Why you should check your number plate NOW or face £1,000 fine

martin

8 years ago

It’s inevitable that cars are going to get grimy, dirty and dusty.

However, British drivers have a responsibility to keep their vehicle clean or they could risk landing a hefty fine.

If this dirt or grime builds up so much on the car’s number plate, to the point where it becomes unreadable, you are committing a driving offence.

The Government clarifies the legal position as follows: “Number plates (also known as licence plates) should show your vehicle registration number correctly.

“You can’t rearrange letters or numbers, or alter them so that they’re hard to read.”

The fine for driving a car with an unreadable number plate is up to £1,000.

In addition, it is enough of an offence for a car to fail its MOT.

A DVLA spokesman explained the rules in a statement to the Burton Mail: “There is a specific offence under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 of obscuring or allowing a registration mark to be not easily distinguishable.

“All registration numbers must be displayed clearly and correctly on the number plate – this helps the police, enforcement agencies and members of the public to correctly identify a vehicle to assist road safety and traffic enforcement”.