EV reg plate

dfx-

To me (maybe no-one else), the rear registration plate of an EV is very hard to read.

Is it ok for it to be behind the glass or obscured by dirt as it frequently is? I thought it wasn't acceptable for cars to have their plates obscured by mud..you can't identify it if you needed to - unless you see the front...

The_Wrecker

The WV's are similar.

Terrontress

I have to admit, I don't understand why buses are built to incorporate this design of rear numberplate. I've read elsewhere, maybe on the Emergency Services board, that separate legislation exists for rear numberplates on buses.

Why not just put one on the back bumper? And why do series of buses have backlit plates with silver on black, featuring a font which is square and would be illegal on a car.

I am sure someone on here will know the answer.

Stonewolf

Terrontress wrote: »

And why do series of buses have backlit plates with silver on black, featuring a font which is square and would be illegal on a car..

Would said buses be Olive Green by any chance ...

dfx-

Terrontress wrote: »

I have to admit, I don't understand why buses are built to incorporate this design of rear numberplate. I've read elsewhere, maybe on the Emergency Services board, that separate legislation exists for rear numberplates on buses.

Interesting, I didn't know that. I saw EV66 tonight (identified by its front plate), and tried to read it its rear pate, but simply could not - even when knowing what number I was looking for!

The 2005 VTs and 2009 VGs have a very clear plate at the bottom, I wonder why that wasn't incorporated into all bus design since at least.

cbl593h

Same problem in the UK on these type of vehicle-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neiljennings/4166661944/

Terrontress

Stonewolf wrote: »

Terrontress wrote: »

Aynd why do series of buses have backlit plates with silver on black, featuring a font which is square and would be illegal on a car..

Would said buses be Olive Green by any chance ...

As in those since retired?

Dublin Bus RV buses have it to the right of the rear route number display. Still going strong.

Terrontress

cbl593h wrote: »

Same problem in the UK on these type of vehicle-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neiljennings/4166661944/

I don't think it's a DB issue, rather that of the bus manufacturer. Maybe it is the best place to get a power source to light the plate.

I had expected a few more responses by now.

Stonewolf

Terrontress wrote: »

As in those since retired?

Dublin Bus RV buses have it to the right of the rear route number display. Still going strong.

The DF use silver on black licence plates and afaik are the only ones allowed do so. Nobody said anything about route number signs.

Terrontress

Stonewolf wrote: »

Terrontress wrote: »

As in those since retired?

Dublin Bus RV buses have it to the right of the rear route number display. Still going strong.

The DF use silver on black licence plates and afaik are the only ones allowed do so. Nobody said anything about route number signs.

I mentioned the route number sign to point out where the numberplate is. I think that the route number sign is in a useful place.

As regards your claim about the DF, if the bus in this link is an RV, it has exactly what I am talking about.

http://irishtransport.yuku.com/topic/1965

Conway635

I've often wondered about the seeming exemption of Dublin Bus from the rules regarding registration plates when it came to the Volvo Olympians delivered in the 90s (RH/RA/RV class, delivered between 1990 and 1999).

These buses (as illustrated in the post above) continued to use the standard CIE style backlit painted glass plate, white on black, that had been in use by the company for more than 50 years.

It's notable that a number of Irish operators who have purchased these buses secondhand from dealerships after disposal from Dublin Bus have refitted with standard Irish plates on the rear (though I'm not sure that every purchaser has done this).

All Dublin Bus vehicles from 2000 onwards have had standard plates, but as the OP points out, those on the EVs and WVs are behind an extra layer of often dirty glass, and are difficult if not impossible to read unless you are virtually on top of them.

There may be some derogation to the state run operators in the matter of number plates, though it is difficult to see why this would be needed.

In terms of road traffic rules, Dublin Bus vehicles are, in my understanding, exempt from certain provisions around insurance - the buses do not have to display insurance disks, and indeed are not insured in the conventional sense, there is no policy held on them, as the operator is allowed to "self insure" - i.e. it is liable for all its own losses or damages to third parties, and backed up by the state.

Given the rising cost of insurance for private operators, this is one area in which they feel, rightly, that the CIE operators have an unfair cost advantage.

C635

Terrontress

Take a look at these two images.

The first is a Wright double decker bus from London with the numberplate right up in the rear window.

The second is a Dublin bus double decker made by Wright around the same time. Different rear designs as well as numberplate location. The fronts look very similar though.