Motorists who use illegal “ghost” number plates to evade speed cameras and bypass clean-air tolls face having their cars seized on the spot under a swingeing road safety crackdown being prepared by ministers.
Under proposals drawn up by the Department for Transport, reports Devon Live, the police will be granted immediate powers to confiscate vehicles fitted with stealth plates, bringing the offence into line with the penalties for driving without insurance. Drivers also face receiving up to six penalty points, a threshold that would trigger an automatic ban for newly qualified motorists.
The measures have been prompted by growing alarm among police chiefs and national security officials over the proliferation of highly reflective coatings, altered typography, and cloned registrations. The modifications, which are invisible to the naked eye but render plates unreadable to infra-red speed cameras and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems, can be bought online for as little as £30.
Recent enforcement exercises have laid bare the scale of the problem. Data compiled by transport groups suggests that as many as one in 15 vehicles on British roads may now carry plates that are illegible to ANPR networks. During a targeted sweep in London, enforcement officers discovered that 40 per cent of taxi and private hire vehicles stopped displayed illegal plate modifications designed to trick cameras.
Police are concerned that lawbreaking is going unpunished – and want to have greater powers to seize vehicles immediately and dish out fines. The consultation document, of which responses are due to be published this month (August) said: “It’s harder for police to identify who is using a vehicle because some offenders go to great lengths to hide who owns it or who was driving – this makes it harder for the police to keep the public safe and pursue offenders.
“There is a significant amount of evidence of disguising a vehicle’s true ownership to avoid compliance with vehicle excise duty requirements and other payment requirements for the use of certain roads. This places an additional burden on those law-abiding drivers when revenue shortfall to the treasury due to fraud has to be made up.
Sarah Coombes, the Labour MP for West Bromwich who has campaigned in Parliament for tougher laws, welcomed the consultation.
“We must close this dangerous loophole,” she said. “Those who deliberately alter their number plates to evade the law are making a mockery of road safety and placing law-abiding citizens at risk.”
(Picture: APPGTS)
