25 replies to this topic

[Clubby1275GT]

Can anyone tell me the legal action that should be taken by a copper if u find a motorist with black plates that should be yellow n white??

i have black plates on my old V plate GT and the traffic copper pulled me over, i was blocking an entrance to a hotel and with him behind me he was half into the road with his plod car. the barrier wasnt working so i had to speak to the woman to open it through the info button on the barrier (all whilst still in the car)
he approached the passenger window and asked my mate to get out, not me, then he came round my side and i told him i was trying to get out of the way, the barrier opened and i went to pull in, he said, right sunshine, u've earned urself a fine!!!
i got a £30 penalty notice (bit like a parking ticket) reason being for having NO number plates.
i have plates, black ones, but because the car isnt pre 71 i cant have them, even though i told him i bought the car with them on.

As far as im aware i thought it was merely a warning and they can't fine you, dont u, as a driver, have a set time period to remove them??
im refusing to pay because i felt i was helping him out by moving my car so he wasnt blocking the road, and it seemed he only fined me because i did this, instead of getting out, (bearing in mind the driveway to the hotel where the barrier is is quite a steep hill to leave ur car on)

anyone have any opinions on this?? anyone a traffic cop??

[Jammy]

Ooooo, never tell a copper what your going to do, always ask, politely, preferably with a rose between your teeth and a box of chocolates (or donuts (when did the spelling change from doughnuts to donuts?!?!))!! If you ask me you knew you shouldn't have had B&W plates and he is fully justified in giving you a fine, even if the manner in which he did it wasn't to your liking.

[minimole]

to be fair you got the fine because the plates are not legal and it is fully justified. you refuse to pay just because you didnt like the manner in which he gave it to you. it sucks yes but it is the law.

[minipip]

im all with clubby1275gt! they should have given you a warning about your plates and sommin like 7 days or 48hours to get it sorted, i htink the reason he gave you the fine was because u pulled away from him, he didnt like that so he screwed you, as for asking your mate to get out?!?!?!?!?!? what the hell?!?!?!?! its almost as though he as gonna do sommin he didnt want your mate to see, wen you go to make your argument ask y he removed the passenger. that is a strange one!

[Clubby1275GT]

he was just in a generally pissed off mood i think, right arse. my mate told him what he did and he told him to shut up and said im not talking to u "ur not the driver"!!
then he took his badge number down for me as his attitude sucked!
the other copper was just standing there.
to be honest i played dumb and said the plates were on there when i bought it and i didnt no the law about how old the car should have to be, therefore it shouldnt be worthy of a fine, surely.
bet if i was a bird, he'd let me off, or if i was 35 (no offence to anyone who is 35)

[Jammy]

At the end of the day its up to you to make sure your car is legal at all times. Never mind the fact that you knew the plates were illegal anyway.

You not going to get off the fine just because the copper had an attitude.

[Dan]

Firstly ignorance of the law is not a valid defence.

You should pay this fixed penalty quickly and get your plates changed. A fixed penalty is the MINIMUM penalty for any offence and it exists to keep the courts free for more serious crimes. If you take this to court you will loose nomatter what the attitude of the officer was. If they choose to give you a warning and a producer that's at their discretion not a rquirement and if you hadn't attempted to drive off that's probably what you would have got.

If you take this to court the pentalty will be increased as you are pleading not-guilty by not accepting the fixed penalty. The maximum punishment for this offence is a £1000.00 fine, a few points and withdrawal of the registration mark by the DVLA which menas you will have to re-register your car which will cost you even more.

I know it sucks but accept that you were breaking the law and pay the ticket.

There is no period of grace to change anything that is flagrantly illegal in any situation.

[Jake Blues]

or if i was 35 (no offence to anyone who is 35)

Age doesn't matter, I got pulled the other day on the M6 for using my phone.....ironic really, my mate had just txd me asking if I could talk so I rang him to say no because I was driving and would ring him back when I stopped!

[minipip]

i got a £30 penalty notice (bit like a parking ticket) reason being for having NO number plates.
i have plates, black ones, but because the car isnt pre 71 i cant have them, even though i told him i bought the car with them on.

look at that 'you have NO number plates' is stating that you dont have any plates, but you do baring in mind that you do but they are not legal, the ticket should state you are desplaying illigal plates for the yr of the car, so in fact the ticket is false because you where desplaying plates.

[Jammy]

or if i was 35 (no offence to anyone who is 35)

Age doesn't matter, I got pulled the other day on the M6 for using my phone.....ironic really, my mate had just txd me asking if I could talk so I rang him to say no because I was driving and would ring him back when I stopped!

LOL! That really is quite funny, among other things, tis like replying 'No' when someone asks you if your awake!

[Dan]

look at that 'you have NO number plates' is stating that you dont have any plates, but you do baring in mind that you do but they are not legal, the ticket should state you are desplaying illigal plates for the yr of the car, so in fact the ticket is false because you where desplaying plates.

Yeah. good idea. Go to court based on that loophole. Then while you're in there some other court officer can see your car in the car park and write you up a valid ticket, drag you back in and give you the maximum penalty.

Pay the fine.

[Clubby1275GT]

valid points, i think i'll pay the fine, although i have nno cheque book, i'll sort something out!

[Jive-ass-Joel]

i was reading a thingy written by an ex police officer on another forum. It was a little while ago now, but i'm failry sure that you should have been issued with a DRN (default rectification notice) and given a set time in which to rectify the fault and prove that it has been rectified (at a police station). Also, you can only be given this by a traffic cop. its not the juristiction of regular police IIRC.

That's basically what i remember from it, but it's possible that i mangled the info somehow. I'll try and find where it was originally written.

[minipip]

argue the fine, obviosly hes going to go and change his plates if it is taken to court, glad to see you agree that it is a loop hole, i bet hes not that stupid to leave the tin plates on going to a building of law!

[Jive-ass-Joel]

you can pay most fines over the phone i think. automated.