Rte

wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "RTE" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > ...
    > > In the UK, many motorists shops are able to make number plates
    > on-the-spot.
    > > As it is simply a plate for displaying the registration number (much the
    > > same as a house number), no special documentation is required (although
    > the
    > > plate has to meet specific size, colour and lettering).
    > You obviously haven't bought one recently. You will have to produce the V5
    > (the vehicle registration form), photographic evidence of identity (a
photo
    > driving licence or passport) and usually something like a utility bill to
    > prove your address.
    > Colin Bignell

That's true, it's been awhile. So you have to have the V5 of the vehicle
that will be towing a trailer?

I remember some years ago a caravan hire company that (as part of the
package) prepared and applied the number plate ready for the hirer to
tow-away the caravan with minimum delay. Presumably they wouldn't be able to
do that now.
I haven't bought sticky number plate letters/numbers since my last plate,
are these unavailable now ?

RTE

Mark Hewitt

"Alec" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > What I meant was that whereas in other countries you only need to display
    > your nationality sign like oval D for Germany (before euro symbol was
    > introduced) when you drive outside of your country, in Switzerland every
    > vehicle has to show it, including those unlikely ever to be driven out of
    > the country, like agricultural vehicles and municipal roadsweepers.
Perhaps
    > it's part of their national motoring law.

I believe it, as it is not part of the EU.

However as the law stands, a car from one EU member state doesn't NOT have
to show a country identifier when driving in another member state. This
applies wether you have the blue tags on your numberplate or not.

D Pan

Ahhh, so all that worrying about not paying the parking ticket I got in
Paris many years ago while driving a German rental car was just needless
worry?

Pan

"trallala" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Now the clou :
    > French citizens buy a used car in Germany and "forget" to change the
plates.
    > The French police dont understand the subtle rules of absolescence of the
    > German plates, so they think its a german car.
    > Then, the french driver can park everywhere in towns and get fined, he
will
    > never see a bill.
    > The fining over countries and plate systems records over countries dont
work
    > at all, due to
    > the different systems.......
    > As you see, there are many benefits in keeping the systems so different
over
    > countries.......

Alejandro

"Alec" wrote in message news:...
    > While UK recently introduced readily-identifiable regional tag, there's
    > tendency in many countries to leave this out. Italy has been mentioned, and
    > also Spain, partly to deter break-in of non-local cars (which are more
    > likely to contain valuables, luggage etc) and targeting of certain regions
    > (e.g. from Basque).

The reason to change the system in Spain was that in certain regions
where car sales were higher (e.g. Madrid and Barcelona) they were
running out of letter-number combinations with the old system. What
you have just mentioned were not the reasons, but rather some side
effects, which btw have turned out to be quite convenient.

Another side effect, which Barbara mentioned for Italy in another
post, is that your insults no longer can be based on the region of
procedence of the other driver :-) However, if you are in the
Mediterranean coast and it's summer you can assume that 90% of the
drivers will be from Madrid before insulting them

Alejandro.

John Stolz

Some more useless knowledge on number plates:

In Switzerland you can look up the name address and phone number of the
owner of a vehicle from the license number.

In Switzerland you keep you licence plate number for life (true?)

In France (and I presume many other countries, except UK) if you move house
to another area you must re-register the car and get a new licence plate

Spotting the country of origin of cars from their number plates is a useful
way to keep kids quiet.

Brett wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
European
    > license plate? Please give an example.
    > Thanks,
    > Brett

Axqi Rqvst

On 6/8/03 6:32 PM, in article [email protected],
"Harvey Van Sickle" wrote:

    > In the UK, though, until a couple of years ago you couldn't reliably
    > tell much from the number plate on the car apart from the year it was
    > first registered. (Now the first two letters indicate where the car
    > was first registered -- but not necessarily where the owner comes from,
    > just where the dealership decided to obtain the registrations -- and
    > the next two digits identify a six-month period during which the car
    > waas registered.)

This is incorrect. The centre letter of the three-letter group always
indicated the location of first registration. Some 20 years ago I bought an
explanatory booklet from HMSO that decoded them.

I also compiled a list of the diplomatic prefixes (101 D XXX = Afghanistan;
270 through 274 = USA, etc.)

FWIW, European Union law enters only peripherally into the equation. A car
bearing foreign, but EU member state, plates that is involved in an accident
is covered by the insurance bureau of the country in which it purports to be
registered, even if the car is in fact uninsured and the license plates are
fraudulent. In other words, the victims of accidents caused by such cars are
better protected than (1) the person injured by a car actually or
purportedly registered a non-EU state (e.g., Poland) or (2) in the country
in which the crash occurs.

John Stolz

trallala wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > There will be "European unified" license plate system in the future, but
    > it can take decades, because each state has numerous public jobs hanging
on
    > his own plate
    > system, and fees too, and no state wants really to give up this
    > prerogative.....
    > Same situation than for the air traffic control..........
    > Now the clou :
    > French citizens buy a used car in Germany and "forget" to change the
plates.
    > The French police dont understand the subtle rules of absolescence of the
    > German plates, so they think its a german car.
    > Then, the french driver can park everywhere in towns and get fined, he
will
    > never see a bill.
    > The fining over countries and plate systems records over countries dont
work
    > at all, due to
    > the different systems.......
    > As you see, there are many benefits in keeping the systems so different
over
    > countries.......
    > "Brett" a écrit dans le message de news:
    > [email protected]...
    > > How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a
    > European
    > > license plate? Please give an example.
    > >
    > > Thanks,
    > > Brett
    > >
    > >
    > >
But there is to be new system where such fines will be automatically
collected in the country of registration of the vehicle. Remains to be seen
whether it will work or not...

Jesus Casagrande

On 6/9/03 11:12 AM, in article [email protected], "John
Stolz" wrote:

    > But there is to be new system where such fines will be automatically
    > collected in the country of registration of the vehicle. Remains to be seen
    > whether it will work or not...


This would surprise me. Only France, Denmark, Sweden, Romania and Czech
Republic have ratified the European Convention on the Punishment of Road
Traffic Offences (ETS 052)

http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en...s/Word/052.doc
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN...steTraites.htm
http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/EN...ist.asp?NT=052


The UK Government has said that it is not disposed to join.

Emilia

"John Stolz" wrote in
news:[email protected]:


    > In Switzerland you can look up the name address and phone number of
    > the owner of a vehicle from the license number.
    >
    > In Switzerland you keep you licence plate number for life (true?)


Yes and No. You can keep the plate for life if it goes from one car to
the another and you stay in the same canton. If you get rid of your car
and don't plan to have a new car, then you give the plate back. However,
if you REALLY want to keep your plate but don't have a new car to put it
on then you can keep paying the road tax and keep your plate hanging in
your garage. The point is, the plate doesn't follow the car.

If you change cantons you get a new plate for that canton.

You can also use one number plate for more than one car, for example the
plate you have on your 4x4 for the winter can then be taken off and put
on your cabrio for the summer or your weekday car (the VW Lupo) can
exhange plates with your weekend car (the Ferrari Testarossa or vice
versa)....

Owain

"Wolfgang Schwanke" wrote
    | German codes have the format ABC-XY 1234, black letters on white.

In UK, it's black letters on white on the front, and black letters on yellow
at the back.

Owain

Owain

"Jesus Casagrande" wrote
    | This would surprise me. Only France, Denmark, Sweden, Romania and Czech
    | Republic have ratified the European Convention on the Punishment of Road
    | Traffic Offences (ETS 052)
    | The UK Government has said that it is not disposed to join.

This couldn't possibly be because members of HMG have a propensity for
committing traffic offences?

Owain

Owain

"John Stolz" wrote
    | Some more useless knowledge on number plates:
    | In Switzerland you can look up the name address and phone number of the
    | owner of a vehicle from the license number.

In UK you can get the owner's (technically, the "keeper"'s) address upon
postal application to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency with a small fee
(I think GBP3) if you have "good cause" eg the vehicle has been abandoned in
your front garden.

Owain

Devil

On Mon, 09 Jun 2003 04:51:30 +0000, D Pan wrote:

    > Ahhh, so all that worrying about not paying the parking ticket I got in
    > Paris many years ago while driving a German rental car was just needless
    > worry?

What, paying parking tickets in Paris? That would be a first, wouldn't
it?

(AKAIK no one does. They just wait until the next amnesty.)

The Reid

Following up to Brett

    >How can one tell the expiration date and country (province?) from a European
    >license plate?

Expiration date?

Spainsh ones used to have two letters for province. No longer do. UK
recently changed between two systems, both tell you year of
registration and area if you know the codes. UK plates can be
personal, so then tell you nothing. You can anyway transfer old plates
to a new car. I think German plates change when the owner moves?
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Fellwalking, photos, London & the Thames path "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" (see web for email)

Marie Lewis

In article , ellie
writes
    >How does one get the actual plate? I noticed that our local LeClerc
    >has a stand near the front door where a fellow makes keys and also
    >license plates. Here in the US, at least in Massachusetts, you are
    >given the plates when you register your car.
It is already in place when you buy a car. If the car is new, you
have to pay for the plates, I think, but in a second hand car, as far as
I am aware, never having bought a second hand car, they are included in
the price of the vehicle.
--
Marie Lewis