Upsidedown Number Plate

Wizard_of_Id

I spotted a van in a carpark today with its rear number plate on upsidedown, I mentioned it to the driver as being a good reason for the police to stop him but he basically told me to foxtrot oscar.

This begs the question, is it actually illegal to display a vehicle number plate upsidedown?

rich13348

Anpr would struggle to read it so that would be a reason for police to stop them.

He probably did it himself.

Let him get stopped and fined.

Wizard_of_Id

rich13348 wrote: »

Anpr would struggle to read it so that would be a reason for police to stop them.

He probably did it himself.

Let him get stopped and fined.

That was my thoughts as well and after what he said, I hope he gets hammered.

bigadaj

rich13348 wrote: »

Anpr would struggle to read it so that would be a reason for police to stop them.

He probably did it himself.

Let him get stopped and fined.

How many years will that take?

stator

Act of parliament

This paragraph requires the plate to be fixed—
(a) vertically or, where that is not reasonably practicable, in a position as close to the
vertical as is reasonably practicable, and
(b) in such a position that in normal daylight the characters of the registration mark are
easily distinguishable from every part of a relevant area having the diagonal length
specified in paragraph (

Fat_Walt

stator wrote: »

Act of parliament

Don't say the right way up though does it?

Car_54

Arguably, this may be covered by:

"A registration plate must not be treated in any other way which renders the characters of the registration mark less easily distinguishable to the eye or which would prevent or impair the making of a true photographic image of the plate through the medium of camera and film or any other device"

[Road Vehicles (Display of RegistrationMarks) Regulations 2001, section 11(2).]

pappa_golf

one could fire back and say that a camera/film would produce a negative image thus non readable*, plus a camera is a movable item and could easily be inverted


*misses the develop section of photography

Car_54

pappa_golf wrote: »

one could fire back and say that a camera/film would produce a negative image thus non readable*, plus a camera is a movable item and could easily be inverted


*misses the develop section of photography

Irrelevant. The point is "which renders the characters of the registration mark less easily distinguishable to the eye".

Inverting the plate certainly does that, unless the eye in question belongs to someone standing on his head.

stator

Fat_Walt wrote: »

Don't say the right way up though does it?

It basically says the number plate has to be easily readable from within a certain area around the car. I'm not able to easily read an upside down numberplate and neither are most people, so it is against the law to use one.

The English legal system is not like the American version where you can argue about wording and loopholes and get away with crimes because they forgot to say the number plate must be easily readable to somone standing up straight. If the law says it should be easily readable all judges would interpret that to mean easily readable to someone who is standing in the normal fashion and not doing a hand stand.

pappa_golf

lancs police are trailing out the handstand method , in order to prosecute all normal drivers