Laid out properly this time
6.3 Registration Plates
Information:
Unregistered vehicles need not be fitted with registration plates.
This inspection does not apply to foreign registered, diplomatic or military vehicles.
Vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1973 may have registration plates displaying white, grey or silver characters on a black background.
Three-dimensional characters are permitted to use grey edging in order to achieve the 3D effect on any age of vehicle.
Quadricycles must be fitted with a front number plate.
A three-wheeled vehicle with motorcycle derived steering and suspension does not require a front number plate.
Method of Inspection
1. Check that there is a registration plate at both the front and the rear of the vehicle, and check each one for security and condition.
2.On vehicles first registered on or after 1 January 1973, check:
the colour of the characters and background
that the registration plates are fixed vertically, or as close to vertical as is reasonably practical.
3. On vehicles first registered on or after 1 September 2001, check that the registration plates do not display a honeycomb or similar effect background.
4. Refer to pages 4 and 5 and check visually that the characters are correctly formed, spaced, and are not obviously likely to be misread due to, for example, badly positioned or uncovered retaining bolts etc.
Reason for Rejection
1. A registration plate:
- missing or incorrect
- so insecure that it is likely to fall off
- letter or figure missing or incomplete
- faded, dirty, delaminated, deteriorated or obscured, (for example by a towbar) so that it is likely to be misread or is not easily legible by a person standing approximately 20 metres to the front/rear of the vehicle
e. background overprinted or shadowed with text e.g. vehicle manufacturer name.
2.
a. a front registration plate does not have black characters on a white background
b. a rear registration plate does not have black characters on a yellow background
c. a registration plate not fixed vertically, or as close to vertical as is reasonably practical.
3. A registration plate obviously displaying a honeycomb or similar effect background.
4. A registration plate with:
a. characters which are obviously not the correct height, character width, stroke width, not of equal width along their entire length or incorrectly spaced
b. a character not correctly formed, sloping, or likely to be misread
c. any feature that has the effect of changing the appearance or legibility of any of the characters, so that the true identity of the vehicle is less easily established
d. characters formed using a font which is not substantially similar to the prescribed font
e. characters formed using broken or multiple strokes
f. characters laid out in an incorrect format
g. a margin obviously less than the minimum requirement
h. a non-reflective border obviously wider than permitted or positioned too close to the characters (see page 5).
