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Personalised Plates

My best friend refuses to spend a night in a van! He calls it a bed on wheels.

I wanted to call my van Fred but the FRD registration that went with the same as the start of my car reg had gone.....so I got FTB....Fred The Bed.....easy to remember albeit, no one else would guess it!
 
My first personalised plate was L4RDH (my initials) in 1993, put on my new Renault Clio Williams. Great car. I still have the plate on my recently restored 1997 Defender. On my Triumph Tiger I have L444RDH; L44RDH had already gone. On the California I have GO55RDH. As in 'just GO'. I was 55 when I retired and bought the vehicle, it is T5.5 (alright I know it is a 5.1 really), plus my initials again. Wife's car is OO03TEH; she goes 'OOO' when she sees her beloved Mini (!), plus her initials again (she wanted the 7 but it had gone).
 
Living in Switzerland there is no such thing as personalised plates. You either get what you're given by the insurance company, or you can purchase a number. The lower numbers are worth more. In Liechtenstein the police have the first few. The format is all XX nnnnn with the Kantonal abbreviation followed by numbers which are currently max. 6 digits in Zurich, e.g. ZH 123456

Having not lived in the UK for 20 years, I cannot deal with the current UK plate system. Something about year/month coded somehow, and two letters at the front, it does not compute for me as all I can remember is the old single letter (first or last) for year plus the code for first registered (which is still there?). Oddly, I still remember my dad's Ford Cortina reg. from the 70's!

Back to Swiss plates, there are a few major pluses to the system here (ignoring the non-personalisation)
1. Having plates means the car is insured. You don't get plates with the car, you are essentially 'loaned' them by the insurance company. Yes, someone can drive around with fake plates, but it does not happen too often. So in case of an accident, there is almost zero chance of the other party having no insurance.
2. You can have two cars on the same plates. All you do is move the plates from one to the other and back. Since you are only issued one set, you can only drive one car at a time! (See above about fake plates). You only pay the minimum insurance for each car, then the higher single insurance for both. Also you pay road tax for the higher value/rating only.
3. When you change cars, you tell the insurance company and the plates move over. Also, if you change insurance company completely you (can) keep the plates. So you can have them for life. I think there might be laws to prevent you selling them, and/or transferring them within the family, but not sure.
 
Its just another optional extra. Each to their own.
None here.
Think they are a bit chavvy if I’m honest.

Take cover...:Iamsorry
Agreed. I have spent years taking the p out of people who have them and describing them as a complete waste of money. Then I bought one for me and wifey. All a bit embarrassing.
 
Saw your beautiful van parked there the other week, I was in the grey California, was very tempted for a nosy. Stunning morning too.
Oh yes I saw your van in carpark, with a couple of other vans too. Didn’t see anyone about or I would or had a chat and shown you it.
I’m definitely going back there on the way back down as loads of amazing walks, and only done a few.
I had the place to myself the night before!
 
I know it's a bit sad to some, but I've collected quite a few cherished plates over the years - with 6 vehicles I have a few to play around with! Most are name/initial related but one is Harley related (on my Harley, strangely enough!). I'm quite proud of my VW one though - it often gets mentioned, particularly when it goes in to the dealers or garages.VWA63N.jpgit often g
 
Mobile speed cameras are now catching incorrectly spaced number plates then issuing large fines. I’ve been done on the A55 in my golf and the brother in law last week.
Be careful, it’s a jungle out there
 
How much is the fine ?


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I got stopped by an unmarked patrol, it was £250 then reported to DVLA. Nothing after I paid came of it.
Brother in law has sent the ‘it was me’ form back and awaits his fine. Can be up to £1000 worst case.
 
My first personalised plate was L4RDH (my initials) in 1993, put on my new Renault Clio Williams. Great car. I still have the plate on my recently restored 1997 Defender. On my Triumph Tiger I have L444RDH; L44RDH had already gone. On the California I have GO55RDH. As in 'just GO'. I was 55 when I retired and bought the vehicle, it is T5.5 (alright I know it is a 5.1 really), plus my initials again. Wife's car is OO03TEH; she goes 'OOO' when she sees her beloved Mini (!), plus her initials again (she wanted the 7 but it had gone).
I had a Williams 2 in 94, best car I’ve ever had. Had several GTI’s, TT’s, Clio 200, Golf R and a few other things and this is the closest I’ve come to that Williams. Absolutely love stealing this from the missus, much to her disgust....

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I got stopped by an unmarked patrol, it was £250 then reported to DVLA. Nothing after I paid came of it.
Brother in law has sent the ‘it was me’ form back and awaits his fine. Can be up to £1000 worst case.
Bloody hell !!!!!
 
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Who was I following earlier today? Frank Bruno? or maybe someone who'd beaten a bout of depression?
 
No, it was my phone, but I wasn't driving. I was stopped at lights.
Have a look at a guy called Cycling Mikey's YouTube channel. You might not want to use your phone stopped in traffic after seeing a few of his videos

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Have a look at a guy called Cycling Mikey's YouTube channel. You might not want to use your phone stopped in traffic after seeing a few of his videos

Vigilantism like that is giving cyclists a bad name. That said, using a hand held phone when driving really is unacceptable now. I don’t know what the law says when you are stationary at red lights. I know there have been incidences of truck drivers distracted by phones or paperwork at red lights, then turning left when the lights go green crushing a cyclist or pedestrian under their wheels.
 
Vigilantism like that is giving cyclists a bad name. That said, using a hand held phone when driving really is unacceptable now. I don’t know what the law says when you are stationary at red lights. I know there have been incidences of truck drivers distracted by phones or paperwork at red lights, then turning left when the lights go green crushing a cyclist or pedestrian under their wheels.
You are way off the mark calling him a vigilante.
Are people breaking the law by using their phone at the wheel giving drivers a bad name?
All he is doing is providing evidence to the police. The police and the courts convict the people who aren't able to abide by the law.
I applaud him for his efforts.

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You are way off the mark calling him a vigilante.
Are people breaking the law by using their phone at the wheel giving drivers a bad name?
All he is doing is providing evidence to the police. The police and the courts convict the people who aren't able to abide by the law.
I applaud him for his efforts.
I thought vigilante was almost exactly the right word. Hunting down motorists who use the phone while driving and reporting them to the police due to a sense of civic duty. It's only different from those who track down and report paedophiles, hebephiles and ephebophiles by scale of the offense.
 
I had a Williams 2 in 94, best car I’ve ever had. Had several GTI’s, TT’s, Clio 200, Golf R and a few other things and this is the closest I’ve come to that Williams. Absolutely love stealing this from the missus, much to her disgust....

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Those things are an absolute riot...
An original Gti
There’s a guy who has tricked his out on YouTube and throws it round the Nurburgring.
 
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