illegal numberplate

teednab-el

Quick question,

I was driving home today from work and I was driving behind a sports Golf which had German style number plates. However the Blue part of the Number Plate on the left which normally has the letters "IRL" had the German letter "D" followed by an Irish Registeration number. Would that pass an NCT? Is it illegal?

Also can someone tell me why I see so many Irish reg cars with yellow rear number plates? I have seen a good few around lately. That is 100% illegal am I correct?

mondeo

I seen this alot the past weeks... What's the bloody point of it?
Trying to look good?

EPM

Meh...different tastes. Can suit some cars but when you go messing with things like that it's a small bit silly

MidlandsM

It would fail and is illegal.

furtzy

Saddo's....wonder to they put on a german accent as well

As bad as they are theres a guy across the road from me has german style plates on an Accord

PaulKK

furtzy wrote: »

As bad as they are theres a guy across the road from me has german style plates on an Accord

Lol, coolness fail.


I think German style plates look good, but only on VW/Audi/BMW/Mercedes, and they must be pressed metal and not plastic.

The plates are not illegal as long as the county name is in Irish and the country is correct.

That said if someone wants to go around with a D on it for country instead of IRL between NCTs I couldn't care less, I have bigger things to worry about.

MidlandsM

They are illegal as the font is not to legal spec.

mb1725

MidlandsM wrote: »

They are illegal as the font is not to legal spec.

They'll be fine when we sell the auld country to Germany to pay our debts!!!:D

PaulKK

MidlandsM wrote: »

They are illegal as the font is not to legal spec.

Incorrect. The only legal font requirement is minimum height and width for lettering. Once the county name, and IRL with blue EU background is there they are legal.

see here, and link below:

The Law wrote:

14. The identification mark shall appear in black characters and each letter or figure shall have a height of 70 millimetres and a stroke width of 10 millimetres. The total width of the space taken by each letter or figure (other than the letter “I” or the number “I”) shall be not less than 36 millimetres and not more than 50 millimetres. The distances between adjoining letters and adjoining figures shall be uniform and shall be not less than 8 millimetres.

Please don't post false information.


http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/leaflets/format-vehicle-registration-plates.html

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0432.html

Gumbo

MidlandsM wrote: »

They are illegal as the font is not to legal spec.

can you back this up please....................no didnt think so.

kumate_champ07

mb1725 wrote: »

They'll be fine when we sell the auld country to Germany to pay our debts!!!:D

The German economy is currently in the ****ter so that is unlikely!

-Corkie-

kceire wrote: »

can you back this up please....................no didnt think so.

Wasnt their several threads before on them. I can recall Nice guy always saying they were illegal... I asked another guard I know and he said they were no problem. Its a bit of a grey area me thinks.

Gumbo

-Corkie- wrote: »

Wasnt their several threads before on them. I can recall Nice guy always saying they were illegal... I asked another guard I know and he said they were no problem. Its a bit of a grey area me thinks.

thats the problem, one gards opinion to another guards opinion is like night and day. ive passed and been stopped at many checkpoints in my 3 series with german font and also my S3 with german font and not a word was said on them, ive also put two cars through the NCT with german font and passed both times. (my german fonts are pressed plates with the IRL and euro logo with the dash's etc on them.)

mink_man

anyone care to show me a pic of what a german number plate looks like?

mb1725

Gumbo

mink_man wrote: »

anyone care to show me a pic of what a german number plate looks like?

as opposed to what you typically get from the dealers -

mink_man

I think they look awful, especially the one with the 2 euro and the one euro on it :P they look really old.

mb1725

This might be James May's german plate??

Gumbo

mink_man wrote: »

I think they look awful, especially the one with the 2 euro and the one euro on it :P they look really old.

as said, its all personal taste, its the reason why one person buys a Ford and the other buys a Honda.

EPM

-Corkie- wrote: »

Wasnt their several threads before on them. I can recall Nice guy always saying they were illegal... I asked another guard I know and he said they were no problem. Its a bit of a grey area me thinks.

I personally had the pleasure of NGA point out to me why the ones I tried out were illegal.

It's got to do with the cut through the 0 mainly. Took them off afterwards sharpish just to be sure

ruppy99

I assume italics on the number plates are banned? because some of those can be bloody hard to read!

tossy

I've had german plates on the last 3 cars..Check points/toll bridges/Gardai handing out speeding fines/Gardai enquiring why i had no front plate and only a rear German style plate/// all had no issue with them,trust a boardsie to have the issues

NO disrespect to the OP but your opening line says it all for me.... " I was driving behind a sports Golf " straight from the Gay byrne/joe duffy listeners hand book,what is a sports golf?

ruppy99

well there is a model of golf called the golf sport. just thought i'd point that out :P

BlackWizard

What does the "CD" mean on a number plate?

I seen a reg plate with CD 09-D-XXXX

At first I thought of something diplomatic but the car wasn't anything any diplomat or something like that would drive.

tossy

BlackWizard wrote: »

What does the "CD" mean on a number plate?

I seen a reg plate with CD 09-D-XXXX

At first I thought of something diplomatic but the car wasn't anything any diplomat or something like that would drive.

CD is diplomatic plates,it could have been an employee at an embassy all would be classed as diplomats.

challengemaster

I'm fairly sure the Gardaí have better things to be doing.....

tossy

challengemaster wrote: »

I'm fairly sure the Gardaí have better things to be doing.....

exactly! and in my experience as long as you don't approach the check point sideways,on opposite lock or on 2 wheels in a cloud of smoke and are courteous then they will send you on your way,also German plates might not to be everyones taste but you have to agree the are alot neater and more aesthetically pleasing than those Italic efforts or the yellow block capitals 'felt spec jobs.

Wibbs

BlackWizard wrote: »

What does the "CD" mean on a number plate?

I seen a reg plate with CD 09-D-XXXX

At first I thought of something diplomatic but the car wasn't anything any diplomat or something like that would drive.

As tossy said diplomatic plates, CD = Corps Diplomatique

teednab-el

tossy wrote: »

NO disrespect to the OP but your opening line says it all for me.... " I was driving behind a sports Golf " straight from the Gay byrne/joe duffy listeners hand book,what is a sports golf?

Please tell me you know what I am on about? .

djimi

FWIW I think the German plates looks great on certain cars (BMW, Audi and VW), but only on those cars, and only if done properly (ie with the D on the EU badge, and the two round images between the numbers), not just a standard plate with the German font.

mb1725

I must say I always liked the look of the old oval german plates, like on old Beetles

Zonda999

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

The German economy is currently in the ****ter so that is unlikely!

Probably not a ca related response but actually Germany posted its best result for quarterly growth since reunification in Q2 2010

http://www.rte.ie/business/reports/germany.html

Voodoomelon

PaulKK wrote: »

Incorrect. The only legal font requirement is minimum height and width for lettering. Once the county name, and IRL with blue EU background is there they are legal.

see here, and link below:



Please don't post false information.


http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vrt/leaflets/format-vehicle-registration-plates.html

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0432.html

Not according to a Garda on these forums. The fact that the rounded numbers (0, 8, 9 etc) have ticks in them making them incomplete renders the plates illegal.

Just some info, I have them myself.

Curran

I like that German plates - have them on my car! Though the plates I have on my car have....IRL, Baile Atha Cliatha on top and got the dashes between Year, County & Number!

Esel

djimi wrote: »

FWIW I think the German plates looks great on certain cars (BMW, Audi and VW), but only on those cars, and only if done properly (ie with the D on the EU badge, and the two round images between the numbers), not just a standard plate with the German font.

'D' and the two round decals would definitely make the plate illegal.

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Not according to a Garda on these forums. The fact that the rounded numbers (0, 8, 9 etc) have ticks in them making them incomplete renders the plates illegal.

There is no font definition in the Statutory Instrument, only specified letter/number stroke width and character size. If the font meets these and the plate meets the other specs, and is legible (which it is), I fail to see how it could be deemed illegal. A garda might hold the opinion that it was illegal - however, that not does make it so.

Curran

esel wrote: »

There is no font definition in the Statutory Instrument, only specified letter/number stroke width and character size. If the font meets these and the plate meets the other specs, and is legible (which it is), I fail to see how it could be deemed illegal. A garda might hold the opinion that it was illegal - however, that not does make it so.

These facts have been stated on the German manufacturer owners forum that I use and have been verified by a Traffic Corps member!
I havent been stopped yet with mine - have the car 3 months now!

At a guess (going by feedback on the owners site)....50% of the Guards knowing the above is the case, 40% not giving a toss and the other 10% mis-informed!
Its dealing with the latter, when the fun begins...especailly when you have legal plates like mine: the IRL, County Name and Dashes (no stickers)! Lads have tried to explain to them the facts as stated by "esel" but they reckon you are being cheeky...you give up wasting your breath and promise to put back on / turn up at the station with, the "standard" plates on, only to swap them back again 30 mins later! :cool:

In case I do run into a misinfored Guard; Ive the standard set in the boot! I'll show them the plates and say I was at a show last weekend and forgot to change them back! :cool:

keithclancy

Don't ever drive to Germany with those things, wouldnt go down too well

Gumbo

keithclancy wrote: »

Don't ever drive to Germany with those things, wouldnt go down too well

how come?

monkeypants

Back to the original post; What's the story with the yellow numberplates with Irish regs?

E39MSport

I've got the German font on my otherwise compliant plates.

I bumped in to 2 Gardaí while I was getting new rubber and got chatting to one of them who was checking out my car. He clearly stated that the Gardaí wouldn't have a problem with my plates.

Glad to see Curran's confirmation.

2 Espressi

The theory I've heard behind the yalla plates, is to attract less attention when visiting their cousins north of the border.

/note to self, when approaching next Garda checkpoint, do it in style, dab of oppo, etc....

furtzy

monkeypants wrote: »

Back to the original post; What's the story with the yellow numberplates with Irish regs?

Back at the time at the height of the troubles and when we had the pre 87 style regs people from the border counties would adopt the yellow style rear regs to blend in with the northern cars to avoid attacks on their cars whilst in the North.

Nowadays it is still seen amongst the donegal boy racer knobs for reasons known only to themselves!

tossy

keithclancy wrote: »

Don't ever drive to Germany with those things, wouldnt go down too well

I've driven to the fatherland on German style plates,no one bated an eyelid.

slimjimmc

But is it a grey area? The law defining the design of legal number plates is pretty clear in the absence of a prescibed font style. There's absolutely no mention of font, cuts in 0, egg-shaped zeros, etc in any of the relevant SIs. Heck, if you compare the 'standard' legal plate format shown in both links in PaulKK's post #9 you'll see that even both fonts are different.




If a Irish number plate conforms to the norm in every way except the use of the German font how can anyone claim that it is not in accordance with the law since a specific font is not prohibited or a required?

Voodoomelon

esel wrote: »

'D' and the two round decals would definitely make the plate illegal.

There is no font definition in the Statutory Instrument, only specified letter/number stroke width and character size. If the font meets these and the plate meets the other specs, and is legible (which it is), I fail to see how it could be deemed illegal. A garda might hold the opinion that it was illegal - however, that not does make it so.

I'm happy to say that they are perfectly legal seeing as I have them myself, but the diagram clearly shows complete characters, which some of the German plates do not have. Who knows, you may get an arse of a judge but I doubt it also.

Esel

If the letters/digits are legible in Germany.....

Curran

Voodoomelon wrote: »

.. but the diagram clearly shows complete characters, which some of the German plates do not have. ....

I just happens to show a font that is considered standard for number plates!
Any font can be used once they confirm to the height and width outlined for each character!!

Say for exampe the font has to be 7cm heigh and 4cm wide....you could have the font in those pictures, but have them 14cm height and 8cm wide and it would fail because it doesnt conform! Font has nothing to do with it!

And if you think German font is illegible - go to Specsavers!

Johnny Utah

EPM wrote: »

I personally had the pleasure of NGA point out to me why the ones I tried out were illegal.

It's got to do with the cut through the 0 mainly. Took them off afterwards sharpish just to be sure

Where does the legislation provide for this?

There is no font specified in the legislation....

Mint Sauce

i quite like the look of german plates, although doubt they would look the part on a corsa.

keithclancy

tossy wrote: »

I've driven to the fatherland on German style plates,no one bated an eyelid.

Course not, its only if you get stopped.

I.E.
If you drive without an umweltzone sticker in an umweltzone.
If you drive without beam benders
If you drive without a warning triangle and luminious vest
If you drive without spare bulbs
If you drive on Summer Tyres when its below -4
If you drive over the 'recommended' limit (130 km/h) on the autobahn and have an accident (its automatically your fault)
If you drive on non EU GB plates and do not display a GB sticker.

Its all hunkey dorey until you get stopped or something goes wrong.

neilthefunkeone

Ive had my 'German' plates since march.. They have the D instead of the IRL, safety stickers a no county.

Have had no problems at all.. Toll bridge picks them up.. checkpoints ok.. and Garda cars behind me plenty of times..

Its just personal taste for me.. like the way they look on my car..

And as curran said above.. i have standard plates in the boot and if someone decides to make an issue of it one day.."Sorry.. was at a show the other day and forgot to change them"