Oh dear. Police are specifically targeting those with number plates that weren't issued by the authorities - even if attached to a legally owned car and still reflective.
Confiscation and a $100 fine AND 25 demerit points. Motoring crime of the century obviously. Meanwhile, bad driving is therefore not being targeted.
tgray,
Nov 14, 9:17pm
No one should be allowed to drive with illegal plates. No one is saying bad driving is not being targeted because of this.
franc123,
Nov 14, 9:24pm
They better double check their rule book, the number plate display legislation was completely overhauled in 2011 and quite a few of these alleged offences are not illegal and based on outdated information. Others who post on this board beg to differ and side with Plod which is quite amusing, so time to go grab the popcorn and see who makes a fool of themselves. Links to the revised legislation will be provided later if nobody does it before me, have a nice day.
lookoutas,
Nov 14, 9:29pm
So what that means is someone with a classic Yankee car, and has the Yankee plate number personalised, can get pinged for using that plate instead of the NZ one?
They must be running short on quota. Wish more people would start speeding.
daryl14,
Nov 14, 9:52pm
As I understand it, the company that provides nzs licence plates has a monopoly which is enforced by law and that is illegal in all industries in nz.
tintop,
Nov 14, 9:57pm
The other thing is that the issued number plate identifies the car, so if someone was to steal your car and then fit plates that match another of the same year, model, colour etc - it diminishes your chances of getting your car back. Oh dear indeed.
tintop,
Nov 14, 10:12pm
Be interesting to see what you come up with -
I found this :
Number plate offences
Only plates issued by the Transport Agency are legal, which means you can??
vtecintegra,
Nov 14, 10:15pm
That does not actually appear to agree with the legislation (although I may well be misinterpreting it)
When I got my personalised plate for my black Nissan, it came under a bit of scrutiny from the police, and I've since found that there is another black Nissan the same with the normal equivalent, 1 instead of I like mine, I found out buying RUC for my Ute when I just asked for a continuance, when she gave me the sticker I had suddenly done 90,000kms more than when I walked into the post shop.
I have several sets of plates hanging up in the garage and if theft was the issue, then I see don't how this forms any protection whatever. If someone steals my car and fits a set of plates stolen from another car, how does tis make mine any safer?
I own several sets of personalised plates and one car has had overseas manufactured plates on since brand new, in 2002.
A vin number is the ID unique to the car, but personalised plates are routinely swapped from car to car. C'mon, 25 demerit points for a technical offence that puts no-one in danger, using an overseas reflective plate that is visible and readable by speed cameras carries the same penalty as a major driving offence?
It is not going to stop my car being stolen/recovered just because it has the NZTA issued plates, or am I missing something here? Villains nick cars. End of story. They certainly don't target cars with PP whether legal or not. If that is the case, then how does it affect other road users?
Police can check immediately if the plates belong to a specific car - if they so wish. Just an emphasis on revenue gathering and red tape for the sakes of it. How on earth did we manage to survive the 50's, 60's and 70's without all this twaddle?
I'm not anti police, far from it, but I do wonder about the people issuing the priorities when you often can't get a cop to a crime scene because 'they are too busy'.
survivalkiwi,
Nov 15, 1:04am
What about someone with an old E type Jaguar with the number plate painted on the bonnet? How are they going to confiscate that?.
rpvr,
Nov 15, 1:17am
Use a grinder?
tintop,
Nov 15, 1:31am
Someone sees a blue Morrie lowlight, they think they would like one too - they see yours.
So they get a set of plates to match the ones that they saw first. Steal yours and fit the false plates.
You report yours stolen, the cops see it, but the new plates fitted match a real blue Morrie. So they carry on the search.
kazbanz,
Nov 15, 1:51am
I'm 100% on socrrams side of this one. The law does NOT in any way state. "you must use number plates supplied by manufacturer X: It also does not state that the plates must be made of any specific material What it does do is give a very specific set of parameters as to what the plates must and must not do. Size ,colour,colour of the letters/numbers. even font. Its to the point law abiding folks need to carry around copies of the specific legislation to shut up the police concerned.
butterfly05,
Nov 15, 1:57am
I got done on this 15 years ago so its nothing new.
From the above links its pretty clear whats allowed.
"Only plates issued by the Transport Agency and its agents are legal. Plates purchased anywhere else are unacceptable. "
"Number plate offences
Only plates issued by the Transport Agency are legal, which means you can??
tintop,
Nov 15, 2:12am
It is on the face of it - but using false plates to steal a car worth many many times more than $5,000 puts it into a better perspective.
tony9,
Nov 15, 4:27am
The Land Transport Act says that only the Transport Agency can issue Registration Plates, with the exception of the person licensed to supply personalised plates.
Basically, if you have not got the plate from the appropriate authority, it is not a valid registration plate, no matter what it looks like.
survivalkiwi,
Nov 15, 4:30am
b That would make a great hidden camera stunt. A battery grinder a fake cop and a very worried jag driver.
jhw2,
Nov 15, 4:35am
I run an E Type without a front plate at all - It has an exemption here from new. My understanding is the ones with the painted plates on the nose are UK Imports
tony9,
Nov 15, 4:37am
Yes, under the Transport Act, the Registrar can issue an amendment for the location of plates and/or the unique identifier.
socram,
Nov 15, 6:24am
If a car is carrying made up plates that were not for that car, wouldn't it be flagged at WoF time, since they are now fully computerised and they check the Vin number? I'm all for stopping thieves but I really can't see that carrying a made up plate as opposed to an issued plate is going to dent the crime wave significantly.
Out of those plates recently confiscated, how many were on stolen cars? That was conveniently missed out of the newspaper report. There was no note of having recovered any stolen cars because of it, which tends to suggest that the agenda has little to do with recovering stolen cars. You can put your own spin on what the real reason for the blitz is.
alfred011,
Nov 15, 8:16am
A revenue gatherer stopped me one day and told me my rear number plate was obstructed ,I pointed out to him there was nothing in front of it so it wasn't obstructed you could see the whole number plate ,he said dirt was obstructing it ,I told him to go have sex and travel.
butterfly05,
Nov 15, 10:50am
FFS, if they are stealing a car using fake plates a $5000 fine should be the least of their worries. But we both know that isnt the case is it?
Back to the topic what sort of thief is going to pay 30+ bucks for a fake plate when they can walk past any car anywhere and take the plates off it for free?
Its just another nothing law at the end of the day.
marte,
Nov 15, 10:59am
Right now, I am watching three of those revenue gatherers driving around in cars without taillights, number plate lights and or brake lights. They have been doing this everyday for over a month.
marte,
Nov 15, 11:01am
And the amounof normal cars out there doing the same thing astounds me. Even driving on the wrong side of the road.
But if your numberplate.
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