Number plate law

droopsnoot

AdrianC said:

* don't start me... The fourth dimension is time. If the plates don't change over time, they aren't 4d. Plates that change over time aren't new...

Not just me, then. 

JustAnotherSaver

MX5huggy said:

I think the OP is talking about pressed metal plates in standard colours yellow and white background with black lettering. I don’t believe anything in the changes makes these illegal. 

I have them on 2 cars very durable.

Yes. When talking about pressed metal plates this is what I am talking about. Though I think the others will know that because it'd be pretty obvious - if I'd have been talking about black plates I'd have obviously stated black pressed metal plates.

Regards the 4D and the colours they put around lettering, I'd expect these to be illegal yes. My question was more about standard colours but in 4D format. 

AdrianC

JustAnotherSaver said: My question was more about standard colours but in 4D format. 

The "4d format", though, isn't pressed metal.
It's a plastic backing with plastic characters stuck on the surface. They just happen to be characters made up of several layers - top black, lower coloured. It's the different colour for the lower layers that's the issue.

molerat

AdrianC said:

"4D"* plates will be actively barred for new plate supply, whereas they were merely iffy and implicitly barred before.
They were always explicitly tasteless anyway.

Only the coloured ones as pictured as they are not black but the plain black ones comply as do metal plates. The current ones that will be no longer allowed are the 3D effect as they are not black. I think "4D" is used to distinguish them from 3D effect.

AdrianC

molerat said:

AdrianC said:

"4D"* plates will be actively barred for new plate supply, whereas they were merely iffy and implicitly barred before.
They were always explicitly tasteless anyway.

Only the coloured ones as pictured as they are not black but the plain black ones comply as do metal plates. The current ones that will be no longer allowed are the 3D effect as they are not black. I think "4D" is used to distinguish them from 3D effect.

By "3d", you mean the 2d shaded ones? Yes, they're just as illegal under BS145e as they were under d.


I do wish people wouldn't attempt to redefine such basic concepts to suit their marketing...

I've just realised what the "4d" ones remind me of...

JustAnotherSaver

I should probably wait until I am home to post pictures rather than words so people can get it. I suspect people know what I'm on about but I'll give benefit of the doubt and accept that you may genuinely not, hence why I'll post pictures to show. 

Funnily, the spy software that is on the phone actually brought up a 4D advert on Facebook. 
I looked out the comments section and there was a guy who had stuck on the 4D part. Made a big deal out of its meaning and started asking if they're only for delorians, space and time blah blah blah. 

I suspected he was trying to be a comedian but missing the key ingredient of being actually funny. 

molerat

The shaded 2 tone were perfectly legal under 145d, along with Highline, the silver grey line in the centre of the lettering.  There was a big fuss when the rules came out but DfT or whatever they were called at the time confirmed they were legal due to the colour gradient allowed across the lettering by the BS designed to cover fading but failing to specify that reason.

AdrianC

JustAnotherSaver said:

I should probably wait until I am home to post pictures rather than words so people can get it. I suspect people know what I'm on about but I'll give benefit of the doubt and accept that you may genuinely not, hence why I'll post pictures to show.

Please, because I know exactly what the three dimensions are.

A number plate where the surface is smooth, and the characters are flush, are two-dimensional.
A number plate where the characters are proud of the backing are three-dimensional.

The fourth dimension is time.

Anything else is simply prioritising marketing over basic reality.

Number plates have one job, and one job only. To display the legally required registration of your vehicle. Mucking about with them can only have two purposes - to make the registration harder to identify (perverting the course of justice in the event of a prosecution), or simple vanity.

AdrianC

molerat said:

The shaded 2 tone were perfectly legal under 145d, along with Highline, the silver grey line in the centre of the lettering.  There was a big fuss when the rules came out but DfT or whatever they were called at the time confirmed they were legal due to the colour gradient allowed across the lettering by the BS designed to cover fading but failing to specify that reason.

There aren't shades of black. Those shaded two-tone characters aren't light black and dark black.
The legislation explicitly requires black.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/pdfs/uksi_20010561_en.pdf
Black can fade, so there is a little leeway for the black to have become degraded over time. It does not allow for characters to be deliberately only part-black.

molerat

AdrianC said:

molerat said:

The shaded 2 tone were perfectly legal under 145d, along with Highline, the silver grey line in the centre of the lettering.  There was a big fuss when the rules came out but DfT or whatever they were called at the time confirmed they were legal due to the colour gradient allowed across the lettering by the BS designed to cover fading but failing to specify that reason.

There aren't shades of black. Those shaded two-tone characters aren't light black and dark black.
The legislation explicitly requires black.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/561/pdfs/uksi_20010561_en.pdf
Black can fade, so there is a little leeway for the black to have become degraded over time. It does not allow for characters to be deliberately only part-black.

The BS though is the definition of what is allowable and that allowed for a colour gradient across the lettering.  Lawyers for the number plate component manufacturers challenged the definition of the term "black" compared to that used in the BS and the government department agreed with their view that the BS allowed for those styles of lettering. Allowed according to the letter of the law but maybe not the spirit but it is the letter of the law that counts.