: : November 2007 Boy, am I glad to see the back of October, it has been an awful month for me personally. I had to cut short my stay at the monthly meeting, I missed the opening round of the quiz, and the mid-month meeting. The reason is work, not the fault of anybody, but there should be eight managers to run the site on a day to day basis. There are three of us at the moment, with a senior manager seconded part time to help us, which means he who pays the piper calls the tunes. Sadly I see little respite over the coming months as we try and recruit new members of staff, so don’t expect to see me too often or for too long. Add to that, I remembered my ZS is due for MOT early next month, and given that I’m getting away from it all at a track day at Goodwood on the 5th, I figured I’d better get it done now. Imagine my disappointment to get a phone call telling me the car has failed. However my disappointment turned to laughter when I was informed it had failed on illegal number plates. The MOT test has included new rules on number plates since the beginning of October and my car failed on four counts. All cars registered after January 1st 2001 must have the plates supplying outlet name and post code as well as a British Standard mark, mine didn’t. It also failed because the number plate has an MG badge as well as the Union flag and GB letters. Fortunately I had a spare set that were legal, so a quick swap and it was a free retest and a new ticket. Laws relating to the MOT and number plates I mentioned in my opening piece about my ZS failing the MOT - the new laws relating to number plates came in on the 1st of October this year. The garage who always do my tests say they have failed a number of cars already, just on this MOT item, and they are not registered as plate makers so they have nothing to gain. So I thought it would be worth while getting the facts from VOSA and the following was downloaded from their web site. Why are registration plates checked during an MOT test? Registration plates are checked at the MOT test to make sure they comply with the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 as amended. It is essential that all vehicles carry the correct registered number and that the plates are secure and clearly visible for accurate eye witness accounts and to ensure traffic enforcement cameras and road user charging systems work as intended. It is clearly necessary that registration plates conform to the required standard. What vehicles are affected? Registration plate checks apply to vehicles in all MOT test classes which include motorcycles, cars and light goods vehicles. The only vehicles not affected are foreign registered, diplomatic and in-service military vehicles. What are the MOT requirements? MOT testers will carry out a complete visual inspection in respect of the condition of the plates and that the required dimensions are not obviously incorrect. They will also be checking that the plates are present, secure, showing the correct registration and are not likely to be misread due to damage, deterioration or because they are obscured (by a tow ball for example). Additionally, any feature that has the effect of changing the appearance or legibility of any of the characters, so that the true identity of the vehicle is less easily established will be unacceptable. Registration plates fitted to vehicles first used on or after 1st September 2001 are also required to display the BS AU 145d marking and the name and postcode of the plate supplier. Are there any additional checks on dual purpose plates? Dual purpose plates can be fitted to any age of vehicle, but are only permitted to display an acceptable international symbol or flag. These are the Euro symbol, with a GB identifier, Union flag, Scottish Saltire, Cross of St George, or the Red Dragon each with their respective National identifiers. Other emblems, such as football team crests etc are not allowed. What if I have a cherished registration plate from an older vehicle? The regulations stipulate that the requirements are dependent on the date that the vehicle was first registered. Therefore, old style black and silver type registration plates which are permitted on pre-1973 vehicles, are not permitted to be fitted to a vehicle first registered on or after 1st January 1973. Similarly, cherished plates from older vehicles fitted to a vehicle first registered on or after 1st September 2001 will be required to display the BS AU 145d marking and the name and postcode of the plate supplier. Do these requirements also apply to vehicles registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland? Yes they do. Although there is no register of number plate suppliers in these countries, the registration plates still have to conform to the regulations. < Return to previous page