Legality of a fake plate on the back of a bike?

[sabian92]

Had a thought before after discussing getting a bike rack that needed another plate on it to show the rego as the rack obscured the one on the car...

Would it be alright to stick a plate on the back of my rack with something like "GIVE ROOM PLEASE"?

Maybe the big yellow plate will attract drivers, who knows. It's obviously not a real plate as it has all letters in it and no numbers, but would a police officer stop somebody with it on or leave them be?

Thanks.

 

[dave72]

best bet is to go to your local police station and ask.
cheers dave

 

[compo]

I have an amost identical plate on my bike trailer (Mule) saying "Narrow Vehicle" and have never had a problem. In my motorcycling days I had a yellow jacket with "Old Bill" on the back in the same colour and lettering as the police ones. I did get pulled a couple of times and threatened with all manner of penalties but as my Christian name is William and I was getting on a bit there wasn't anything they could do except bluster. Their argument was that from a distance I could be mistaken for a policeman.

 

[Moodyman]

You can buy one of these - I think they're legal

 

[ianrauk]

Can't imagine any copper being bothered about it.
Perhaps Vikeonabike, CopperCyclist or 139NI can confirm.

 

[Vikeonabike]

Sabian, no issues with your number plate at all, buddy!
No regulations at all to stop you. But if someone important sees it and then we all have to have one then your in trouble!

 

[sabian92]

Ah, ok, cheers!

What should I say if I get stopped? It'd be just my bloody luck!

 

[CopperCyclist]

You'd say - hello officer, what seems to be the problem?

Because it won't be your 'reg plate' I'm with VikeOnABike here.

If you were ripping off someone elses actual numberplate, I can potentially see it falling into the 'not right' category... but even then I can't think of what you'd actually be breaking, and would have to do some digging! The plate you describe will be fine.

 

[Crackle]

How big are you planning on this being, a proper size number plate. Strikes me as odd and one of those hypnotic things which will draw drivers closer as they a) try to read it and b) examine the oddness of a number plate on a bike.

 

[Edge705]

Try starting with a less positive statement the first word GIVE is a positive statement that may be interpreted as an order. I would always start with PLEASE as you set the tone straight away - PLEASE GIVE ME ROOM or even better THANK YOU FOR PASSING WIDE or words to that effect. Oh and I would bang a smilie on it as well

 

[Psyclist]

You could have a hi-viz jacket/vest with a custom text with that on it, or a yellow number plate style bit of plastic with text on it.

As I see two officers have conformed it's okay I guess there's no issue!

Always wear hi-viz at night myself along with my lights. I might get something printed on mine.

 

[sabian92]

Ah ok - it's not as if it could even be slightly like an actual plate so i suppose that's good!

Try starting with a less positive statement the first word GIVE is a positive statement that may be interpreted as an order. I would always start with PLEASE as you set the tone straight away - PLEASE GIVE ME ROOM or even better THANK YOU FOR PASSING WIDE or words to that effect. Oh and I would bang a smilie on it as well

I tried that but even on a proper sized car plate you can't fit more than about 8 characters on, a proper car plate only has 7 so it's a bit of a struggle, and you can't make the font smaller as all the websites obviously make show plates made to look real or proper number plates that have to abide by legal fonts and things.

I suppose 3ft pls might work but then that's not as obvious as to what it means. Least if it's 2 words it's not exactly hard to work out what it means!

How big are you planning on this being, a proper size number plate. Strikes me as odd and one of those hypnotic things which will draw drivers closer as they a) try to read it and b) examine the oddness of a number plate on a bike.

I was looking at a 12x3 plate, it should be the width of my rack + about 3 inches on each side of it (my rack is 5 inches across). A proper sized car plate is 20 inches which is wider than my rack with full panniers - might be a bit too big. Was just a thought after a conversation, oh the irony if somebody ran me over trying to read the bloody thing...

You could have a hi-viz jacket/vest with a custom text with that on it, or a yellow number plate style bit of plastic with text on it.

As I see two officers have conformed it's okay I guess there's no issue!

Always wear hi-viz at night myself along with my lights. I might get something printed on mine.

I wear a hi-vi too but it doesn't seem to stop people thinking it's OK passing 2 inches away from my handlebars, even during the day. Getting a bit sick of it now for obvious reasons - not even because it's dangerous, just because they think it's OK, and it isn't.

 

[Crackle]

Just put - Feck 'orf →

 

[Psyclist]

I have the same problems with drivers. Some are considerate, others aren't, I guess it's a gamble with who's behind the wheel.

 

[Muddyfox]

You can buy one of these - I think they're legal

I dont think he's got a horse ?