License plate chaos in the UK

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) says a record number of vehicles are being cloned to escape motoring fines and commit crimes.

More than 40,000 sets of number plates were stolen in 2006, a rise of almost 25%, according to police estimates.

"Stolen" here presumably including plate numbers "borrowed" for new, unauthorized plates.

Acpo's Coventry-based Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service says it now has no confidence in the ability of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) licensing system to prevent cloning.

From the BBC. Electronic tagging is being looked at; a big part of the problem is the extensive reliance on traffic enforcement cameras, which don't check to see if the plates belong on the car carrying them.

Posted by David on June 2, 2007 8:40 AM