There are some changes being made to the way number plates work as well as the way they are designed from this year.
The DVLA announced the changes as a new batch of 2022 registration have been launched.
Designed to make plates more resistant to wear and tear and well as easier to track with surveillance equipment, the new plates are set to be a little bit different.
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It also means that some registration plates could actually be deemed illegal so it may be best checking, reports The Mirror.
The update will see the new plates meet British Standard for Retroreflective Number Plates and will be the "BS AU 145e" standard plates.
However, new 22 plates will still incorporate changes made to registrations in 2021
What changes have been made to licence plates?
Plates will now be made from tougher material that is more resistant to damage, wear and tear.
The technology was first introduced in September 2021.
- The lettering
Plates will now need to display solid black lettering.
This change has been made following the ban of number plate lettering effects that give registrations the appearance of being 3D.
Lettering on plates will still be permitted to be made of perspex or acrylic, provided all other criteria are being met.
The change is being made to make it easier for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems to pick up and identify vehicles.
It may be worth checking the lettering on your plates to make sure you do not breach the new rules.
- Location identification
Plates will now need to show both the name and postcode of the business that supplied them.
It will also need to show the name of the licence plate manufacturer.
The Express reports that this has sparked fears that it will become much easier for plates to be tracked without the permission of the car’s owner.
- New identifier
Another big change that may be a little more obvious is that plates will now have the Union Jack on the side, rather than the EU flag.
They will also now read ‘UK’ rather than ‘GB’ to reflect the UK’s exit from the European Union.
Drivers who fail to display their plates correctly could be slapped with a nasty fine.
The DVLA 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."
- How do number plate codes work?
New plates are released every six months, with the new ‘72’ batch due for release in September 2022.
The first two letters of your plate reflect where the vehicle was registered. LA – LY plates, for instance, mean the car was registered in London.
Digits three and four reflect the year the car was registered, with this system set to be in place until February 2051.
What do you think of the changes? Tell us in the comments section below.
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