Covering Half the Number Plate on a Trailered Car Options

[Simon Kirby]

I've seen this a number of times now and I don't understand it:

When a car is being carried on a transporter or trailer I've seen half of the number plate obscured by tape.

Obscuring the whole number plate I could understand, to avoid automatic number plate recognition, or preserve the privacy of the owner, but you'd tape over the whole of the plate, right?

Taping over half the plate might happen if you found yourself down to your last piece of insulating tape, but I've seen this a number of times now and that's just not possible.

So taping over half the plate is obviously the thing to do: but why?

[Strafin]

Just a guess, but I guess they want to cover the identity of the vehicle whilst it is on a truck, but they still need to identify it (when it arrives wherever it's going) quickly.

[dannyboy]

the cars in question are often off to be scrapped / auctioned off & it is to stop the number plate being cloned, but as strafin says, still give the car a partial identity.

[x2lls]

the cars in question are often off to be scrapped / auctioned off & it is to stop the number plate being cloned, but as strafin says, still give the car a partial identity.

Seems pointless, considering the roads are full of cars!

[dannyboy]

Seems pointless, considering the roads are full of cars!

A car off to be scrapped/auctioned is in 'limbo' meaning you could clone a plate, steal an identical car & sell it to some unsuspecting dupe before the car which was on the trailer was finally scrapped / sold to a new owner.

HPI isn't going to help.

Similar scams are done with hire cars. You buy plain coloured car popular with hire companies, clone a plate from a genuine hire car & you never need worry about speed cameras or paying for fuel again.

[On the edge]

..........You buy plain coloured car popular with hire companies, clone a plate from a genuine hire car & you never need worry about speed cameras or paying for fuel again.

That's until the IT boys at Swansea, get round to implementing a minor change....

[x2lls]

A car off to be scrapped/auctioned is in 'limbo' meaning you could clone a plate, steal an identical car & sell it to some unsuspecting dupe before the car which was on the trailer was finally scrapped / sold to a new owner.

HPI isn't going to help.

Similar scams are done with hire cars. You buy plain coloured car popular with hire companies, clone a plate from a genuine hire car & you never need worry about speed cameras or paying for fuel again.

And the chassis reference?

[dannyboy]

And the chassis reference?

dunno - didn't think your HPI asked for that.

probably available easily enough somehwere.

[motormad]

The days of cloning plates are pretty gone.
Just like people posting photos of their cars up online
Take a lovely photo and ruin it by using MS paint on the number plate.

More people will see your number plate driving to the shops than they would online. Completely pointless.

I think people cover numberplates on towing vehicles because they are silly and think it will stop fraud or if the car is being taken to a scrap yard or to insurance estimators, will stop people noting down damaged cars.

Pretty pointless.

[dannyboy]

The days of cloning plates are pretty gone.
Just like people posting photos of their cars up online
Take a lovely photo and ruin it by using MS paint on the number plate.

More people will see your number plate driving to the shops than they would online. Completely pointless.

I think people cover numberplates on towing vehicles because they are silly and think it will stop fraud or if the car is being taken to a scrap yard or to insurance estimators, will stop people noting down damaged cars.

Pretty pointless.

yeah, I'm sure people actually in the business of scrapping & auctioning cars have nothing better to do than pointless excercises.

[Simon Kirby]

the cars in question are often off to be scrapped / auctioned off & it is to stop the number plate being cloned, but as strafin says, still give the car a partial identity.

Thanks for that.

[motormad]

yeah, I'm sure people actually in the business of scrapping & auctioning cars have nothing better to do than pointless excercises.

do you not read?
I said, possibly to hide the identity of the vehicles so people are not aware of which cars are damaged.

[dannyboy]

do you not read?
I said, possibly to hide the identity of the vehicles so people are not aware of which cars are damaged.

you mean to save a driver's blushes should they write off their car?

[motormad]

you mean to save a driver's blushes should they write off their car?

yes because covering the number plate negates the fact they were an idiot.

[Exhausted]

A car off to be scrapped/auctioned is in 'limbo' meaning you could clone a plate, steal an identical car & sell it to some unsuspecting dupe before the car which was on the trailer was finally scrapped / sold to a new owner.

HPI isn't going to help.

Would you buy a car without checking that the chassis number is correct and matches the registration plates on the car. It's not difficult to see, it's normally in the left hand corner of the windscreen and HPI would tell you that or you could even ask a friendly parts seller to check that for you. The Mot certificate would also be a clue.

There were some cases of cloned number plates being used for illegal purposes but with ANPR in police traffic cars that has mainly died out. A car on its way to the scrapper almost certainly would no longer carry insurance.
Old habits die hard though.