After an absence of 17 years, are motorcyclists going to be forced to fit front number plates to their bikes?
Not so says the Motorcycle Action Group
MAG contacted the Vehicle Policy Group at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regarding the issue and received straight answers to our questions.
Are front number plates for
bikes due to return? - The DVLA confirmed it is normal practice for any proposal to be discussed with interested parties. It is part of the formulation of the policy process. They stated
that this does not mean that front plates will be re-introduced in the near future, if at all.
Will the government introduce front number plates without consultation? - The DVLA said
that such issues are regularly received and there is no firm time scale for change. Also commenting that if such a change were to take place, full consultation with all stakeholders would
have to take place and the view of stakeholders generally is the 'driver' of any change.
Has there been a suggestion that front number plates should be introduced and if so by
whom? - The DVLA confirmed that this topic is simply just an idea, which has originated from a proposal put to the Agency from the Police. The reason being they said is because the police
are currently using front images in Automatic Number Plate Readers (ANPR) enforcement cameras, which means that there is a problem identifying motorcycles.
The Government in the follow
up to a consultation on proposed number plate regulations reported that the police suggested that front plates on motorcycles and the smaller motorcycle size character should be
re-considered.
Conclusions in the consultation stated "We do not think it is realistic to consider increasing the size of motorcycle plates or to require motorcycles to fit front
plates."
The fitting of front number plates to motorcycles is being driven forward by the police for enforcement by forward facing Safety Cameras and Automatic Number Plate
Recognition Systems (ANPR).
But is it as simple as that? - There are several different ANPR systems some being funded by the Home Office from intelligence gathering, automatic tracking
of suspect vehicles to be linked UK wide, detection of speeding, road tax evasion, MOT evasion, and congestion charging and vehicle theft.
Petrol companies and independent petrol
stations are fitting ANPR system permanently in a bid to thwart petrol pump thieves. CCTV cameras are being linked to central ANPR systems. The police can react quickly and be guided to an
offending vehicle.
But there are limitations to the system with records on the PNC (Police National Computer) database not always updated when it should be and thus contains
errors. Similarly records are up to six weeks out of date due to the time taken for owners to notify DVLA of changes
"Big Brother" is watching and they want to watch motorcyclists.
Obviously front number plates would be unacceptable if they did any of the following: Interfered with
the behaviour of the bike (safety, stability or aerodynamics); restricted the choice of machine from those available in other countries; required a UK model different from other states;
became retrospective for fitting on older machines; or unreasonably increased the cost to the rider.
Assuming it was possible to overcome these significant difficulties, and still have
a useful front plate, we'd like to know if riders would find them acceptable, or consider them an infringement on your human rights.
