Car Owners Beware.

I am a member of our local Police Community Liaison Group where we are kept informed of police activities, are able to ask questions, raise local problems and participate in police patrols and mobile speed camera checks.

All I get out of it is a Hi Viz jacket and the satisfaction I am doing my bit.

We have been advised that there is legislation afoot to increase penalties for the illegal modification of vehicles in England and Wales. Police forces have been asked to increase their vigilance for such offences. 

Number Plates
These can include letters being shown in illegal fonts and designs. But they might also include unlawful spacing of characters and the inclusion of coloured screws or black tape to make characters look like something different and spell a word.
Another illegal modification is when drivers use a reflective coating on their reg plate. This is an attempt to prevent traffic cameras being able to identify them. And criminals use fake number plates so they can drive without being liable for traffic fines or avoid paying for petrol.
In 2020, there were 13,720 fines handed out to drivers whose number plates broke the law. 
Currently illegal number plates result in a £100 fine. But the law looks like it’s going to get tougher. There’s a proposal for a new bill in parliament that would see drivers with dodgy plates getting three points on their licence as well as a bigger fine.

Illegal Lights
5,723 fines were issued in 2020 to drivers who had illegal lights. The law says that only white lights can be used at the front; red for rear-facing lights (obviously excluding indicators and reversing lights).  
Owners who install third party LED or Zenon lighting in headlights designed for halogen lamps are also breaking the law .

Tinted Windows
Drivers can tint the rear side and back windows as much as they like. But there are limits when it comes to the windscreen or front side windows. Police can serve drivers who break the law with what’s called a prohibition notice. This demands they fix their car before using it again. There were 4,183 reported window offences last year, 
Loud Exhausts 
You might want your car to sound like it’s got a throbbing V8 engine beneath the bonnet but the police have different ideas. Last year almost 1,000 owners were fined whose exhausts were overly noisy. As with windows, they might have their car taken off the road until it’s been made to comply with the law.

What’s the impact on insurance?
Even if you modify your car legally, you must tell your insurer. And if you make unreported or illegal modifications, your insurer may refuse to cover you if you have to make a claim. 

Footnote
I attended a police Number Plate Recognition check a few years ago where vehicles flagged up by a hidden camera connected to a laptop and radio sender in an unmarked car at the side of a main road were directed by police further down the road into a large hotel car park. There were two police cars and a motor cycle cop ready to go after anyone who didn’t stop. The laptop detected cars that were either stolen, no MOT, not insured or without road tax.
In 6 hours the police caught 67 offenders which included 23 with number plate, lights and/or tinted window offences.  
One young guy had a flashy 3 year old Audi A3 driving without tax and insurance – plus illegal tinted windows, unlawful number plates, bald tyres and an excruciating loud exhaust. He had 4 previous offences and his car was seized. The police forecast it would be crushed. It certainly wasn’t the best of days for the owner.

Meanwhile...there are murders, rapes, burglaries, muggings etc. being committed and ignored whilst police are checking the fonts used on number plates.... I despair  !!!

Quote :

Last year almost 1,000 owners were fined whose exhausts were overly noisy. As with windows, they might have their car taken off the road until it’s been made to comply with the law.

This does not seem very many to me.

One of the benefits of ANPR checks is that they trap serious criminals who disregard all laws.

Sure enough - on the check I attended - they arrested there and then, several drivers and some passengers suspected of a number of crimes including robbery, mugging, car stealing, car cloning and drug dealing.

Hence it was not the waste of police resources in might appear.

By working fairly closely with the police I am perhaps more sympathetic with their plight than the general public. They are not the lazy, donut munching gang portrayed by the media. Most police are dedicated to the cause but are seriously let down by the judiciary and the legal profession who seem to care more about the offenders than their victims. 

We need more prisons that act as punishment and not a holiday camp, harsher sentences for even low level crime like shop lifting and weeding out of the do-gooders in the judiciary. Police morale is low because all too often, after months of hard work on a case, a serious offender is let off lightly by the courts. Over many years all governments have talked the talk, but have been reluctant to do much about it. An example is that in a recent survey it was found that 67% of the population would vote for the death penalty to be brought back for the most serious terrorist and other offences. Also, hardly anyone agrees with the policy of releasing prisoners half way through their sentence as a reward for so-called, good behaviour. Surely, if sentenced to say 5 years prisoners should serve the full term which should be extended for bad behaviour.

AlanHo wrote:

By working fairly closely with the police I am perhaps more sympathetic with their plight than the general public. They are not the lazy, donut munching gang portrayed by the media. Most police are dedicated to the cause but are seriously let down by the judiciary and the legal profession who seem to care more about the offenders than their victims. 

We need more prisons that act as punishment and not a holiday camp, harsher sentences for even low level crime like shop lifting and weeding out of the do-gooders in the judiciary. Police morale is low because all too often, after months of hard work on a case, a serious offender is let off lightly by the courts. Over many years all governments have talked the talk, but have been reluctant to do much about it. An example is that in a recent survey it was found that 67% of the population would vote for the death penalty to be brought back for the most serious terrorist and other offences. Also, hardly anyone agrees with the policy of releasing prisoners half way through their sentence as a reward for so-called, good behaviour. Surely, if sentenced to say 5 years prisoners should serve the full term which should be extended for bad behaviour.

Totally agree with that Alan....these days people can do whatever they want to do with no regard for their actions, the law or their fellow man and the police just enforce the laws that suit them and turn a blind eye to those laws which they consider to be not worth the bother of the paperwork involved.