Thoughts on numberplate recognition

For my sins I worked on the London congestion charging systems at a high technical level working on all aspects of the system , I can tell you how to piss them off big time ! .

Automatic number plate recognition systems work by looking for a readable set of text , this can be on full motion video or stills, normally the system will read the plate and store around 2 to 3 seconds of images either side of this for context information to stop any argument ,

As for having a second plate with other text on , firstly this is not illegal ! , just think of things like lorries with name plates , on tow plates etc . when the congestion charge first started people had number plates made up with fu k3n ( fu ken ) and displayed them , the system did pick them up as well as a number of taxi plates football top names etc so how are they sorted ?

If the system gets a readable match it checks the read against a black list (fu k3n , on tow ,taxi etc ) if it is not found on the list it is checked with DVLA for conformation that the plate exists if this come back ok it will store the images and data .

For non reads , no match or multiple matches , it is marked as unreadable and past for human inspection

VRM plates do have a legal requirement as we all know and a v5 is now required But you can make any type of sign !

In message , itcosthowmuch????? writes

But what is exactly wrong with buying plates from abroad (that comply with the legal requirements) and fitting them to your car?

So this means you can't piss them off because it will be marked for human inspection? Kind regards, Erik-Jan.

What's the regs on displaying 2 valid numberplates - possibly for the same class of car - you're technically displaying the valid one, just also displaying a spoiler too :)

P.

Is it even possible to buy plates abroad that are marked as complying with the legal requirements?

IIRC, UK plates must have the postcode of the shop/dealer they were issued from to be legal. Whether you think you might be stopped just because a copper can't see a tiny postcode on your plate remains to be seen. Mine are from Halford's, and the postcode is barely visible even looking at the plate from 12" away, being sorta embedded in the plastic. Still, they're legal. How many million miles you could drive on average before being stopped is a matter for conjecture.

DaveP

IIRC, UK plates must have the postcode of the shop/dealer they were issued from to be legal. Whether you think you might be stopped just because a copper can't see a tiny postcode on your plate remains to be seen. Mine are from Halford's, and the postcode is barely visible even looking at the plate from 12" away, being sorta embedded in the plastic. Still, they're legal. How many million miles you could drive on average before being stopped is a matter for conjecture.

DaveP

Not that I know of, although I did see someone [in France] with a UK registration mark made up on the French style plate (embossed metal type) fitted on their trailer. It didn't look too dissimilar, but I somehow doubt it is legal in the UK.

Matt

On or around Mon, 30 Jan 2006 15:36:03 +0000, "Paul S. Brown" enlightened us thusly:

yer not allowed to obscure the number plate though.

everyone ought to find out what red Ken's number plate is and use that...

Yes

The point is not whether it is legal or not but whether without raiding ones home for reciepts and accessing ones bank account, it would be practically impossible to prove or even detect for an older vehicle so long as the plates did not look shiny shiny new.

My present plates, acrylic thought they be are not up to modern spec I would think, cos they likely don't have the manufacturer on em.

Only if they are renewed, this is not a requirement of existing plates, my point is who would either ever tell or be that pedantic to bother, it is like getting a ruler out and measuring the font.

Well I am going to do a bit more thinking but I reckon there might still be a way :)

I would reckon that in reality applying game thery and probabilities you are going to get away most of the time unless they are actually looking for you in particular.

H'mm let me suppose I had a very powerful strobe mounted on my roof, If I kept flashing that every time I passed a camera they would never know I existed at all,

As they used to say beware the hun in the sun.

In message , Dave P writes

More insanity. I take it the law is there to stop people from putting false or defective plates on their car. Bloody typical that you could be nicked for having proper plates on your own car because the plates lack a postcode.

I wouldn't put it past the Police to do that!

Matt.

... but could they be trusted to report correctly on their findings?

On 30 Jan 2006 08:39:39 -0800, "Dave P" scribbled the following nonsense:

yeah, but the ones for sale at shows never come with the postcode stamped on them, and you don't need your V5, proof of address, and great great grandparents with you to prove who you are!

Watch this space - that's not quite what Tony seems to think!