Numberplate Defacing?

[Rochey]

hey all, i have a s2 r33 and got slimline plates with it. had the car a week and had to tie the plates on witrh my showlaces at VICroads when i drove off. i can fit the back plate fine but the front needs about 10mm off each side to fit in the indentation on the front bar. if i cut the plates to make them fit im pretty sure this counts as numberplate defacing. i live in montrose and only drive the car on weekends, so its not like im going down chapel street and it'd be hardly noticable. the thing is all i'd be cutting off is the blue lines on the sides. you'd still see VIC and UJB-983. has anyone else done this and been found out? what sort of fine am i looking at?

p.s. im in VIC

[kakimoto33]

Unfortunately neither VicRoads or the Police can get their thoughts right on this issue. It's not legal to bend or cut the plate to make it fit, apparently you are supposed to modify the bumper on your car instead, however this is not an issue for compliance so there really is no way for anyone to know what is the correct action to take.

In practical terms I think bending the plate slightly on each side or shaving a few mm's off the edge is perfectly acceptable and I have done this many times without being hassled by the Police at all - the trick is to make sure you do it nicely so it doesn't appear that you have tried to alter the plate to avoid speed camera's, etc.

Generally speaking most Police officers are quite level headed and they will understand that you have to make the plate fit on the car somehow, so be sensible and you should be fine.

[Rochey]

Unfortunately neither VicRoads or the Police can get their thoughts right on this issue. It's not legal to bend or cut the plate to make it fit, apparently you are supposed to modify the bumper on your car instead, however this is not an issue for compliance so there really is no way for anyone to know what is the correct action to take.

In practical terms I think bending the plate slightly on each side or shaving a few mm's off the edge is perfectly acceptable and I have done this many times without being hassled by the Police at all - the trick is to make sure you do it nicely so it doesn't appear that you have tried to alter the plate to avoid speed camera's, etc.

Generally speaking most Police officers are quite level headed and they will understand that you have to make the plate fit on the car somehow, so be sensible and you should be fine.

thanks heaps mate, i just took the slight edges off the plates. they look great.

[(B1) MR_fanny]

i just bent mine on a vice but i see youve already hacked yours...lol ah wells.

[justin911]

paradizle defecated his numberplates

[R31Nismoid]

Unfortunately neither VicRoads or the Police can get their thoughts right on this issue. It's not legal to bend or cut the plate to make it fit, apparently you are supposed to modify the bumper on your car instead,

Thats actually slightly wrong Craig

I wont a court case last year over a similar matter.

There is a supp reg around Number Plate mounting that states something along the lines of:

"If the number plate is mounted in the factory position, and thats all thats avaliable, then its ok"

I was defected for an obscured number plate, and the law was interesting once i read it.

I had my number plate "shaved" to fit into my mount, and once we got to court with the actual law printed out, its was instant win.

I would however reccomend bending it. And you'll be fine as thats all you have availiable.

I was defected because the officer was too lazy to read the law he charged me for breaking, and as such it was nothing more than a pain in the a$$.

[Frunknmont]

An other option to cutting or bending is to jack it up a bit. My plate wouldnt fit the space in the front bar(too long) So I got some longer bolts and a dozen washers, used the washers as spacers so the plate sits out far enough that it dosent need all the bending and cutting.

[Jamezilla]

As an interesting side note - lots of Evo drivers are getting grief due to the FACTORY offset mounting position of the number plate. Apparently MMA are providing a letter stating all the ADR compliance regulations the car is covered by, and that the mounting point is legal.

Even more silly in that I never was questioned where my plate was mounted on the GTR as it looked like a factory bracket.

I wonder how many Alfa 156 drivers have this problem...

[Ronin 09]

5mm lexan sheet cut into 2x2cm squares then wedged between plate and front bumper does the spacing quite nicely

[saff_cossie]

Letter sent JW

Apparently there is also a bracket being fitted to Evos that pushes the plate even further out so it is completely parallel with the front of the bar (currently sits on a slight angle) to overcome this.

Who was it who had the problem with putting a spot in the middle of their plate to spell something. Can't remember if it was SAU or WRX but fairly sure they had some grief over defacing.

[Jamezilla]

Well known STI driver - put a 'dot' on his plate to separate the words and got a fine for defacing it.

[Kaz200]

My TMU friend said the first thing he would pull me over for is the rear plates.. but not because they're bent.. because they are sitting on a slight angle and look like they were shoved on in a hurry (which they were!).. makes it look like stolen plates/car.

Anyway I got an 'obscured/defaced/illegible' type number plate fine maybe 3-4 years ago.. not from bent plates or anything tho.. anyway it was about $105 from memory and no demerit points, wasn't a huge deal.

[R31Nismoid]

Its worth more than that now, its a canary offence.

Hence i took it to court, and won.

Its LEGAL to have it not quite fitting as thats all the car came with.

[ctjet]

for an 'obscured/defaced/illegible' plate its about $200 bux and three demrit points...

but i got out of it!!

[thommo]

I wonder how many Alfa 156 drivers have this problem...

lol, funny you should say that, just sold my 33 and am now driving a 156.

rarely troubled in the 33, first week in the alfa was actually asked in a random breath test if the plate position on my 156 was factory

[thommo]

double post

Edited October 3, 2006 by thommo

[thommo]

on the front bar of my old 33 i didn't want to cut the plates so used spacers/washers to bring the plate to just flush with the front bumper.

[SS8_Gohan]

^ yeah, i'm going to have to do that do... might get some plastic covers for em too, the black edged ones. dunno, think it looks a little more factory that way.

[saff_cossie]

Well known STI driver - put a 'dot' on his plate to separate the words and got a fine for defacing it.

I just remembered so jumped on SAU and damn that quick thinking President has already posted it!!!!

We used to do it in the UK a lot and people still do largely because the number plate combinations were so restrictive, you had to be creative with caps. Mind you number plates there are made at any locksmiths so you can get italics etc (all be it illegal) and spaced how you want. I got one as part of my 18th present.

[abcent]

James I'm pretty certain your allowed to relocate your front number plate to one side so long as it can still be clearly read and is to the curb side of the road (passanger side of the car). That'd be why you were never questioned.

I was once tod by a TMU officer giving me a canary for ride height, that I was lucky I hadnt altered my rear plate to fit like most other imports, as he would have put that on the canary aswel. He also got me to pop my bonnet...commenting on the lightness of my carbon bonnet and asking where my second BOV was...hehe.....I also had my old decapatator GT wing on to that sat outside the lines of the car in spots....but ride height was all I was done for, he was really good about it. (gotta love height adjustment shocks)