ClioSport.net

Register a free account today to become a member!
Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read more here.

Stopped by the police



aldo_87

ClioSport Club Member
  Campus 1*2
Ive got the usual trimmed plate on my 182. Ive been fined in total £120 and had two 21 day slips. Cops round my way are a joke!

I had an arguement with him regarding HID headlights without projecors, asked him why he wasnt pulling the mass of little fannies with them that were attending some local cruise thing down the street. He had no idea what I was talking about.
 
  Black 1.2 Mk3Clio100
Well that's a bit of a daft thing to say, its a mod that a lot of people do to emphasize the whole Euro car scene thing. It originates from old and foreign cars that came with pressed plates.
That's like me saying 'I don't see why people do engine mods, its just asking for a speeding ticket and you can't go over 30mph most places anyway'

I've got a private pressed plates on mine, i kept the letter that came with them saying they're 100% legal and meet all these regulations in my glovebox.
I had an class A bellend of an officer pull me, told me they wasn't legal and all that b****cks so i told him to do one, gave him the letter showing what regulations they meet and he ended up apologizing!
I think it all depends on what sort of officer you get, I've got mates who've had their number plate in the window for years, yet the one time i do it i get an absolute bollocking.
I've only been pulled once for pressed plates touch wood.
 

realnumber 1

ClioSport Club Member
Well that's a bit of a daft thing to say, its a mod that a lot of people do to emphasize the whole Euro car scene thing. It originates from old and foreign cars that came with pressed plates.
That's like me saying 'I don't see why people do engine mods, its just asking for a speeding ticket and you can't go over 30mph most places anyway'

I've got a private pressed plates on mine, i kept the letter that came with them saying they're 100% legal and meet all these regulations in my glovebox.
I had an class A bellend of an officer pull me, told me they wasn't legal and all that b****cks so i told him to do one, gave him the letter showing what regulations they meet and he ended up apologizing!
I think it all depends on what sort of officer you get, I've got mates who've had their number plate in the window for years, yet the one time i do it i get an absolute bollocking.
I've only been pulled once for pressed plates touch wood.

It's nothing like an engine mod lol. With an engine mod you can still drive around normally without drawing attention.
With things like plates and tints etc it's always on display every time you go past the police which leads to getting pulled over more like you say happened to you. Kind of proving the point lol.

I know where the idea came from and as said looks s**t most of the time imo.
 
  GT 86
Im not saying yours are but there are problems with some of the plates people use, this might be of some help.

The plate must be made off retroreflecting material “

Steel itself is not a retroreflecting material.

Plates have a fixed font style and size. Retroreflective means the plate should reflect light back to its source with a minimum scattering of light which is met by using the vinyl reflective material on the backing of the plate similar to the backing of road signs and the livery on the sides of emergency vehicles which cannot be met by simply painting a metal plate yellow or white, again Im not saying yours are but anyone could put a BS mark on something like this and tell you it is legal.
 

Sunglasses_Ron

ClioSport Admin
Im not saying yours are but there are problems with some of the plates people use, this might be of some help.

The plate must be made off retroreflecting material “

Steel itself is not a retroreflecting material.

Plates have a fixed font style and size. Retroreflective means the plate should reflect light back to its source with a minimum scattering of light which is met by using the vinyl reflective material on the backing of the plate similar to the backing of road signs and the livery on the sides of emergency vehicles which cannot be met by simply painting a metal plate yellow or white, again Im not saying yours are but anyone could put a BS mark on something like this and tell you it is legal.

This^^

I wouldn't go getting on your high horse over this and go into a nick shouting the odds TBH. I'm no traffic copper but as far as I'm aware metal pressed plates aren't legal. Those ones that you've posted pics of don't look to me like they're made of the correct material. Of course I may be wrong.
 

Ben

ClioSport Club Member
Not read the whole thread but if they're legal surely the garage will just stamp the sheet and that be that?
 
  UR 200
I'd say the fonts illegal for a start....


Of course I could be wrong.

A couple of my mates have been pulled for pressed plates, one has been pulled twice by the same copper! He got a fine both time, what's the point? Just leave them as they are, you make yourself an easy target and incorrect plates are an easy money maker for plod.
 
  Mk2 Ph2 172
This is what I don't get, why get an mot station to check the plates!!! They will pass the plates to the legislation of the mot rules not road traffic law !!!

The pressed plates in the picture given even with a non reflective back ground would pass an mot but would not be legal on the road !!
 
  GT 86
wayneplate.jpg

Without actually seeing them in the flesh as it were I would say that these plates would not be legal and wouldnt meet the legislation as regards retroreflecting material, doesnt matter what dubmeister tell you, they wont be the ones with the fixed penalty ticket, though if you got one you could always call them to court to argue the legalaties of them, but looking at them I doubt they would win.
 
The font is the same font as normal numberplates...

They meet all the BSAU145d requirements and are 100%.
 
Last edited:
  E46 M3 & UR Quattro
The font, spacing and size make the format of the plate legal. However, the fact the plate is made of a non-reflective material renders them illegal. It's a pretty grey area, personally I would just put your standard plates back on and be done with it. At the end of the day is it really worth the aggravation?
 

Sunglasses_Ron

ClioSport Admin
The font is the same font as normal numberplates...

They meet all the BSAU145d requirements and are 100%.

It's the police officers that don't know what they are talking about, but think they do.

Who says they meet those requirements?
 
  GT 86
The font is the same font as normal numberplates...

They meet all the BSAU145d requirements and are 100%.

It's the police officers that don't know what they are talking about, but think they do.


How can they if they are not retroreflecting, but tell me, how do you know they meet the BS standard and are 100% legal
 
I'd say the fonts illegal for a start....


Of course I could be wrong.

A couple of my mates have been pulled for pressed plates, one has been pulled twice by the same copper! He got a fine both time, what's the point? Just leave them as they are, you make yourself an easy target and incorrect plates are an easy money maker for plod.

Who says they meet those requirements?

A police officer told me but f**k it, cba arguing :)

That link is interesting though.
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
My car needs an mot test. It doesn't just need to be able to meet requirements it actually needs to be tested against them. Bs standards are the same to my knowledge so I don't believe it's legal for them to just stick a number on and it be ok?
 
Good read.

But to pick up on a point they made “ The plate must be MADE OF retroreflecting material “.

Plastic isn't retroreflective. It's the backing that is sandwiched between that is so on that basis I guess you could also argue that the backing of pessed plates is also retroreflective.

It is indeed an almighty can of worms.

http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6071055&postcount=38

Another decent post with information about it.
 

Sunglasses_Ron

ClioSport Admin
My car needs an mot test. It doesn't just need to be able to meet requirements it actually needs to be tested against them. Bs standards are the same to my knowledge so I don't believe it's legal for them to just stick a number on and it be ok?

Yes indeed. But according to that letter sent from a pressed plate manufacture its perfectly ok because they got a place in Germany to test them! lol
 

Sunglasses_Ron

ClioSport Admin

From that post.....

1 Scope
This British Standard specifies requirements for retroreflecting number plates for vehicles. The standard includes requirements for colorimetric and
photometric properties and tests for weather resistance, resistance to impact, bending, vibration, corrosion, solvents, water and extremes of
temperature.
NOTE. Retroreflecting number plates may be manufactured from
any material which performs satisfactorily in service, providing
the requirements of this standard are met.

Do you think that dubmeister have met all the standards? ie testing their pressed plates for weather resistance, resistance to bending, vibration, corrosion, solvents, water and extremes of temperature????

Because if they haven't then their plates do not meet the requirements of the standard and would therefore be illegal.

Just saying.
 

LiamR172

Scotland - NW
ClioSport Area Rep
I didnt mean to go in shouting the odds etc..

I just meant to go in and actually ask him to show you how/why they are illegal. That way, you will know 100% if they are or are not illegal.

I remember i got one of these tickets for my 2 front tyres because my tracking was fucked and the 2 edges were bald, i was told in my driving test that the tread of the tyre was measured accross 3 quarters of the tyre but this police man was saying mine were illegal?

So i went to the police station and asked if someone could explain the law to me, someone did and that was that! They were nice enough about it all because i wasnt acting like i knew better than them etc.
 
I think its all down to lack of knowledge by the police. I'm willing to bet that the same police officer will be happy with the pressed plates once he's seen that they've been tested as legal. He's probably just playing it safe.
 
  FF Racing Blue 182
i wouldnt have them on i quickly asked a traffic cop i knew and got a reply of dont put them on......
 
  Nissan 350z
Are you seriously going to go to an MOT station (who often pass dodgy modifications without realising), ask them their legal opinion on the subject and hopefully get them to agree, then go down to the police station and attempt to "prove the police officer wrong".... all for the sake of a pair of numberplates? ...Seriously?

I hope you enjoy being pulled over because they are going to love you for this :slap:
 
  MCS R56
Are you seriously going to go to an MOT station (who often pass dodgy modifications without realising), ask them their legal opinion on the subject and hopefully get them to agree, then go down to the police station and attempt to "prove the police officer wrong".... all for the sake of a pair of numberplates? ...Seriously?

I hope you enjoy being pulled over because they are going to love you for this :slap:

Exactly. The mind boggles...
 

yeecup

ClioSport Club Member
  mk8Fiesta ST,172 cup
id just stick the standard plates back on and forget about it.
 
Would be mental to even consider arguing with them over it. Even if you win, then what? You stick in their mind and every time they see you from then on they'll be pulling you over and poking about. Not worth the hassle.
 

cafcross

ClioSport Club Member
If they are illegal after all this, despite what Dubmeister say, the stamp etc, then I'd be emailing Dubmeister and getting them to pay my fine.
 
a get the fact of the reflective material but they didnt even say anything about that....going on about if a hit someone it would cut them...which makes me think its a total grey area for them
 
Search for threads made by me, I made a list of things required for the pressed plates to be 100% legal, I would post the link but I am on my phone, I do recommend though same as I mention in my thread that you do your own research the same as I did, and only put them on if you are convinced by your research... Unforetunately saying that someone on a forum or the website I bought them from say they are legal will not stand up against the courts... Iirc it was my thread called: some people (police rant) something like that... Read it all :)
 


Top