Taxi drivers fight to escape fines earned by clone vehicles
Taxi drivers are as much at risk as other drivers when it comes to receiving penalty notices earned by drivers using cloned number plates.
As we have reported many times, number plate cloning is the illegal practice of having plates made up to show a registration number that has been copied from another vehicle. The fake plates are then used to evade speeding and parking penalties, tolls and even insurance premiums. They are often used to hide the identities of vehicles used in crimes ranging from driving away from petrol stations without paying to more serious offences such as robbery.
The taxi industry's news website, taxi-pont.co.uk, reports that taxi and private hire drivers are at high risk of having their plates cloned because their cars are conspicuous and often drive regular routes, making it easy for criminals to note and reproduce their registration numbers.
Drivers using app-based booking systems are using that technology to prove their location at the time of the offence that generated the penalty. Time-stamped job logs and GPS can be valuable evidence when challenging an incorrect penalty.
Sign writing and prominently displayed taxi licence details can also help to distinguish an innocent cab from an offending car that has been caught on camera. Other high visibility distinguishing features, such as windscreen and bumper stickers are also being used to make it easier to tell vehicles apart.
In other cloning news...
An Essex driver was incorrectly fined by two North London councils after his car number plate was cloned and used on a car similar to his. Philip Mathew, who had been undergoing chemotherapy, received parking penalty notices from Barnet and Haringey councils.
Mr Mathew explained differences between his car and the car that had been caught on camera. "My car has all black badges, vents in the bonnet, a different front end, a spoiler on the rear boot lid, a black interior not cream, no line round the number plate, and four exhaust pipes.”
Despite the substantial differences he described, the councils were slow to cancel the penalties. Although the charges were eventually withdrawn, Mr Mathew understandably said that he "didn't need the stress".
Yet another call for bicycle number plates
Yet another issue much reported by Regtransfers is receiving coverage yet again. The opinion that cycles should have to display number plates is the topic of a petition started by Ali Ikram, a pedestrian who claims to have been hit by cycles in three separate incidents.
Mr Ikram said that mandatory insurance and number plates for cycles "doesn’t just benefit pedestrians or drivers, it benefits the cyclists themselves. It solemnises their ownership of the road, gives them an identity, and makes everything smoother, safer, and more accountable.
“Cyclists use the same roadways as drivers," he continued, "but currently aren’t required to have number plates or insurance. This lack of regulation obstructs the path for accountability when accidents like mine occur.”
Regular readers of our blog will be aware of earlier stories in which we reported similar calls for number plates for bikes in the UK and abroad.
At the time of writing, Mr Ikram's petition had 1009 signatures.
West Country comedian's personal plates to go under the hammer
Two private number plates will be included in an auction of items formerly owned by Cornish comedian Jethro, who died in December 2021 at the age of 73. The two registrations set to be sold are J35 TER ("Jester") and the rather more cryptic B11 ECS.
Although he became famous nationally, Jethro was best known, and most popular, in Devon and his home county of Cornwall. His traditional style of humour often strayed far from political correctness, so his act was not for everyone. Nevertheless, Jethro enjoyed a long and successful career, beginning in the 1970s and ending around the time of the COVID pandemic.
His stage name, Jethro, was a play on his real name, Geoffrey (Geoff) Rowe, although he insisted that the Jethro character and his real self were very different people.
Too few insects are dying on our number plates!
While we don't like to see wildlife killed by cars, the fact that fewer bugs are going splat! against our number plates and windscreens is cause for serious concern.
A survey by the organisation Buglife has revealed that the number of flying insects found on vehicle number plates has declined by 63% since 2021. The citizen survey Bugs Matter, conducted by Buglife, uses data from over 25,000 UK car journeys to track the number of airborne arthropods killed by number plates over time.
The decline in insect impacts indicates that pollinator populations are falling fast. That has alarming implications for agriculture and the production of the food that we eat.
Buglife spokesman Andrew Whitehouse said, “The latest Bugs Matter data suggests that the abundance of flying insects in our countryside has fallen again. The consequences are potentially far-reaching, not only impacting the health of the natural world, but affecting so many of the essential services that nature provides for us.
“Human activities continue to have a huge impact on nature, habitat loss and damage, pesticide use, pollution, and climate change all contribute to the decline in insects. Society must heed the warning signs of ecological collapse, and take urgent action to restore nature.”
The survey is relaunching from Thursday 1 May 2025 and will run until 30 September. The survey is expanding in scope this year and data from the Republic of Ireland will also be reflected in the results. Drivers in Ireland and across the UK are invited to download the free mobile app and start recording insect splats on vehicle journeys.
Search your mobile app store for "Bugs Matter".
