[caption id="attachment_33463" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Credit: City of Wolverhampton Council[/caption]
The meteoric rise of ‘Ghost Plates’ is becoming nightmare for authorities as more cars are found using the plates which are visible to the eye but invisible to ANPR cameras.
A recent expose over the yuletide period by the Daily Mail claims that a staggering 1 in 15 cars are now fitted with illegal 4D plates that cannot be spotted by surveillance cameras and go undetected as they are invisible under infrared light.
Chief users are said to be taxi and minicab drivers as well as repeat offenders to evade speed cameras and charges for parking, congestion and ULEZ but the biggest fears concern the criminal community using them, perhaps cloning a similar vehicle at the same time.
Number plates have consistently been a thorny issue with British motorists and the authorities. Despite regular rule changes, the last (BS AU 145e) in 2021, posh plates excepted, there’s been constant flouting of the rules, over font type, sizes and spacings, irregular finishes and so on but raised 3 and 4D designs takes it to another level plus there’s 5,6 and7D already being manufactured.
By law, anyone wishing to purchase replacement number plates must produce the relevant V5c as proof of ownership but many plate makers waiver this.
What’s more, according to the Daily Mail, anybody can become a plate manufacturer and supplier simply by paying a one-off £40 fee without any background checks on their probity – small wonder that currently there are almost 35,000 suppliers in the UK, according to Government sources who despite claiming that strict laws are already in force to police plate manufacturing, admit the market goes “largely unregulated”.
“This Daily Mail investigation shows just how broken the UK’s number plate system is,” says Labour MP Sarah Coombes who along with The All Party Parliamentary Group for Transport (APPGTS) has been campaigning for a complete overhaul of the whole scene. This includes a ban of 3D and 4D number plates which are currently perfectly legal.
The recent publication of the Government ’s Road Safety Strategy, the first in more than a decade, intends to outlaw illegal number plates. Michael Flanagan, chair, British Number Plate Manufacturers Association (BNMA) comments: ‘’The BNMA fully supports the recommendations of the APPG. This report provides a valuable opportunity to strengthen compliance across our members’ customer base, ensuring that end consumers consistently receive a high‑quality, fully compliant product.
‘’The BNMA will support the proposed level of regulation during and after its implementation by providing compliant resources and enhancing its guidance to outlets, authorities, and the public, thereby safeguarding public safety through a secure and regulated supply system.’’
Flanagan exclusively admitted to CAT that although it’s a worldwide problem of varying degrees, made worse due to Covid, the UK is one of the worst and will never be totally defeated as there’s so many rouge suppliers legitimately registered. “It really is a wild west. I had a meeting with the DVLA last month and it’s deeply worried about this and the sheer numbers”.
The British Number Plate Manufacturers Association chair says there’s three types of illegal number plates: Ghost plates; Cloned plates and what he calls ’Stealth’ plates, the latter which is a special coating on a standard style plate. He wants to see far higher fines metered all round out for starters, including the end user flouting the law.
That’s if they are spotted by road patrols of course because while plate laws – in theory at least – become ever stricter, trailers and caravans towed using nothing more sophisticated than a hand written registration on a piece of cardboard let alone high tech evasion techniques, remain commonplace, what’s the chances of being caught?
Go to comments