Police in Devon and Cornwall

[Ian (GPX)]

Taken from the BBC News Site

Police in Devon and Cornwall are targeting motorcyclists who use illegal or illegible licence plates.
The operation, which is taking place through December, is part of efforts to cut the number of bikers killed.

Officers say that one in five motorcyclists who are discovered speeding at more than 100mph (161km/h) have false or illegible plates.

In July, there were five bike-related deaths in less than three days in Devon and Cornwall.

Police said plate tampering included changing the size or the position of a plate, or using different typefaces which were more difficult to photograph.

Chief Inspector Ian Aspinall, Head of Road Policing, said: "A number of motorcyclists make concerted efforts to avoid speed detection by interfering with the display of their number plate.

"It may be that in doing this they feel that they can ride as fast as they like without fear of detection.

"We will be targeting individuals who are blatantly flouting the law in this way."

New laws have also been introduced to clamp down on manufacturers and shops that make and sell reduced size plates knowing they are for a road-going bike.

'Show' plate

Bill Skedgell from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) said: "Motorcyclists have to have these plates made up specially.

"Many reputable manufacturers will not perform this task because of new legislation. Some are being less scrupulous and accepting a disclaimer from the owner that the number plate is not for use on the road or is a 'show' plate for display only, but this is not acceptable.

"The DVLA is keen to ensure manufacturers understand their obligations and those who transgress will be prosecuted and can face having their registration licence to supply plates suspended."

Nationally, motorcyclists make up just 1% of traffic on roads but account for 14% of deaths and serious injuries in crashes on the roads.

In Cornwall, 25% of all fatal road accidents in the county involve motorbikes.

[Jimmythe1]

Too many tractors

Too be honest though, there is only really one road, the A30, where police regularly patrol. What's more, it is one of the few roads in cornwall where you can safely do 100+mph (if safe and 100mph can actually co-exist in the same sentence!).

I'll be watching my speed when I go home for christmas - thanks for the warning.
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[mchaggis]

Yes, because if someone has a smaller plate than is legal, obviously they are only doing it so they can speed and not be caught. That obviously means that they are going to speed and die. Hence we stop people having small plates, and they'll stop dying. Marvelous.

Why not just clamp down on small plates for the fact that they are illegal and can stop people getting your details if you are involved in a hit and run? Connecting it to speeding will just turn people right off.
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[Kris]

As someone on Visordown pointed out, if you use their figures;

1 in 5 of fatal bike crashes include small plates. Therefore;

4 in 5 have legal plates?

Stop the legal plates! They're the real killers...



And a clampdown in December? Good luck - twats.
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[stryker]

Yes, my bike has a slightly smaller number plate. Always comes in handy when I'm doing speeding hit and runs on babies and such like.
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Now what?

[killa]

[mchaggis]