its annoying that some police having nothing better to do that fine people for number plates
 
Alot of guess work going on in here........

Import plates are permitted on an imported vehicle as long as you are using correct size car font, this requires a 13x7" plate iirc

Import plates with motorbike sized font (smaller) are only permitted on an imported vehicle if there is a FUNCTIONAL reason for this. Functional means that the number plate recess will not allow you to run a larger import plate and/or a standard uk plate. motorbike font sized plates are 12x6"

Motorbike sized font and 12x6" plates are not permitted on EK9's as you can easy fit plates with full sized uk font weather it be with a standard plate or a larger import plate


PHEW that was long winded, however i was pulled over many times with my old 12x6" import plates running motorbike font so i am well aware of the legalities :((
 
Quote from craigsplates.co.uk


"Sadly we can’t stop you being unfairly pulled but we can advise you on the best way to get the smallest legal plate which will come with the BSAU145d in the bottom righthand corner.* Surely this should be enough to stop any roadside tussels with the boys in blue?"

This number BSAU145d should be printed on any road legal plate. Might be worth getting some made up with this on there. I think yours might not have it as they're 3D lettering, even tho the size etc is correct.

Hope this helps and good luck! :nice:
 
robbieD said:
Quote from craigsplates.co.uk


This number BSAU145d should be printed on any road legal plate. Might be worth getting some made up with this on there. I think yours might not have it as they're 3D lettering, even tho the size etc is correct.

Hope this helps and good luck! :nice:
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Yep got the number on the plates showed this to the Police but they really had no clue!! :mad:
 
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