Dirty plates...

[Toast]

Coming back from a mate's place tonight at about 10pm, heading towards the CBD via the Greenlane East roundabout.

Police breath checkpoint, no worries, haven't had a drink since the weekend.

Nice bunch of blokes, all smiles, just doing their job, and for once I actually agree with how they're doing it.

So, two of them are checking breath-alcohol levels, and a couple are going around wiht something in their hands, presumably checking regos, but I'm not really sure. One walks past me while I'm sitting on my bike, gives me a smile, I give him a nod...all's cool.

However, the dude comes back after walking past me and the dialogue goes something along the lines of:

Constanoon: "That, ah, plate's a bit dirt there mate...might be kinda hard for a speed camera to pick up...?"

Me: "Oh, nah bro, the resolution on those things is great these days, I don't think it will have any trouble. No worries aye..."

Constanoon: "I, ah, think you'd better just pull over here and give it a clean before I give you a ticket."

Me: "Have you got a cloth bro?"

Constanoon: "No."

So, being a good boy with little money in my back pocket, I pulled over and did my best to get the thing back to it's shining white glory. Nice 'n easy to read. Just lovely...

Question is though:

Can a cop give you a ticket for having a dirty plate?

The rest of the bike was dirty, covered in lime 'n stuff from the road works coming up from Welli on Saturday, but it was kinda obvious that someone (previous owner) had sprayed chain wax on it (not as good as the oil stuff) and rubbed dirt from the garden in to it...still...it could have gotten dirty without that intervention too.

[KLOWN]

I'm pretty sure they can, dirt is an obstruction of beiing able to view the plate properly. there is sum rule about being able to see the plate clearly

[scumdog]

Yeah, faced with $200 for an Obscured Licence Plate I'm sure I would have torn off my doris's g-string to clean it too!! (you mean you didn't have a doris? with a G-string? How DID you clean the no. plate??

Effin Oath he can give you an I.O.N. for obscured (dirty) plate.

[Toast]

Yeah, faced with $200 for an Obscured Licence Plate I'm sure I would have torn off my doris's g-string to clean it too!! (you mean you didn't have a doris? with a G-string? How DID you clean the no. plate??

Effin Oath he can give you an I.O.N. for obscured (dirty) plate.

Lemme see...G-strings...Candy, Charlene, Shaznay, Lucile...ah, here it is, Doris'. But no, I didn't use that to clean it, just my glove.

Ok, so they can nail yah for that. I take it that most would be lenient if it was clear that you just never clean the whole bike and the plate was filthy too?

What's an I.O.N., Scumi?

[2much]

Shoulda asked him if he had any spare serviettes (sp) in his donut box that you could use.

[KLOWN]

there is a white 3 series bmw juust up the road from my house and when i was walking up the road to get my fish and chips I noticed that his rear number plate was a bit faded when i got closer I saw that he had painted it white :shifty: and it looked like it had chopped springs, or at least illeagally low. He must do a few runners.

[scumdog]

Lemme see...G-strings...Candy, Charlene, Shaznay, Lucile...ah, here it is, Doris'. But no, I didn't use that to clean it, just my glove.

Ok, so they can nail yah for that. I take it that most would be lenient if it was clear that you just never clean the whole bike and the plate was filthy too?

What's an I.O.N., Scumi?

Most surprised if you actually got a ticket, mostly it is used as a 'lever' to get you to clean the plate if you look a bit reluctant.
An I.O.N. is and Infringement Offence Notice = a ticket!!

And you used your glove? Sheesh, I wear fingerless gloves, I would have made Chrissy-Bimbo remove her diamante G-string so I could clean the 'plate rather than scuff my fingers!!

[scumdog]

My mate got a ticket like that cause his tow ball obscured his plate a wee bit. It was fitted by a proper company and everthing, he was a mite anoyed to say the least

It's one of those mysteries of life - how can a company sell a product that automatically causes you to break the law even if you are not in the car and it is not moving??

If I was in that situation I'd sue the tow-bar manufacturer, they KNEW it would obscure the plate..

[scumdog]

there is a white 3 series bmw juust up the road from my house and when i was walking up the road to get my fish and chips I noticed that his rear number plate was a bit faded when i got closer I saw that he had painted it white :shifty: and it looked like it had chopped springs, or at least illeagally low. He must do a few runners.

Nah, he'd fall off the road if he ever did a runner, he's just posing - "yeah, with that white plate the 05 have never caught me yet' (read: I've never ben chased yet).

[Sniper]

Mum got as ticket for having an obsured license plate so it can be done.

Also, this brings me to another question. With all these rice racer "psssst" cars, having the number plate in the dashboard of the car so it can barely seen from outside is illegal right?

[Toast]

Nah, he'd fall off the road if he ever did a runner, he's just posing - "yeah, with that white plate the 05 have never caught me yet' (read: I've never ben chased yet).

Yeah I'd say...it's a laugh watching these dudes who've chopped their rides so low and hard that the occupants would smack their heads on the roof if their seats weren't almost horizontal (ah, now it makes sense, never though of that before)...

One of those things trying to do a runner on roads with any irregularities or camber would be prime time comedy.

[Fishy]

Yeah or having stickers instead of actual number plates you know the ones like ferrari have... Have seen heaps of boyracer shitboxes with stickers as plates lately.

[Fishy]

Shoulda asked him if he had any spare serviettes (sp) in his donut box that you could use.
:2thumbsup :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :first: nice call dude

PS: have a shave you hairy beast!. I saw you across the road at the races on the weekend. Was gonna say hi but you were scary lookin, nah couldn't cross the road till the marshalls opened up and by that time you were gone.

[MisterD]

Constanoon: "That, ah, plate's a bit dirt there mate...might be kinda hard for a speed camera to pick up...?"



Do we have cameras that take a photo of the back of the vehicle here then (or should I just keep my big mouth shut)?

[Flyingpony]

There's a RG150 running around Chch with its left most and right most no. plate letters pushed back and thus slightly wrapped around the side of it's mud guard. Directly from the rear you can read the plate, but from a slight angle, i.e. even less than speed camera angle, not all plate numbers are readable.

Is that legal to do?

[Flatcap]

Do we have cameras that take a photo of the back of the vehicle here then (or should I just keep my big mouth shut)?

Yes we do, although you would think by the time you got past the camera you would have probably seen it and be braking big time.....

Is it still possible to take off the black lettering on the numberplate accidentally by "spilling" petrol on it?

[scumdog]

Yes we do, although you would think by the time you got past the camera you would have probably seen it and be braking big time.....

Is it still possible to take off the black lettering on the numberplate accidentally by "spilling" petrol on it?

Still risking a $200 ticket by doing that.

[Fishy]

Hey Scumdog what the law on slightly bent up number plates? a mate of mine has his plate bent up with the crease approx 10mm down from the top. It is bent up about 30-40deg from flat. He said he has never had problems with the police commenting on his plate.

[MisterD]

Yes we do, although you would think by the time you got past the camera you would have probably seen it and be braking big time.....



Oh I don't know about that, all the points I picked up back in Blighty were from GATSOs that take a photo of the back. We even had little white ruler marks on the road and still, people get caught

[scumdog]

Hey Scumdog what the law on slightly bent up number plates? a mate of mine has his plate bent up with the crease approx 10mm down from the top. It is bent up about 30-40deg from flat. He said he has never had problems with the police commenting on his plate.

Depends on the cop - I got threatened with a ticket if I didn't straighten the one on my bike.
(Before I was in this job)

[nadroj]

Yeah, faced with $200 for an Obscured Licence Plate I'm sure I would have torn off my doris's g-string to clean it too!! (you mean you didn't have a doris? with a G-string? How DID you clean the no. plate??

Effin Oath he can give you an I.O.N. for obscured (dirty) plate.

Should have pulled out a hundy note & wiped the plate off with it. Could have been an interesting reaction.

[Fishy]

You'd probably get a ticket for being a smart arse?.

[TygerTung]

Mum got as ticket for having an obsured license plate so it can be done.

Also, this brings me to another question. With all these rice racer "psssst" cars, having the number plate in the dashboard of the car so it can barely seen from outside is illegal right?

It's a bit of a grey area eh. and btw, not all cunts who are into cars are dickheads either, it's just a few which gives everyone a bad image. It's like those dudes who are into mini choppers riding like dickheads making bikers look bad.

With regard to the plates it's a bit of a grey area, my mate got done, he had it in the window as he didn't have a bumper on his car, so he took it to court and the case got thrown out. The law is 'plate must be visable from the front of the car' so it's a bit of a greay area as I said a number of times.

[scumdog]

I see the 'boom-tish' brigade have now taken to mounting their number plates slanted diagonally on their bumper/grille, what's the story there? is it just a juvenile 'trendy thing to do'?

[Fishy]

I see the 'boom-tish' brigade have now taken to mounting their number plates slanted diagonally on their bumper/grille, what's the story there? is it just a juvenile 'trendy thing to do'?

Yeah I've seen heaps of hommies with their plates like that!. and little rich (wannabe gangsta ) white guys doing the same.

[TygerTung]

Yeah I've seen those cunts around, I dunno what the story is with that, looks fuckin ridiculous. Probably the same cunts with 200kg's of subs in the boot and some gay full face chromies which weigh about 45 fuckin kg each.

There are people like that, and there are more of enthusiest type people, people who may not even have a radio in there car, and if there is one, just a head unit and a couple of speakers, who spends all the money on handling and performance modifications and don't care about looks. You need to seperate the two groups. You won't usually see the more enthusiest type people cruising up and down the main street on a friday and saturday night, you'll ocasionally see them, but not often.

[sAsLEX]

I see the 'boom-tish' brigade have now taken to mounting their number plates slanted diagonally on their bumper/grille, what's the story there? is it just a juvenile 'trendy thing to do'?

its the new international sign of having a small penis! :tugger: is it legal? thought the plate would have to be horizontal!?


about the sticker front plate, I am sure you could apply for this if your car did not have a no plate position out of the factory

[Fishy]

about the sticker front plate, I am sure you could apply for this if your car did not have a no plate position out of the factory

The cars that I have seen them on.... Mazda's, Toyota, Mitsi's etc etc all have the factore plate mounting area's. They just prefer to have a little weenie sticker for some reason?. Surely they can't be legal?

[loosebruce]

I never clean my bike for that reason, plate dirty bike dirty, sorry sorry officer it was the roadworks out such and such way, too bad for me if there's no roadworks out there. Every cop has been sweet with it so far, once my plate fell off after i pulled a stoppie and got wedged in the swingarm bracing, i left it in the seat storage "if" i stopped i said it fell off and got wedged in, as the plate had rub marks from the tyre and i didn't have any tools to re attach it, sorry, sorry, sorry but i will do it as soon as i get home, never had any troubles yet.

[chickenfunkstar]

I see the 'boom-tish' brigade have now taken to mounting their number plates slanted diagonally on their bumper/grille, what's the story there? is it just a juvenile 'trendy thing to do'?

Must save heaps of wieght 'cause you only need one screw, i'm sure it makes it 'go harder' as well. :killingme :killingme :killingme

[Fishy]

I never clean my bike for that reason, plate dirty bike dirty, sorry sorry officer it was the roadworks out such and such way, too bad for me if there's no roadworks out there. Every cop has been sweet with it so far, once my plate fell off after i pulled a stoppie and got wedged in the swingarm bracing, i left it in the seat storage "if" i stopped i said it fell off and got wedged in, as the plate had rub marks from the tyre and i didn't have any tools to re attach it, sorry, sorry, sorry but i will do it as soon as i get home, never had any troubles yet.

Now there's a man with brains!.

[Grahameeboy]

Now there's a man with brains!.

and big balls.......good on ya LB:not:

[2much]

Also, this brings me to another question. With all these rice racer "psssst" cars, having the number plate in the dashboard of the car so it can barely seen from outside is illegal right?

Yep, the law requires the plate to be on the front of the car (I know cause I got a ticket for having it in the windscreen when one of the bolts holding at the front fell out). And those sticker ones are illegal too BTW...

Has anyone else noticed the gay new trend in Akld at the moment of number plates hanging at an angle?



:2thumbsup :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :first: nice call dude

PS: have a shave you hairy beast!. I saw you across the road at the races on the weekend. Was gonna say hi but you were scary lookin, nah couldn't cross the road till the marshalls opened up and by that time you were gone.

Well I'm an unemployed bum at the moment so I'm just trying to look the part!:blip:
Sorry I missed you mate, hopefully we'll catch up on a ride soon.


Do we have cameras that take a photo of the back of the vehicle here then (or should I just keep my big mouth shut)?

Yep, they'll get you going both ways, been that way for years.

[buellbabe]

Quite a few yrs ago I was actually pulled over for having an obscured plate. It was in the days of the BIG ones and I had bent it to accommdate a pack. When the copper told me why he had pulled me over I was genuinely surprised and explained the pack bla bla and that i was just on my way back from New Plymouth having been to see Jethro Tull. Suddenly he forgot all about the 'Law' and was more interested in the concert and proceeded to tell me how bummed he was that he couldn't get the wkend off... etc etc... Nice cop, no ticket just a warning (and a smile on my face)!

[scumdog]

Has anyone else noticed the gay new trend in Akld at the moment of number plates hanging at an angle?


Hey! I've already said that and others have passed comments on it too!!

[far queue]

A couple of question's ...

What about all the cars etc that have a bike rack and push bike on the tow bar, presumably they're all eligable for a $200 ticket too?

How about mounting the plate upside down on your car/bike? It's not obscured, and not hard to read from a photo, but it would be damned hard to read if someone didn't get a reasonable look at it. Just a thought.

[kiwifruit]

ahh the number plate
never cleaned one
never will
the one part of my bike that doesnt gets cleaned

[froggyfrenchman]

A mate of mine runs the plate on his TL upside down and dirty. He has been pulled over many a time with it upside down with no finantial backlash. He has been forced to clean it on the side of the road before, with the offered $200 incentive.

[Wolf]

once my plate fell off after i pulled a stoppie and got wedged in the swingarm bracing, i left it in the seat storage "if" i stopped i said it fell off and got wedged in, as the plate had rub marks from the tyre and i didn't have any tools to re attach it, sorry, sorry, sorry but i will do it as soon as i get home, never had any troubles yet.
Rode to work on the LS400 which had the big square plate on the back and my rego in a holder that was bolted to teh bottom of the plate itself. Parked up, went inside to work, later I came outside for a ciggy, lit up, took a drag and then realised that I was seeing a hell of a lot more rear wheel than I ought to. Bloody plate had snapped off. There was still a piece of one corner trapped under one of the screws so I left it there so I could prove it did snap off.

It was a couple of days til payday so I had to ride back home and to work and back the next day without a plate at all. The day after I rode to work with no plate, picked up new plate and replacement rego sticker and discovered I had to ride home with the new small rectangulat palte in my pack cos the stupid fucking thing didn't have holes drilled in it ready for mounting. Plate didn't go on until later that even when I was able to borrow a drill off a friend.

Fortunately I didn't get pulled over on four journeys between Te Awamutu and Hamilton without a plate.

[Zed]

Keep it clean and visible - NOT worth the trouble if you get caught.

The anonymous riders that I know of who purposely have dirty plates, taped plates, bent plates, no plates, etc are the same guys who won't stop if asked to by the powers that be...that's why they do it! :oi-grr: :Police:

[scumdog]

A couple of question's ...

What about all the cars etc that have a bike rack and push bike on the tow bar, presumably they're all eligable for a $200 ticket too?

How about mounting the plate upside down on your car/bike? It's not obscured, and not hard to read from a photo, but it would be damned hard to read if someone didn't get a reasonable look at it. Just a thought.

Obscure Number Plate, Failed to Display Number Plate in Approved Manner, -they have an answer to all your little problems....


Just depends on the cop, got pissed-off one day, with a group in a 'people-mover' following another vehicle, right on the n0-passing lines with poor visibility a bozo pulled out and passed us - couldn't get number due to about 100 mountain-bikes hanging off the tow-bar mount, arghhh!
And I bet if he/she had got pulled over and given a ticket for Obscured Plate they would have done their prunes at the unfairness of it.....

[Lou Girardin]

Keep it clean and visible - NOT worth the trouble if you get caught.

The anonymous riders that I know of who purposely have dirty plates, taped plates, bent plates, no plates, etc are the same guys who won't stop if asked to by the powers that be...that's why they do it! :oi-grr: :Police:



Noooooooo! You're not serious.
Why, that's against the law.:devil2:

[Aitch]

The last digit of my plate is partially obscured by the rego holder. Bearing in mind that I bought the bike new, and presumably it got a warrant with the holder in place, am I still at risk of a ticket if I get pulled up by a cop with a bee in his bonnet??

[scumdog]

The last digit of my plate is partially obscured by the rego holder. Bearing in mind that I bought the bike new, and presumably it got a warrant with the holder in place, am I still at risk of a ticket if I get pulled up by a cop with a bee in his bonnet??

I guess you COULD be - after all cops hear all sorts of excuses all the time and one of the more common ones is "It was like that when I got it"
On the other hand I wouldn't sweat it, most unlikely you would get a ticket for that!

[Pixie]

Is an upside down plate illegal?

I was told of a person in Whangarei recently who was approached by a cop who noticed that the plate on her Honda CRV was upside down.
She explained that her husband had put it on that way after asking their son,a solicitor,if he could find anything on the law books to say it was not allowed.
The cop went to his car and came back after half an hour and said all the book says is a plate must be affixed in the approved manner but does not say what that is.
Many trailers have their plates mounted vertically and it doesn't attract comment.

Hard to read upside down

[scumdog]

Is
Hard to read upside down

But easier to identify or follow

[sAsLEX]

The last digit of my plate is partially obscured by the rego holder. Bearing in mind that I bought the bike new, and presumably it got a warrant with the holder in place, am I still at risk of a ticket if I get pulled up by a cop with a bee in his bonnet??

DO you even need a reg to get a warrent , dont think you do, as you need a wof to get a reg.

[Ixion]

Correct. You need the WoF to get the reg, but not vice versa. Once or twice when I've let both lapse I've had to get the WoF first. Post Office won't reg it without, they look it up in that poxy computer.

[scumdog]

Correct. You need the WoF to get the reg, but not vice versa. Once or twice when I've let both lapse I've had to get the WoF first. Post Office won't reg it without, they look it up in that poxy computer.

Yep, in my 'past life' I use to just reg the bike - figured as long as it come back as reg'd when a cop checked the number plate then I wouldn't get stopped
Worked - I never got stopped.
Then they changed the rules and I had to get wof's
Now a check will tell the cop if the wof is current too.

[Wolf]

Yep, in my 'past life' I use to just reg the bike - figured as long as it come back as reg'd when a cop checked the number plate then I wouldn't get stopped
Worked - I never got stopped.
Then they changed the rules and I had to get wof's
Now a check will tell the cop if the wof is current too.
Just add RFID chips and some strategically placed sensors and the roads will police themselves. The cops can get off traffic duty and ACC will be able to make an even bigger profit than the theiving bastards make now. The scanners would cost less than paying for the police to patrol the roads.