£1,000 plate fines: new police unit takes crackdown nationwide
Drivers can be fined up to £1,000 for an incorrectly displayed number plate, and the Government has now set up a new national police unit to enforce it. The Department for Transport has created the National Roads Policing Coordination Centre, which brings police forces across England together to share intelligence and data in a nationwide crackdown on illegal plates.
The centre is funded by the DfT, although the announcement did not put a figure on how much money has been handed over. Ministers say the aim is to help forces target organised crime gangs that move illegal goods along the main road network, as well as drivers using dodgy plates to dodge penalties.
The £1,000 penalty is not reserved for criminal gangs. According to the DfT, it applies to drivers whose plates are incorrectly displayed, which means ordinary motorists with a plate that does not meet the rules are caught by the same law as the people the campaign is aimed at.
New kit is being rolled out as part of the campaign, including specialist goggles designed to read plates where the letters and numbers have been deliberately obscured. The DfT says vehicles running illegal plates are harder to trace on recognition cameras, which is how speeding fines, parking penalties and Clean Air Zone charges are enforced.
Roads Minister Justin Madders said Labour was "stepping in to protect drivers". He added: "This is a signal to anyone using illegal number plates that their time is up. We will catch you and our roads and streets will be safer for it."
Policing and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said bringing forces together and making better use of technology and intelligence would help police track down offenders faster and disrupt organised crime groups that rely on the road network. Chief Superintendent Marc Clothier, the centre's deputy national coordinator, said the DfT funding was a valuable opportunity to improve coordination across policing and government.
More is coming. Labour MP Sarah Coombes has been pushing for a crackdown on so called ghost plates, which use a transparent film to hide a registration from cameras, and has proposed hefty fines and licence points for drivers caught using them. The DVLA and DVSA are also working with police on roadside operations and investigations into the businesses selling the plates.
For most households the point is simple. Cloned and hidden plates are a genuine problem, and the people using them to duck charges are shifting costs onto everyone else. But it is worth noting how quickly funding, new technology and a national coordination centre appear when the target is drivers, while the same urgency is harder to find for potholes, bus routes or the cost of insuring a car. Motorists paying their tax and their charges will want to see the gangs caught, not just the man with an old plate that has faded.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
Wake Up News covers the money side of British life. Bills, benefits, pensions, tax and the political decisions behind them, written plainly for readers who want to know what it costs them.
