anyone know what the law is concerning having the back number plate of a car lit up?

was contemplating getting the bodyshop to smooth over the no. plate recess when i get the work done on the front, but just been thinking i'd lose the lights obviously.

i think gaz had this done on his, but does anyone else happen to know??

cheers!

gaz's rear bumper (claire's) was fitted with backlit number plates

ahhh wicked. probably a bit too much work for the moment then. can't see there being any other way of doing it as i'd need the lights hidden

its illegal to not have it lit in someway or other

isnt there some bolts you can buy that light up the plate? sure i saw them posted somewhere....

Bushboy said:

its illegal to not have it lit in someway or other

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i know its illegal but in my area the police say nothing to the people with no light shining on rear number plate.

robcento said:

isnt there some bolts you can buy that light up the plate? sure i saw them posted somewhere....

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i dont think they light up the plate there just there to decorate, but you could buy some l.e.d's and fit them to shine on plate, small and i dont think it the law says how bright they got to be cos there be pretty useless

don't really wanna have any lit up bolts to be honest, looks like i'd need to have it backlit. bit too much work seeing as the front's gonna cost me a fair bit.

saw one car around my way with the number plate sitting in the back window lit up from there, not quite sure about that though.

as long as its displayed i think your ok.. dont think theres any law about it being in a window as it is on full display and enough people seem to do it.. police might just pull and give a warning etc.

i got pulled for havin no plate atall (forgot to put it back on after doing some custom work on the front) and they just checked my details with the car to prove it was mine and then just had a chat about what i was doing with the car next etc. was a young bloke tho so i suppose i got off easy.

i've been driving around with my front plate off before (sticky strips fell off ), managed to drive past a police car who kindly stopped for about 5 seconds while passing and told me to turn my foglights off. didn't even mention the number plate.

this would affect the MOT if it's a legal requirement though i'm guessing? can't really afford to do too much risky stuff before the MOT comes along, already gotta find the cash to get my arches sorted

Alroy said:

i've been driving around with my front plate off before (sticky strips fell off ), managed to drive past a police car who kindly stopped for about 5 seconds while passing and told me to turn my foglights off. didn't even mention the number plate.

this would affect the MOT if it's a legal requirement though i'm guessing? can't really afford to do too much risky stuff before the MOT comes along, already gotta find the cash to get my arches sorted

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What you doing to the arches?, Might know someone who can help you out

to be honest they need doing soon as possible mate!! gotta try and keep my spending to a minimum though as i'm meant to be going away at the end of the month, i seem to have got seicento fever again!!

(oh yeah, when my car's back from the bodyshop we'll arrange a little kentish meetup somewhere if a few people are up for it )

edit: sorry just read your post again, need the back ones knocked out slightly and the front inner arches sorted as the wheels are grinding on the inners on full lock. have taken bulk of arch out but it's still doing it

If you are talking about getting your arches rolled, I had my rear wheel arches done on thursday. The bloke done a very nice job and for only £50-. My 15's now sit very comfortably in the arches.

There are South-Eastern meets every couple of months aswell.

My wheels rub on full lock, they rub on the inside.... I think its the springs?

my 13's rub on full lock turning left

joecinq said:

My wheels rub on full lock, they rub on the inside.... I think its the springs?

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nah it's the inner wheel arch on mine. probably wont do any damage to the wheel or car but it's a tad embarassing pulling into parking spaces sounding like i'm playing some kind of primary school wooden instrument

Alroy said:

this would affect the MOT if it's a legal requirement though i'm guessing?

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The car would fail its MOT if the number plate is not lit, and AFAIK you cannot have a coloured light, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

the rear number plate needs to be lit in someway and the number plate cannot be in the window, its frowned upon as it screws up the photos if you get clocked by a gatso, so im guessing its illegal

MOT will fail you if number plate has no light, or no means of being lit, they dont actually check how much the number plate is lit by

backlit number plates aint illegal, TVR's use them

"Registration plate lamps are the lamps that illuminate the rear registration plate. Some vehicles may have these lamps fitted behind the number plate"

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_110.htm , tells you the method of inspection and rejection

I checked with the police directly when i was planning to flush the rear bumper on my cinq and was told same as gaz has said

*The plate must be of legal size and lettering
*It must be fully lighted so can be easily seen at night

i asked if i could put it in a lighted box in the back window (like a lad on cluplupo has done with his lupo gti) and the copper said yes as long as its clearly visable not being obstructed by wipers etc and is lit at night

joecinq said:

My wheels rub on full lock, they rub on the inside.... I think its the springs?

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its the tyre rubbin on the inner arch lining, means the offset of the wheels is too high so the wheels sit too far into the arches, if u got bigger spacers to lower the offset it would move the wheels out more and they wouldnt rub!