# Dirty license-plates are they legal ?



## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

From a bit dirty to very dirty plates

These licenseplates are dirty, could you be fined for driving a dirty car ?


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

In the Netherlands you can get fined for that: € 35


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## Nordic20T (Sep 28, 2011)

In Switzerland:

*Art. 57 Abs. 2 VRV*
_Kontrollschilder_, Geschwindigkeitstafeln und ähnliche Zeichen _müssen in gut lesbarem Zustand_, Lichter, Rückstrahler, Scheiben und Rückspiegel sauber _gehalten werden_. Ladung, Lastenträger, Arbeitsgeräte und dergleichen dürfen weder die Kontrollschilder noch die Beleuchtungsvorrichtungen verdecken.

It says that numberplates (and other similar signs) must be kept readable. The fine if it isn't, is CHF 60.-. (SR 741.031 Ordnungsbussenverordnung) (Fine number 330)


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

In Bulgaria if your car is dirty, they usually wouldn't fine you. But if your licence plates, headlights, indicators, stoplights and also the windows and mirrors are dirty, you possible get fined 50 leva which is about a bit over €25.



> Чл.100., (4) Водачът на моторното превозно средство е
> длъжен да поддържа:
> 1. табелите с регистрационния номер чисти;
> 2. устройствата за осветяване и светлинна сигнализация при маневри чисти,
> ...


Which in translation is:


> Art.100. (4) The driver of the vehicle must maintain:
> 1. registration plates clean;
> 2. lighting and light signaling for maneuvers clean,
> visible and regulated in order;
> 3. windows and mirrors clean.


Which by the way poses some more questions - about for example transporting bicycles behind the car, as the bicycles aren't completely transparent


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

Nordic20T said:


> It says that numberplates (and other similar signs) must be kept readable. ,)


so what do you think, do all the vehicles on the photos deserve a fine ?


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## Nordic20T (Sep 28, 2011)

^^ According to the law, the Passat and the i20 would get a fine for sure, the others maybe not. But in practice, policemen in CH would just tell you to clean it immediately and you wouldn't get a fine if everything else is OK.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Chilio said:


> Which by the way poses some more questions - about for example transporting bicycles behind the car, as the bicycles aren't completely transparent



IMG 013 by Chriszwolle, on Flickr


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

I think that in the UK you can get fined if they're not visible, as long as they are


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

Chris,
That's how I traveled about 1500 km around Bulgaria in summer 2009, and didn't get fined... But I suppose if policemen had stopped me for anything, they would have fined me for the bicycles obstructing the visibility of stoplights and registration plate:


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## Satyricon84 (Feb 3, 2009)

In Denmark there's the license plate right for the bycicle rack which covers the normal license plate and it's red









In Italy you get a fine too for dirty license plate. I've got a fine when i was teenager with my scooter, cause i put oil on it to get dirty on purpose and don't let it read. There was still the Lira as currency and the fine I've got was around 35.000 Lire (more or less 15 €). I still remember the motivation of the fine: "illegible license plate due dirty"


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## El Tiburon (Mar 21, 2010)

In Florida, the law says that licence plates shall be kept "free from defacement, mutilation, grease, and other obscuring matter, so that they will be plainly visible and legible at all times 100 feet from the rear or front.", as per Florida Statutes section 316.605(1).


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

In Bulgaria you can buy the accessory with supplementary back-lights and place for the licence-plate for transporting bicycles, but Bulgarian road law doesn't give an option for such a supplementary licence-plate. And as Bulgarian back licence-plates are fixed with a special rivet, they cannot be moved from the car to the accessory and back. I thought about the option of making a laminated color photocopy of the real one, but it would be also not really legal  So I took the risk and traveled with the bicycles like that. I even inadvertently drove with 80 km/h at a place with speed limit at 40 and speed-camera, but didn't get a fine, as the camera was facing the back of the car


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## andy5 (Nov 21, 2011)

NordikNerd said:


> so what do you think, do all the vehicles on the photos deserve a fine ?


How do we know? For your photos, it depends on the Swedish law, whether it's similar to the answers from other countries. 

I haven't heard of people in the UK actually being prosecuted for dirty plates, but there have been cases of police just warning people for that or a couple of ither things

There are more possibilities here. Most though not all number plates are made by laminating self-adhesive numbers and then the white or yellow background on to the inside of a price of clear plastic. These may gradually delaminate and dirt gets in the gap. At some stage, they will be bad enough to fail the next annual MOT inspection, and be replaced. 

Also, some people customise their plates, trying to make them read differently like perhaps their name, slightly altering 13 to look like B or 4 like A, extra black dots or black headed fixing bolts to make 1 look like T or C like E. Some other people use different fonts out of some sort of vanity. Both of these things are illegal. 

In theory it seems there can be a fine of up to £1000 for any of these incidents, also including failed illuminating lights or obscuring the plates, but I think that much will be pretty rare in practice. The police are much more likely to warn than actually prosecute.

In one occasion i was at the testing station for the annual MOT, and the receptionist suddenly went outside to talk to someone. The guy had just arrived and was about to temporarily stick a proper number plate over the one he had which would not be allowed. And the service reception guy knew this person is a policeman.


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## Fargo Wolf (Oct 23, 2009)

Chilio said:


> Which by the way poses some more questions - about for example transporting bicycles behind the car, as the bicycles aren't completely transparent


In that case, you'd remove the plate from the vehicle and re-attach it somewhere, where it will be visible on the rear. Some bike racks have a mount for this, otherwise you'd simply zap-strap it on. Here in Canada, it's not a big deal. The same applies to slide in campers for P/U trucks. Many larger campers, have a spot where the owner can mount the rear number plate.



NordikNerd said:


> so what do you think, do all the vehicles on the photos deserve a fine ?


The first four get a warning, while the driver of the Hyundai gets a fine.

Here in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, you are required to keep your plates clean and visible, though it's virtually never enforced. Most drivers just clean the insurance validation decal and leave it at that.


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

Fargo Wolf said:


> In that case, you'd remove the plate from the vehicle and re-attach it somewhere, ...


As I wrote in my next post, this is not possible with Bulgarian registration plates, because they are fixed with a special security rivet, which, if broken, can lead to another police fine:


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## Nordic20T (Sep 28, 2011)

^^ and what can you do? Can you buy an additional plate like in Germany, Austria or the Netherlands?


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

As I already said, this is a gap in the law here. They never though of that option, the law just says one should not obstruct the visibility of the registration plate, and the only additional plate you can buy is a different one if you register a trailer  No option to buy third registration plate, same as the front and rear one.


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## andy5 (Nov 21, 2011)

Nordic20T said:


> ^^ and what can you do? Can you buy an additional plate like in Germany, Austria or the Netherlands?


I assume so. There must be requirements for trailers as well as just bike carriers.

Mind you, that varies. I know that some countries register trailers and caravans separately, while others just fit the same registration as the towcar.


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## Nordic20T (Sep 28, 2011)

^^ Is the security rivet attached to the car or just to the frame?


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## Chilio (May 1, 2009)

@andy5, In Bulgaria trailer registration is separate from the registration of the towcar.

@Nordic20T, to the car. Or at least to the bumper  But in my case through the metal of the hood of the trunk.


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## fbeavis (Feb 8, 2012)

Shouldn't be long before licence plates have RFID chips in them. That way if it's obscured the police and toll road cameras/red light cameras and the like can still know what the plate is.


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## Nordic20T (Sep 28, 2011)

NordikNerd said:


> Almost visible plate.^^
> Where I live the cars look a lot worse
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/62778150w.jpg/


Maybe, but in Switzerland this counts already as a very dirty plate.


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## NordikNerd (Feb 5, 2011)

fbeavis said:


> Shouldn't be long before licence plates have RFID chips in them. That way if it's obscured the police and toll road cameras/red light cameras and the like can still know what the plate is.


Interesting, in that sense maybe the license plates will be abolished.

The sticker proving that the vehicle is payed tax for is already gone here in Sweden. This information is still visible in the onboard computer of the traffic police.

If each car was equipped with a transmitter, the police could read the license without any plates. No worries about dirt and snow covering them.


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## Stainless (Jun 7, 2009)

NordikNerd said:


> Interesting, in that sense maybe the license plates will be abolished.
> 
> The sticker proving that the vehicle is payed tax for is already gone here in Sweden. This information is still visible in the onboard computer of the traffic police.
> 
> If each car was equipped with a transmitter, the police could read the license without any plates. No worries about dirt and snow covering them.


Plates will always be necessary. It is not just the police who use number plates, witnesses to crimes, people who buy the same car as everybody else and number plate spotters need them too


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