The economy has had an effect on the number of vanity license plates sold in the past year in New York. These plates that advertise everything from a favorite hobby or occupation, to a specific name, cost $85 or more upfront, and cost more than the generic plates when they are renewed. Many who have purchased these specialty plates in the past have stated that their money can be spent better elsewhere.
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In New York, vanity is taking a back seat
Car number plates have to be manufactured using specific materials and they also have to be set out in a certain way. The layout of the number plates is very important and any attempt to mis-represent a vehicle registration number is an offense. Included in the rules for displaying a registration number on car number plates is the font the characters appear in, the distance between the characters, the space between the character blocks and the margin around the vehicle registration number.
Doubtless there are dubious outlets that will supply car number plates that flout the law if you ask them too, both on and offline. The penalties for using illegal number plates on the roads can be harsh. The law states that anyone found guilty of misrepresenting a number plate can be fined up to £1000 and in extreme cases the vehicle registration number can be withdrawn.
A Lancashire man got off lightly for having illegal number plates. Sean Parks from Leyland pleaded guilty to having illegal number plates and was fined £87.00 + £50 costs and a £15 victims surcharge. A lucky escape but no doubt a lot of worry and inconvenience for using an incorrect font and sizing on his car number plates.
The standard size of most car number plates is 520mm X 111mm. Vehicle registration marks, VRN’s, must be displayed correctly and should not be mis-represented or altered in any way so as the VRN could reflect a name or a word. The VRN should be displayed out as detailed in ‘Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001′.
The Regulations cover at length the display of car number plates and motorbike number plates. Included in the regulations are the type and size of font, space between the characters and the materials that should be used to make the car number plates.
The overall size of the car number plates is not stipulated although physically they would have to be f sufficient size to accommodate the letters and numbers at the required size and spacing. Some Vehicles have different sized number plates when they are manufactured. Some of the following vehicles have contoured or shaped car number plates : Jaguars, Aston Martins, Rover 75’s and Range Rover Sports. Other vehicles may have oversized plates, Range Rovers and Chrysler Voyagers for example have over sized car number plates.
