One of the annoyances of modern life is that private companies and government agencies are constantly taking pictures and video of your car reg plate to track you, and sometimes charge you a penalty for parking, speeding, entering a bus lane, overtaking a cyclist etc. It’s become a valuable revenue stream for the public sector now that High Streets are dying and business rates and rents are drying up. So what used to be free parking is now pay and display. Plus a variety of yellow/red lines, cycle lanes, bus gates, quiet neighbourhoods, bigger bus stops and other obstacles are carefully engineered and populated with CCTV to extract that cash from the roads network.
One response has been the rise of the 4D plate, plus rogue spacing of letters, plastic rivets next to letters like F or P to confuse cameras and even magnetic leaves. Seriously. It’s understandable, but when it comes to fleeing the scene of an accident it means a legal driver cannot claim against the driver who might have caused the crash. Here’s the word from Quotezone;
Car insurance comparison site Quotezone analysed data from police forces across the country, highlighting thousands of reported incidents in 2024 involving illegal or non-compliant number plates – including ‘ghost plates’, which use reflective coatings to evade detection by speed and ANPR cameras.
The sharp rise in such offences has triggered renewed calls for stricter regulation and enforcement.
The use of non-standard characters, incorrect fonts, spacing, or sizing is considered an illegal number plate modification. Drivers caught with illegal number plates can be fined up to £1,000.
Drivers in the Humberside area recorded the highest number of illegal or non-compliant number plate offences in 2024, with 122 incidents per 100,000 people and a total of 1161 offences.
The data, obtained from police forces across England, also highlights several other hotspots. Norfolk reported 926 offences, that’s 99 per 100,000 people, followed by Greater Manchester with 2,791 offences, 95 per 100,000 people.
At the other end of the scale, motorists in Northumbria were the most likely to comply with number plate laws, with 60 offences recorded last year, just 4 per 100,000 people. Warwickshire also saw relatively few offences (65), while Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire each reporting just 90 offences in total across the year.
The car insurance experts also quizzed police forces on whether they are actively conducting operations targeting illegal or obscured number plates. Some forces confirmed they are taking action, including Nottinghamshire Police Force who have recently equipped their Roads Policing Unit with equipment to assist in identifying ghost plates.
Quotezone CEO and car insurance expert Greg Wilson said: “Ghost number plates have surged in popularity across England, with some drivers using them to evade speeding penalties and other traffic regulations.
“The data gathered from police forces indicates that many motorists continue to flout the rules regarding vehicle registration plates, but recent calls for stricter legislation and harsher penalties could mean that offenders will soon face a more rigorous crackdown.
“Our research team reached out to police forces across the country to try and gauge the scale of offences related to obstructed or illegally modified vehicle number plates in their respective areas.
“Hotspots for illegal number plate activity include Humberside, Norfolk and Greater Manchester, whilst Devon and Cornwall, Thames Valley Police and Northumbria reported just a handful of offences per 100,000 people.
“As part of our research, we also sought to determine if police forces had dedicated resources to tackle the issue. Several forces confirmed they were taking action. For instance, Nottinghamshire Police have recently equipped their roads unit with specialised tools, designed to detect ghost plates.
“Drivers must remember it’s a legal requirement to have an easily identifiable number plate which is clean, not obscured and free from modifications, failure to do so could end in fines and penalty points.
“Even three penalty points could increase the driver’s car insurance premium by an average of 5%, rising to 25% for six penalty points. If drivers suspect they’re a victim of ghost plating, and have had their registration number stolen, they need to inform the police and the DVLA as soon as possible to try and avoid penalty points accumulating on the wrong licence.”
Quotezone is one of the largest price comparison sites in the UK, helping over 4 million customers every year compare and find savings on car insurance. CompareNI.com can help drivers in Northern Ireland.
Be the first to comment