The widespread misuse of car quantity plates is jeopardising highway security and even threatening nationwide safety, a brand new report has revealed.
Researchers estimate that as much as one in 15 automobiles might use plates designed to evade computerized quantity plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
These embrace “ghost plates,” with reflective coatings stopping detection, and “plate cloning,” the place criminals illegally copy one other automobile’s registration.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety (APPGTS), which produced the report, mentioned avoiding ANPR cameras typically requires “nothing more sophisticated than cellophane, leaves or a marker pen”.
It defined that abusing the quantity plate system can facilitate a spread of offences, from dodging highway costs and fines, to drug dealing and organised crime.
The APPGTS beneficial that the variety of licensed sellers of quantity plates must be “significantly” decreased from the present degree of 34,455 by introducing annual charges and better requirements.
Many sellers had been discovered to function from non-public houses or small workshops, with no background checks.
Some of these dealing with clients’ identification paperwork had been discovered to have legal convictions for violence and fraud, the investigation revealed.
The report additionally referred to as for the design of plates to be standardised, which would come with banning 3D and 4D variations.
Sarah Coombes, APPGTS member and Labour MP for West Bromwich, mentioned: “This explosive report lays bare the threat posed by ghost and cloned plates.
“It also makes clear how the whole system is failing.
“It’s totally wrong that people can commit terrible crimes and then set themselves up as number plate sellers with no questions asked.
“Those selling these illegal plates have gone under the radar for too long – but now they’ve been rumbled.
“I hope the Government cracks down on them immediately.”
RAC head of coverage Simon Williams mentioned: “It’s clear from this report that urgent action must be taken to stop the widespread abuse of number plates, which has serious and far-reaching consequences for our society from road safety to national security.
“Ghost and cloned plates have no place on our roads as no one should be able to drive a vehicle that’s invisible to enforcement cameras or untraceable by the police.
“It’s vital we introduce new, higher security standards for number plates and those who produce them.”
The British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, which represents corporations producing the overwhelming majority of plates within the UK, mentioned it “fully supports the recommendations of the APPG”.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency was approached for a remark.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/number-plates-criminals-anpr-illegal-ghost-b2880337.html