Young adults 15 - 19

Fitting stretched tyres is not only illegal, but could adversely compromise the handling and safety of your vehicle. Fitting this type of tyre contravenes the Type Approval of the vehicle and renders it not fit for purpose. This could lead to prosecution for dangerous condition of the vehicle.

Number plates must be white reflective to the front and yellow reflective to the rear and the characters have to be black. The exception to this rule is if the vehicle (note: the legislation states vehicle not the number plate itself) is registered prior to 31 December 1972, in which case black and silver number plates can be fitted front and rear.

It is illegal to change the size, spacing, format, font or characters of a number plate, and only the national identifiers relevant to the United Kingdom or home nations (England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) may be displayed.

Where a vehicle’s number plate does not comply with the relevant legislation, a Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued and/or the DVLA notified of the offence.

Ultimately, the DVLA can withdraw the number plate from the vehicle temporarily or permanently.

There are times all of us feel like listening to loud music. However, listening to loud music can affect your health and your driving style. The louder the music, the faster the beat the more likely you are
to drive faster, jump a red light or have a collision.

There are a number of actions that the Police and our partners will take to continue reducing the number of collisions on our roads. These include;

• Serving an ASBO - Local Police forces are entitled
  to serve ASBOs banning drivers from certain roads
  under the Police Reform Act 2002.
• Seizing a vehicle - Under the same act, the Police
  can stop and seize a vehicle which is causing alarm,
  distress or annoyance to members of the public.
• Confiscating equipment - Under the Environmental
  Protection Act 1990, loud music from stationary
  vehicles may be defined as a statutory nuisance,
  which allows Environmental Health Officers to
  serve abatement notices, impose fines or confiscate the audio equipment.
  

Thinking of modifying your car, or just bought a vehicle with modifications already installed – you must notify your insurance company. Failing to inform your insurance company could seriously reduce any future claim you make and in a worst case scenario may invalidate your insurance.

You need to check the modifications are acceptable under the Road Traffic Act.

Any modification made to your vehicle should be carried out by a suitably qualified person, preferably a licensed dealer, to e

The vast majority of large or big bore exhausts are illegal for use on public roads. Usually fitted to increase the sound emitted from the engine, they contravene the Type Approval of the vehicle. This is an offence.

It is not an offence to sell these exhaust systems, but it is an offence to fit one to your vehicle and drive it on the public road.

The police do not have to measure the sound level from an exhaust system. It only requires the belief that a system is not standard and noisier than a non modified vehicle of the same specification.

Performance enhancing modifications such as air filters, engine re-mapping and dump valves are not necessarily illegal, but they must be declared to your insurance company.

Heavily tinted windows will seriously reduce your view at night and in certain weather conditions.

A windscreen must allow 75% of light through and the side windows must allow 70% of light through the windows on the front doors.

We can measure the severity of a tinted window. A window found to be too heavily tinted could result in your vehicle being classed as dangerous and stopped from being used on the road until it is put right.

Blue lights

Only registered emergency service vehicles can use blue flashing lights. It is an offence for your vehicle to have LED or neon lighting anywhere on or in the vehicle which emits a blue light that has the appearance of flashing or movement. You can not fit blue bulbs to your side lights. Steady lights are allowed as long as they cannot
be seen from the rear or due to their brightness they obscure the number plate or cause undue dazzle to other motorists.

Other lights

It is also an offence to show a red light to the front of a vehicle (including a reflector) and a white light to the rear unless reversing.
It does not matter where on the vehicle the lights are only that they can be seen from outside. Green lights can only be fitted on Medical Practitioners vehicles.

Fog lights

For vehicles fitted with separate fog lights. It is an offence to use them unless visibility is less than 100 metres. Fog lights dazzle other drivers and can cause a danger.