whats a metro plate?

[Ghost]

I appreciate the rules and as Rybo states the number plate is there to be read and whilst there are some drastically unreadable silly fonts floating about out there, however with the likes of Metro and slightly smaller versions of standard unless your blind the plates are generally still as readable as standard.....all a bit petty in my opinion however I still stick to standard for reasons highlighted by Rybo.

I dont thinik Rybo is saying that its the problem of the officer not being able to read the plate with the naked eye, its the problem of the ANPR not being able to read the slightly smaller fonts.

 

[Coog]

Aye, I used to have Metro plates on all my cars but don't bother anymore. Not worth the hassle/time wasting...

 

[Graham2]

I've never had a fully legal plate on any of my cars in the 7 years I've been driving and I've never once had any bother. That said, none of them have been ridiculous fonts. If I get stopped and get a producer or fine I'll take it on the chin, but until then I'll take my chances. I had a PSNI car follow me for over a mile last nite as I went through Ashbury and the 30 odd speedbumps with me slowing to a stop for each one, I really expected to get pulled over, if even just for pissing them off

 

[Ghost]

If I get stopped and get a producer or fine I'll take it on the chin, but until then I'll take my chances.

I dont believe any stations are using the Vehicle Defect Retification Scheme anymore. I know there was the scheme which gave u 7 or 14days to fix the problem, but afaik its been scrubbed.

 

[rybo]

I've never had a fully legal plate on any of my cars in the 7 years I've been driving and I've never once had any bother. That said, none of them have been ridiculous fonts. If I get stopped and get a producer or fine I'll take it on the chin, but until then I'll take my chances. I had a PSNI car follow me for over a mile last nite as I went through Ashbury and the 30 odd speedbumps with me slowing to a stop for each one, I really expected to get pulled over, if even just for pissing them off

Doubt if it pissed them off. They were getting paid to drive about - if they had an emergency to attend they wouldn't have been long getting around you.
If you've got away with it for 7 yrs good luck to you, you have been lucky. Don't know where you live but I'd hazard a guess there isn't a Road Policing Unit near you.

It is only a £30 fine, but it does get a bit expensive if you've shelled out for a cherished registration - the third ticket you get & DVA will take the reg from you permanently.

 

[Graham2]

Perhaps I should have made it clear that I have to slow to a stop for speedbumps, I wasnt doing it to deliberately annoy anyone.

And yes, I know I've been lucky. However there are PLENTY of police where I live, including one that lives next door to me.

 

[Maxwell]

i didnt say they were legal. i just stated that they are the next step down from legality, they look good, you can get the same height of font as a standard mot plate

 

[Pumesta]

Nice try! Look at page 2 of the DVLA link...

Been on the car for seven years, fitted by the main Ford dealer from new, passed mot every year, never been stopped. They were obviously legal when the car was new, so thus are still legal. Read page 4, as long as the font is similar to the now mandatory one it is legal. Only stylised plates or ones altered with positioning of screws etc have to be changed, which were never legal anyway

 

[rybo]

Main dealers put out new cars with illegal plates!

Cars with illegal plates often pass Mot.

Yours could well be ok, but not because of the mot/main dealer thing.

If they're the correct height, width, spacing etc and hasn't got a silly font, shadows, borders or the like you'll probably never get any remarks passed about it.

Its the ones who go out of their way to make theirs look 'different' who'll be spoken to.

 

[ricky_t]

All this crap about ANPR is a load of bull.

So your saying if I was a criminal and wanted to avoid hassle to stick a set of metro plates on then ANPR couldnt find me?

I doubt most criminals are using the correct plates anyway,

maybe the PSNI should think about where it is putting its resources......

 

[2002 Tii]

Out of interest whats the score with jap plates where they are square on the front and back?

Do they have to be spaced inm any particular way?

Like say i had an old suffix plate ABC 123X. Does it have to be spaced with the ABC on the top and 123X on the bottom? Or can you have more letters on the top, say ABC12 on top and the 3X on the bottom?

I'm guessing you can't, or at least you'll be getting pulled every time a free wheeler spots it lol

 

[Amos]

Out of interested RYBO, but where in Northern Ireland are you based (Station Wise).................???

 

[ally_mac]

Out of interest whats the score with jap plates where they are square on the front and back?

Do they have to be spaced inm any particular way?

Like say i had an old suffix plate ABC 123X. Does it have to be spaced with the ABC on the top and 123X on the bottom? Or can you have more letters on the top, say ABC12 on top and the 3X on the bottom?

I'm guessing you can't, or at least you'll be getting pulled every time a free wheeler spots it lol

They can be spaced like ABC on top line and 123 on bottom line or ABC 123 all on one line as long as the letters are the correct size and have correct spacing.

People who drive round with stupid italic fonts and making letter look like different letter, etc should be pulled over and booked, but I think if a cop pulls you for a metro plate, it is silly. I understand that they are illegal but they are still perfectly readable by the ANPR system and human eye, i personally think its just an easy £30 target for the cop.

I got pulled for mine a while back and the cop when on about them not being readable by the ANPR system and I said I didnt agree. He then went on that if I had an accident they wouldnt be able to read the plate because of the font, i started laughing at that one and replied that if i had a bad accident, my plate would be in that many pieces that it wouldnt matter if it was standard font or not, you wouldnt be able to read it, unfortunately for him, he couldnt come back with a reply to that. To keep everyone happy, i changed my plates anyway as I can't be bothered with the hassle. I work with Software and Video in my work place and I know what software is capability of now a days and the ANPR should be able to read a lot of plate without any problems

 

[Detail NI]

Out of interested RYBO, but where in Northern Ireland are you based (Station Wise).................???

He is probably the copper that was always after you when you had the Evo! lol

 

[rybo]

Ballymena, but we cover Larne, Moyle Ballymoney & Coleraine districts as well.

The ANPR system can at times read non-standard fonts in ideal conditions. Once you throw others factors into the mix, such as bad lighting, rain, higher speeds etc then the system is less accurate.

Take the time to Google how effective ANPR is in tackling crime.

Sex offenders are known to travel many miles from where they are known & monitored, for example, to 'frequent' schools in areas where police do not know them or their vehicle. There are so many thieves, drug dealers and other persons of interest about, officers from say Armagh couldn't realistically be expected to memorise all the details of a sex offender & his car from Belfast & retain it indefinitely. ANPR can. It works away reading plates while officers are concentrating on other patrol matters in a way that no amount of officers can.

What you're also forgetting is that this legislation was in place LONG before ANPR was even thought of. That's because the human eye needs to be able to read number plates on a moving car at a reasonable distance. Many, many criminals have been arrested & jailed because they've been clocked leaving the scene of a crime. I've brought many a person before a court, tracked down because of their number plate. You have no idea how many victims of crime have reported rapes, murders & other serious crimes & the only lead is a number plate. A high percentage of them are wrongly reported or only partial numbers, often because the lettering was too small, too close together to read at night at 50mph in the rain etc.

Those criminals who change their plates to avoid ANPR are likely to be pulled in by police for that very reason.

It's just not a matter for debate. you may think your 'metro' plate 60mm high or whatever is perfectly readable. It doesn't meet the legal minimum standard which is, and will continue to be, enforced.

Your right to 'personalise' your car doesn't give you the right to override this. So that's some of the reasons why we take this stance on it. Maybe not what you wanted to hear but there you go.

 

[Rob]

I think that's a fair enough comment from the long arm of the law! Always thought the reason there was zero tolerance on number plates now was ANPR and I guess that confirms it.

 

[Nazor]

I think Rybos last Quote should be lifted into a thread on its own and made a sticky and when anyone ever asks about Metro plates or other fonts we can direct them to it

 

[svensktoppen]

Svensktoppen, you're posts are usually a bit more educated than this one!

Have a wee think about what a number plate is actually there for and why it needs to be readable - by the human eye and by camera.

Excuse me??? I just asked, politely, what the actual rules are, to avoid getting in trouble. Looking at getting an Elise, and they have small plates for the most part.

Chill man, we are not all out to get you... Well, not all the time at least

 

[Daisy]

I think Rybos last Quote should be lifted into a thread on its own and made a sticky and when anyone ever asks about Metro plates or other fonts we can direct them to it

Second that...

 

[Gman]

I now have standard plates on the Corrado and they're staying. Don't see anything wrong with them personally.

 

[davecoupe]

I got done for my metro plates at half 11 on tues nite when I was sitting in watching TV. Neighbour came and told me there was a ticket on the window. I park on the street and there were at least 5 other moters with metro plates near me that wernt done. OK so i know they are illegal, and will take the fine, but come on, Thats just persucation not ticketing the other cars.

 

[Daisy]

I watched one night outside the coach, when there were a few modified motors sitting parked on double yellow lines and a couple of standard ones, the police gave the modified cars tickets for sitting there and the standard motors got nothing, i couldn believe what i was watching back then...

 

[davecoupe]

Aye Daisy.

I drive a Civic. Says it all really doesnt it.

Needless to say the saab 2 cars didnt get done.

 

[Nazor]

Bad form

 

[Karlos Da Jackle]

Ballymena, but we cover Larne, Moyle Ballymoney & Coleraine districts as well.

.

A ha, my old b+b, well bed anyhow just for the evening, lol. Never got breakfast.

Just out of curosity, have i ever had any run in's with you? You'd need to go back to my wilder youth days of 10 odd years ago though. lol.

And if you were even about back then, you might even of known, seargent 44.