LEGAL Q&A

This information is provided by Stephen Hattersley of WildWood Legal, a firm of solicitors specialising in claims for injured scooterists. Stephen, a qualified solicitor for 25 years, has been riding scooters for over 30 years, and has acted for injured riders across the UK. He knows the tricks and pitfalls that insurers use and pulls no punches in his dealings with them. He rides to work every day and understands the challenges you face out there.

Q. Can I display my number plate in a different way from the norm, and can I use the traditional black and silver lettering?

A. As tempting as it can be, the law is pretty strict on both of these aspects. It says you can’t rearrange or misrepresent the numbers or letters on a number plate to form names or words. The law also stipulates the necessary font, font size, spacing, etc., which means that from a legal perspective, pretty much any change from the standard layout could lead to an offence. The approach of police across the country does vary significantly, but if found guilty, you could theoretically be fined up to £1,000, fail your MoT test and have any personal plate

confiscated. Scooters registered on or after September 1, 2001 must only display a number plate at the rear. If it was registered before then, you can also display a number plate at the front, but it is not compulsory. As for black and silver plates, there is a 40-year ‘rolling’ exemption which kicks in on April 1 every year. So, from April 1, 2019, any scooter registered before January 1, 1979 would be able to display these style of plates. You must have applied to DVLA and had the scooter registered within the ‘historic vehicles’ tax class.

If you need advice on a scooter-related legal question, email stephen@wildwoodlegal.co. uk. The best Q&A will be published in Scootering in confidence.