All drivers across the United Kingdom are being urged to check their vehicles ahead of the launch of new licence plate numbers next month.
The 23 plate will be introduced from March across England, Scotland and Wales for new cars - the first identifier change of the year so far, following on from the 72 number which was issued in September 2022.
The earlier 22 plate was launched in March last year.
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The Mirror reports two new age identifiers have been issued by the DVLA every year since 2002, with old-style prefix letters having previously been released every year. These identifiers are found in the third and fourth numbers on a plate, and will change again this September to 73.
The first two letters of a number plate show where a vehicle is registered according to its region and local DVLA office, while final three letters on a number plate are issued at random. It comes as drivers have been asked to make important checks regarding recent licence plate rule changes that they may have missed.
New number plates can now only display solid black lettering, as two-tone registration plates that used different shades to create a 3D-like effect have been banned. The rule change was introduced in September 2021 to help Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras identify vehicle number plates on the roads.
This comes alongside another long-standing rule regarding 'incorrectly displayed' number plates, which includes obscuring or manipulating the digits. Even visible amounts of dirt can put you at risk of having an illegal plate and a potential fine of £1,000 if the contents cannot be easily read.
Other punishments include an on-the-spot fine of £100 if stopped with an unreadable or illegally altered plate by a police officer. The DVLA website says: "Number plates (also known as licence plates) must show your registration number correctly. You cannot rearrange letters or numbers, or alter them so that they’re hard to read.
"You could be fined up to £1,000 and your vehicle will fail its MOT test if you drive with incorrectly displayed number plates."
This year's number plates will also follow upgraded BS AU 145e technical standards, which became mandatory two years ago. Speaking shortly after the change, car marketplace firm AutoTrader said that the modern plates are more durable and able to deal with potential damage from the road.
They said: "The plates are made from tougher material and need to pass ten tests – including the newly added abrasion test, which checks if the number plates can withstand debris like road salt and dirt."
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