Drivers are being urged to check their licence plates before new rules come into place.
In England, Scotland, and Wales, a brand new "23" age identifier will be introduced next month. It's the latest issue following the "72" number which was introduced last September while "22" was rolled out last March. Since 2022, the DVLA has issued two new age identifiers with old-style prefix letters being released every year.
Motorists can find these identifiers in the third and fourth numbers visible on any licence plate. 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, the Mirror reports.
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It is the latest addition to a series of licence plate rule changes that have come into effect over the past few years. In September 2021, it was announced that new number plates can only display solid black lettering, effectively banning 3D-like licence plates.
The changes were introduced to help Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras identify vehicles on the road. Motorists must also ensure that their licence plates are not obscured by anything that could interfere with identification.
Even small amounts of dirt on a licence plate can put you at risk of receiving a £1,000 fine. 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."
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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