Revenue clampdown on dodgy number plates.

Our man in Havana

I read in todays indo (page 6 compact version)that the revenue are going after chancers with non standard number plates. Fines of up to €1,265 can be imposed. The article goes on to say that the revenue are making nationwide mobile patrols to catch these and also VRT evaders.

I hear they are heading straight to Donegal in search of the dodgy plates:D

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1380675&issue_id=12360

Blitz means number's up for trendy but illegal car plates
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THE number is up for thousands of motorists. They face fines of up to €1,265 if their number plates fail the Revenue Commissioner test.

Mobile Revenue Commissioners patrols have just begun a countrywide blitz on illegal car numberplates.

It is part of a joint campaign also designed to target owners of secondhand vehicles, in particular, who have not paid Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT).

It means the end of the road for the glitzy digits and letters which so often adorn sports cars and souped-up hot hatches.

These have become increasingly popular with the rise in economic prosperity and the proliferation of accessories for personalisation of cars.

Only two number plate formats will be allowed, a Revenue Commissioner spokesman confirmed to the Irish Independent - the regular, oblong plate and a deeper square design - and they must be strictly adhered to.

All others, including names and numbers in italics, or in special colours, or plates with sliver numbering and black background, for example, are illegal.

The numbers and letters must be in black on a white reflective background.

The name of the county of registration has to be in Irish at the top of the plate.

And the circular 12-gold-star flag of the European Communities and the letters 'IRL' have to be on the left-hand side of the plate.

The Revenue spokesman said offending owners would be tracked down and fined if they did not meet the legal format.

When contacted by the Irish Independent, a number of garages quoted prices of between €20 to €30 for a new set of plates, though prices can vary quite a bit.

The other major arm of the Revenue campaign is to detect cars that have not been registered here.

That means VRT has not been paid on these vehicles and the Exchequer is being deprived of thousands of euro in most cases.

But there is still time for those with illegal plates.

The Revenue say the details of vehicles with illegal number plates will be recorded and the driver will be given an information leaflet.

They will subsequently get a call from the commissioners.

"We will definitely check out the vehicle afterwards," the spokesman said.

"Follow-up action will be taken to ensure the owners of those vehicles identified display legal number plates."

If owners do not comply, they can be prosecuted and fined as much as €1,265.

Eddie Cunningham
Motoring Correspondent

madrab

finally

Alun

madrab wrote:

finally

I agree, about time too, but why is it the Revenue who are checking up on dodgy plates and not the Gardai??

fjon

I wonder will this guy have to change his plates?

http://img256.echo.cx/my.php?image=carrickmines0018vo.jpg

Boggle

agree, about time too, but why is it the Revenue who are checking up on dodgy plates and not the Gardai??

Because the standard plates can be picked up by OCR easier... makes it easier to give you a speeding ticket.

Alun

Boggle wrote:

Because the standard plates can be picked up by OCR easier... makes it easier to give you a speeding ticket.

I know why "they" are doing this, for the same reason as dirty plates are illegal in some countries (not sure about Ireland though), my point is why is it the Revenue that are doing this? I mean, it's not the Revenue who are responsible for collecting speeding fines, is it?

Bogger77

Alun wrote:

I know why "they" are doing this, for the same reason as dirty plates are illegal in some countries (not sure about Ireland though), my point is why is it the Revenue that are doing this? I mean, it's not the Revenue who are responsible for collecting speeding fines, is it?

The plate is issued by Revenue, when you register your car, and pay the VRT etc. The registration plate is their baby.

Alun

Bogger77 wrote:

The plate is issued by Revenue, when you register your car, and pay the VRT etc. The registration plate is their baby.

OK, I suppose that makes some sense in a twisted, uniquely Irish, kind of way

Paul (MN)

I think this is a complete waste of time. Surely they have better things to do then chase people with the wrong font on a number plate?????

They are probably going to spend more doing this than they will take in.

I know rules are rules and plates have to have a standard shape/size etc but a "blitz" on them????

peasant

I'd suppose the "blitz" really is designed to catch all those foreign reg. cars that are dodging VRT. As they alone probably don't warrant the cost and effort of a real clamp down (road blocks etc) somebody decided to kill two birds with one stone and get a bit of cash-flow from all the non-standard Irish plates as well.

Ray777

I'm glad they're doing this. I don't care who does it - whether it's the Gardai, Revenue Commissioners or the St John's Ambulance. I'm sick and tired of being cut up by tossers, driving souped-up Mitsubishis, with illegible number plates.

Guy:Incognito

Paul (MN) wrote:

I think this is a complete waste of time. Surely they have better things to do then chase people with the wrong font on a number plate??????

Surely people should do the right thing and have proper number plates in the first place, illegal is illegal.

Ratchet

would this not only apply to cars from 1991 on?

Paul (MN)

illegal is illegal, but surely they have better things to do with taxpayers money than chase dodgy number plates?

I would estimate that at any one time there is less than .5% of the cars on the road with illegal number plates. By going after them they are going to achieve little financially, and lots of "nanny state" style publicity.

And if we are to believe the sweeping generalisation that all people with different number plates are boy racers.... what makes you think that having the correct font on the number plate is going to make them a safer driver???

parsi

Paul (MN) wrote:

illegal is illegal, but surely they have better things to do with taxpayers money than chase dodgy number plates?

All well and good until someone gets knocked down and the plate can't be read by the witnesses .... plates are designed to be readable for a reason.

Ratchet

Ratchet wrote:

would this not only apply to cars from 1991 on?

It's important to note that the rules regarding the special format of vehicle registration plates do not apply to vehicles that were registered prior to 1 January 1991 or to vehicles registered in the "ZV", "ZZ" or Trade Licence series.


some number plates look OK but some are well OTT.

not going to change mine before actual NCT


they are after unpaid VRT and reg plates are only extra

BrianD

It's not a case of "going after" people. All the revenue is doing is informing the public that this is the standard and this is the fine if you don't adhere to the standard and you will fail your NCT. The Gardai can't stop people nor can the NCT fail people if the standards are not made public.

No doubt this is also going to cater for other interests - those supplying and using OCR/number plates readers for speed detection and car parking. Having said that, standard number plates will be useless unless there is a law requiring that they be clean and visible!

the evil belly

suppose this means i'll have to change mine again. don't see why though. had em made using the standard font, nothing fancy, it's just a plain white plate, no flag, no county, no border etc. don't see how that makes it hard to read but anyway

camarobill

i wouldint be to worried about them inforceing this,usual hot air b...s..t,deal with all the eastern europe cars first,no the cant do that so thell get us soft gob....s,ur points are all true,but is there no end to this,do as i say,and not as i do crap, :mad: :mad: granny state :rolleyes:

causal

Ratchet wrote:

It's important to note that the rules regarding the special format of vehicle registration plates do not apply to vehicles that were registered prior to 1 January 1991 or to vehicles registered in the "ZV", "ZZ" or Trade Licence series.

Do you have a reference to that, or any idea where I could get a reference?

thx,
causal

Curran

Ray777 wrote:

I'm glad they're doing this. I don't care who does it - whether it's the Gardai, Revenue Commissioners or the St John's Ambulance. I'm sick and tired of being cut up by tossers, driving souped-up Mitsubishis, with illegible number plates.

Ray are you stupid...fancy plates or not the guys in their souped up cars are still going to cut up up! And its probably cos you think YOU own the road!
Everyone gets cut up....taxi's, buses, idoits in their flashy cars (MERC's) cut people up all the time....never seen a souped up Dublin Bus before!
Getting cut up is a part of they way irish people drive......try driving in France you'd have a heart attack!

Dont understand the irish mentality...our roads are falling to bits all over the country, people are getting killed though speeding, not wearing seatbelts, on the phone etc. and they are worried about people with fancy number plates! Whats the world coming to???

Answer this - How much:
is a speeding fine?
is a fine for breaking a red light?
is a fine for no seatbelt?
is a fine for no tax?
is a fine for no NCT?

And they are going to fine people with a fancy number plate 1,265 Euro?
SAD

Curran

My neighbour is in his 50's....was drivin home from a weekend away...seen a garda car drive by him...few minutes later the same cop car had turned around and pulled him over ...
Cop says "you know those plates are illegal"
Neighbour says "Yeah"
Cop says "you know that i gives a bad image - you look like a boy racer"
Neighbour say "im in my 50's, have grey hair, i'm driving an Astra, and the only thing that makes me look like a boy racer is my plates....have you nothing better to be doing??"
........with that my neighbour pulls off and leaves the cop standing there!

And the only thing wrong was his plates...no tinted windows, alloys, car was taxed and insured etc etc!

What a waste of time!!

Had the cops been on the side of the road with a speed camera they would have caught at least 10 people speeding...(in the time it took them to turn around catch up and give out)
And who knows they may have even saved someones life......priceless in my books!!! But the 1,265 Euro is worth more to the government!

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

unkel

peasant wrote:

I'd suppose the "blitz" really is designed to catch all those foreign reg. cars that are dodging VRT

Yup reckon same. Also the dodging of motor tax on the same cars, be they from the Baltic states or from the UK

Am I alone in observing that the majority of new(ish) €100000+ cars driving in Ireland have a UK reg?

Curran

unkel wrote:

Yup reckon same. Also the dodging of motor tax on the same cars, be they from the Baltic states or from the UK

Am I alone in observing that the majority of new(ish) €100000+ cars driving in Ireland have a UK reg?

I seen them aswell........but if thats the case why dont they say they are out to get the VRT.....thats understandable....loads of money owed their!

unkel

Curran wrote:

why dont they say they are out to get the VRT

They are saying that. The emphasis on the illegal plates is journo sensationalism no doubt

Kimbot

lads I would say pay it and not have the hassel of being pulled all the time cos tht is crap!!!!!

ds20prefecture

Ratchet wrote:

It's important to note that the rules regarding the special format of vehicle registration plates do not apply to vehicles that were registered prior to 1 January 1991 or to vehicles registered in the "ZV", "ZZ" or Trade Licence series.

Hmmm. My car was registered in 2002, but is a 72D reg.

Does that mean I need an ugly white and blue one?

Bogger77

ds20prefecture wrote:

Hmmm. My car was registered in 2002, but is a 72D reg.

Does that mean I need an ugly white and blue one?

If you have a 72 Plate, you can use any style of plate that was valid from 1972 onwards, if I remember correctly. I always liked the black and silver ones.

themole

shouldn't there be a clamp down on those supplying illegal plates?

would it not make more sense to fine garages etc who supply illegal plates?

when my mother was getting a new car, galway reg, she asked if she could get a plate with an old irish/engligh style G, they said no problem.

when the car turned up with a normal plate they said the other one was illegal anyway, they mever mentioned this when she ordered the car.

Ratchet

themole wrote:

shouldn't there be a clamp down on those supplying illegal plates?

would it not make more sense to fine garages etc who supply illegal plates?

when my mother was getting a new car, galway reg, she asked if she could get a plate with an old irish/engligh style G, they said no problem.

when the car turned up with a normal plate they said the other one was illegal anyway, they mever mentioned this when she ordered the car.

it's your choice anyway


here is reference

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/transport/motoring/vehicle_registration_numbers.html

Seth Brundle

fjon wrote:

I wonder will this guy have to change his plates?

http://img256.echo.cx/my.php?image=carrickmines0018vo.jpg

looks photoshopped!