Personalised Number Plate Information

NUMBER PLATES:

The state Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended the vehicle registrations of more than 4,900 motorists who crossed New York bridges and tunnels without paying tolls, officials told The Post.

Most of the scofflaws have breezed through new cashless tollbooths — and then ignored repeated bills sent by mail.

But the crackdown has some drivers fuming, with one, Jon Kopel, calling it “Governor Cuomo’s legalized extortion.”

Kopel recently moved from Yonkers to upstate South Fallsburg, and says he never received initial bills for crossing the Tappan Zee and other bridges. He finally received a mailed warning that the DMV would yank his car registration if he didn’t pay $960 for 18 tolls plus violation fees, he said.

Kopel says that when he called the bill collectors, they told him, “We’re going to give you a break — we’ll make it $400 if you pay it now” — so he charged it on his credit card.

“That’s some deal, isn’t it?” he griped.

Tolling agencies now have sharper teeth. Under state regulations that went into effect in January, the DMV can suspend registrations of car owners who refuse to pay the tolls and steep late fees.

“By the time the DMV is done with them, I think they’ll find out the state of New York is not kidding around here,” MTA board member Mitchell Pally told The Post.

“Sooner or later we’re going to get your money or your registration, so you might as well pay.”

To date, the DMV has received 8,262 requests for suspensions from tolling authorities and approved 4,976. Of those, 556 suspensions were sought by the MTA; 499 by the Port Authority, and 3,921 by the Thruway Authority.

The MTA so far has converted seven of its nine city crossings to cashless, with the Throgs Neck and Bronx-Whitestone bridges due in the fall.

The PA’s new Bayonne Bridge and the Thruway Authority’s Tappan Zee Bridge are also cashless.

That means cars and trucks can whiz through without stopping, which saves time for motorists and improves traffic flow.

Vehicles with E-ZPass are charged as usual, but for those without, cameras on overhead gantries photograph license plates. A contractor for the three tolling authorities mails bills to the registered owners, who are responsible for payment no matter who was driving.

Vehicle owners who ignore two bills in a row are hit with penalty fees of $50 or $100. At the Henry Hudson, one-third of motorists without E-ZPass were scofflaws.

Under the new state regulation, the DMV can suspend the registration of motorists who fail to pay three or more toll violations within five years, or for commercial vehicles fail to pay $200 in tolls within five years.

Out-of-state drivers who cross New York bridges and tunnels without paying may soon face the same fate — the DMV is seeking suspension agreements with other agencies.

“If your car is registered in Connecticut, the DMV would take into account what you did in New York,” Pally said.

A BIKER has been caught by police using a James Bond-inspired gadget to conceal his number plate to avoid speed cameras.

Spanish traffic cops pulled over the motorcyclist after they noticed he was riding without a licence plate.

However, on closer inspection, the modified plate was revealed with tech straight from 007’s garage.

The Swiss rider had the ability to flip up his number plate at the press of a button to hide the reg from police or cameras.

A similar gadget was famously seen on Sean Connery’s Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger.

Bond’s number plate could spin to change to a different number to avoid being followed or tracked.

This rider didn’t quite have the same knack for getting out of trouble as 007, though.

As according to a report on the Catalan police website, using the secret gadget led to the motorcyclist’s downfall after cops in Girona noticed the rider didn’t have a licence plate.

They pursued and pulled over the motorcyclist before noticing the number plate had bizarrely re-appeared.

After a quick search, officers found the activation switch to move the plate up and down to dodge speed cameras.

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A private firm engaged by the Delhi government in 2012 to manufacture high security numberplates for city vehicles has been fined by the Delhi high court for "forum hunting."
HC on Thursday slapped a cost of Rs 50,000 on Rosemerta HSRP Ventures for trying to secure a favourable order from a different bench since the earlier judge had ruled against it.

"This court is also of the prima facie view that the present petition lacks bonafides; any clarification as to the order passed by this court on October 7, 2016 ought to have been obtained by filing an application in the disposed of appeal. However, it appears that the endeavour of Rosmerta was to avoid approaching the bench concerned by way of a clarification and it does appear that this is a case of forum hunting," Justice Vibhu Bakhru observed while imposing punitive costs.

Last year, a bench of Justice S Muralidhar had lifted a stay on Delhi government's transport department to go ahead with its termination of agreement with Rosmerta, even as it had clarified that the firm should be granted a hearing first by an authority higher than the transport commissioner who first took the decision to terminate its services.

However, Rosmerta came to court again claiming that Delhi government has asked it to appear before the chief secretary though it is the lieutenant governor who should hear its appeal, a contention rejected not just by the LG but also by Justice Bakhru.

Last year, SC had also paved the way for AAP government to end its contract with the controversial private firm that manufactures high security numberplates in Delhi.
Delhi government and Rosmerta have been locked in arbitration since 2014 after the government issued a show-cause notice to the firm, accusing it of several violations and irregularities in the execution of the high security numberplate project. This led the company to invoke an in-built arbitration clause in the agreement.

HC held that even as per the NCT Act and Rules, the chief secretary would be the secretary to the council of ministers and principal secretary, general administration department will be the joint secretary to the council.

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2010 Car Number Plates

We're now just over a month away from the introduction of the 2010 number plate on all new cars hitting the road after the beginning of March.

While the excitement surrounding the introduction of new number plates may go over some people's heads, during the past few years a real demand has grown for personalised plates, with some selling for an absolute fortune at auction.

Music legend Elton John's former number plate ELT 70N recently went up for auction for just under £1,000, but that's nothing compared to the £113,815 one crazy person (in the nicest sense) shelled out on a 1 HRH number plate auctioned by the DVLA at the beginning of 2009. And even that has some way to go to surpass £254,000 paid to take ownership of the 51 NGH plate.

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The Licensing Agency, Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is all set to offer 250 licensing plates comprising 3, 4 and 5 digits in its forthcoming 51st online auction. Plates on offer bear the Codes (H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, and T). Registration of bidders starts on Sunday 21st January. The bidding will start at 08:00 am on 28th Jan 2018 and continue for five days.

"The wide participation of the public in online or open auctions and the positive competition to grab such numbers underscore the importance of holding these auctions in bringing happiness & satisfaction to number plate enthusiasts," Sultan Al Marzouqi, Director of Vehicles licensing, RTA Licensing Agency.

Al Marzouqi highlighted the importance of online auctions to a large segment of community members who prefer such particular auctions as they find the liberty of selecting their fancied numbers in a hassle-free environment. "These auctions also contribute to enhancing the online services of the RTA under its annual plan aimed at improving the quality and standard of processing public transactions," he commented.

"Participation in the auction requires the client to have an account opened through RTA's website (www.rta.ae) or use the 'New User' link to obtain a Username and Password. For a new registration, the user is required to have either a vehicle registered in Dubai or a driver license issued from Dubai. For participating in the auction, the bidder is required to issue a security cheque to the order of the RTA amounting to AED5,000 and deposit it to one of RTA's Customers Happiness Centers at Umm Al Ramool, Bur Dubai, Deira or Al Tawar Municipal Centre. In the case of payment by a credit card, the client must also deposit five thousand dirhams as security. Clients have also to pay 120 dirhams as participation fees through the website (www.rta.ae)" explained Al Marzouqi.

"The successful bidder has to clear the due amount within ten working days from the Auction Closing Date by cash or credit card through centres of service providers or RTA's Customer Happiness Centers. Cash payments are acceptable up to AED 50,000. For higher amounts, customers can make payment by a certified check or credit card, or pay online using a credit card too. Failure to clear due payments will result in entering the bidder in the list of defaulters," he added.

"A dedicated team at RTA's Call Center has been furnished with all information related to the auction, and stands ready to respond to any public inquiries relating to procedures of participation or payment through the toll-free number 8009090," concluded Al Marzouqi.

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Trevor, or Stretch to his mates because he is "very tall”, is a mine worker who loves his car so much that his choice of numberplate had to reflect that passion.

The GT4EVA plates take pride of place on his XY GT Falcon.

"I just wanted to put some numberplates on it that stood out from the rest,” Trevor said.

He is one of 3644 Rockhampton region residents who in the past year have personalised their vehicle with unique numberplates.

The plates cost from $165 to $3300 and the region is home to a wide array of unique registrations including these beauties: OMG MUD, HIP100, L1VE1T, C1NDYS, SPUNKYB and FORD36.

For some people, personalised plates are like chips - you can't have just one.

And Trevor is a prime example of that.

He has MAC392 on his Mustang and he also has TKD11 (his initials and date of birth) on another vehicle and SRD12 on his partner's car.

"I just love them - it just makes your car different to everybody else's,” Trevor said.

Personalised Plates Queensland managing director Jemma Elder said more than 750,000 personalised plates had been issued.

Jemma said vehicle owners were happy to spend big on them because they were a "fun and creative way” to express themselves.

"A lot of people are very proud of their vehicles and it's a way for them to express themselves and their passion for their cars and to complement the look of their car,” she said.

While most people opt for letter and number combinations that will not offend, there are some motorists who like to choose plates that are not appropriate for our roads.

"We work very closely with the Department of Transport and Main Roads who provide very strict guidelines to adhere to,” Jemma said.

"We run every plate against the very strict assessment criteria to ensure they are clean and that they are appropriate for display.”

While PPQ sells the unique regos on more than 250 types of plates and designs, it's the DTMR that produces the finished plate.

Canberrans who want to show their support for marriage equality can now do so in a novel way - rainbow number plates.

Following the legalisation of same-sex marriage, the ACT government has announced it will bring into circulation number plates with a rainbow band instead of the traditional slogan.

The colourful plates will cost a one-off fee of $60 and regulatory services minster Gordon Ramsay said he expected demand for them to be high.

The fee covers the cost of production of the plate, and unlike the rainbow buses and roundabout, Mr Ramsay said there would be no extra cost to the ACT taxpayer.

ACT government to offer free marriage certificates for same-sex couples who wed when briefly legal in Canberra
Location chosen for Canberra's rainbow roundabout
"The government has been supportive all the way through of people's rights," Mr Ramsay said.

"We're the most welcoming and inclusive city and I want to make sure we continue to be able affirm that and celebrate that."

Three in four Canberrans voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage in the recent postal survey, an "emphatic" result Chief Minister Andrew Barr said gave the government licence to make Canberra more "inclusive".

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Asked if the number plates could make cars a target given 26 per cent of the ACT voted against marriage equality, Mr Ramsay said he had "full confidence" Canberrans would respect the rights of others.

People can apply to have their existing 'Y' series plates remade with the rainbow design, although it will take about four weeks.

The government also announced on Friday it will waive $55 certificate fee for couples married previously under the ACT's Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013 if they marry again.

Couples who previously registered a civil union under the Civil Union Act 2012 can also have their fee waived.

There are about 80 couples eligible in a move that is expected to cost the ACT government about $4400.

ACT Opposition leader Alistair Coe criticised the government's "grandstanding and expenditure of public resources".

"All Canberrans, regardless of their sexuality, deserve a government that concentrates on health, education and all the other actual responsibilities of the ACT government," Mr Coe said.

MOTORISTS in the UK are still being targeted by new DVLA email, message and text message scams in Britain and here’s what to do if you are.

Criminals posing as the Driver Vehicle Licence Agency (DVLA) are still sending bogus messages to motorists, to attempt to maliciously acquire data or money from them.

These criminals are being exposed on Twitter now as motorists are savvily becoming wise to these messages.

DCI David Coleman, Deputy Director of Intelligence, Kent & Essex SCD tweeted a picture of a fake text he received.

The message read “We would like to notify you that you have an outstanding vehicle tax refund of GBP 220.50 from an overpayment, request refund dvlc.au1h.com.”

The DVLA has been explicit in the past about its policy regarding contacting customers.

It replied to a customers reporting another potential phishing scam saying “we're already aware of this scam and we are investigating.

“We advise drivers that we don't send texts that contain links. Please ignore it and don’t click on any link.”

On its website it reiterates how it will never contact a driver via text or email.

“We’re aware that some members of the public are receiving emails, texts and telephone calls claiming to be from DVLA.

“Links to a website mocked up to look like a DVLA online service are sometimes included in the message.

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