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Original poster

Why don't people clean their number plates

131 replies

Sportslady44 · 19/01/2022 00:08

Saw a disgusting car yesterday. The number plate was thick with black dirt and you couldn't read the back number plate.

Surely they realise. Why don't they clean the car? What happens if they are in an accident and you can't read the plate?

OP posts:
Jessicabrassica · 19/01/2022 07:24

NHS worker. I almost never see my car in daylight so I have no clue how dirty it is. It's dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home.

My commute is single track lanes behind logging lorries and milk tankers. The paint on my car is barely visible.

I work. I parent. I do not have mental or physical capacity to clean my car.

DappledThings · 19/01/2022 07:24

Why don't they clean the car? is really a different question to why isn't the numberplate legible.

I don't wash my car because I can't be arsed and the fact it is filthy on the outside doesn't bother me. I take a baby wipe to the numberplates every so often when they start to look too obscured because it's a legal requirement.

Sowhatifiam · 19/01/2022 07:25

Because life is too short.

Fraine · 19/01/2022 07:27

@Jessicabrassica

NHS worker. I almost never see my car in daylight so I have no clue how dirty it is. It's dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home. My commute is single track lanes behind logging lorries and milk tankers. The paint on my car is barely visible. I work. I parent. I do not have mental or physical capacity to clean my car.
Is your number plate dirty too? The OP is only really interested in why people don’t clean the number plate.

I don’t think ‘I’m an NHS worker’ will be a valid excuse if you’re spotted.

Stellaris22 · 19/01/2022 07:32

I've noticed this a lot recently. I don't care about cars being dirty and muddy, but drivers should be ensuring number plates are readable. If pedestrians, cyclists and other road users are unable to read your number plate then you are an unsafe driver.

Chickorma · 19/01/2022 07:32

I live near the motorway and frequently see cars with filthy, unreadable number plates.

Always those brand new 4x4s, range rovers that kind of thing that I strongly doubt are nothing more than a status symbol. Fine if you need a car like that, but my estate is full of them, and used for little more than the school run and supermarket shops.

I glance in at the filthy ones and it's always men. You know the sort of men I mean. Definitely deliberate.

And to those who are saying you're too busy to clean your reg plate? Shame on you. Would you drive without defrosting your windscreen? Or without fastening your children? No, you wouldn't, you spend a couple of minutes doing that. If you have a car, take some responsibility. I get you're busy, we all are, but it's no excuse.

RampantIvy · 19/01/2022 07:32

Another rural dweller here. The roads are muddy, but I did know that number plates have to be visible. I will check them and my lights today.

I hate washing my car, and usually take it to the drive through car wash. Salt and grit from the roads aren't very good for the bodywork.

PyjamaMamma · 19/01/2022 07:35

Another rural dweller. Every other day I will say “my car needs cleaning” and then do nothing about it until spring. That being said, I cleaned my number plate and my windows yesterday. The windows are filthy already after one trip! It’s not worth the money to have it washed nor my time standing in the cold doing it myself…

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 19/01/2022 07:36

And to those who are saying you're too busy to clean your reg plate? Shame on you. Would you drive without defrosting your windscreen? Or without fastening your children?

They're not really comparable though, are they?

An obscured number plate isn't a danger to other road users, nor is it going to cause someone to get injured in an accident.

Stellaris22 · 19/01/2022 07:39

You can't predict a road accident though. If you are going to drive you need to make sure you are road legal. It might not seem important to you but being able to identify your car in an accident is needed.

girlmom21 · 19/01/2022 07:40

@Stellaris22

I've noticed this a lot recently. I don't care about cars being dirty and muddy, but drivers should be ensuring number plates are readable. If pedestrians, cyclists and other road users are unable to read your number plate then you are an unsafe driver.
How does your number plate being dirty make you an unsafe driver?

Surely it just means you've been somewhere... dirty?

AlwaysLatte · 19/01/2022 07:44

I hate it when the car gets dirty. If it was so bad that you couldn't read the number plate you'd get filthy hands every time you touched the car. I just pop it through the car wash once a week, or jet wash it - it doesn't take long!

BasaltIsland · 19/01/2022 07:46

I saw one recently so bad it couldn’t be read even relatively close up - once I got up to it, it turned out not to be dirty at all but a smoky grey plate. Seen these regularly since. I can’t work out of these are deliberately obscuring or just part of that weird thing some drivers seem to have about changing number plates (italics, 3D). If it’s the latter, I have to say they look absolutely crap.

Agree that the excise you’re too busy to wipe a filthy number plate isn’t very convincing!

Onairjunkie · 19/01/2022 07:47

I periodically kick the mud off mine. I live on a farm and it’s muddy as fuck.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 19/01/2022 07:47

@Stellaris22

You can't predict a road accident though. If you are going to drive you need to make sure you are road legal. It might not seem important to you but being able to identify your car in an accident is needed.
Yes, but most decent people will stop if they're involved in an accident - so the fact that their number plate is dirty is neither here nor there.

It's not practical to always have a readable number plate - you could check it when you leave home it be illegible half an hour later!

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 19/01/2022 07:49

@AlwaysLatte

I hate it when the car gets dirty. If it was so bad that you couldn't read the number plate you'd get filthy hands every time you touched the car. I just pop it through the car wash once a week, or jet wash it - it doesn't take long!
I hate it too, but if I clean my car it's filthy again the following day at this time of year, - it's just a waste of money to pay for it to be cleaned monthly, let alone twice a week!
ElftonWednesday · 19/01/2022 08:02

@JugglingJanuary It's a life skill to do basic stuff to comply with the law and not be stopped by the police and fined up to £1,000.

I live rurally and the numberplate hardly ever needs wiping.

Alaimo · 19/01/2022 08:11

I don't really understand the lack of time argument. I keep a few cloths in the car so it literally takes 2 seconds to wipe the number plate clean.

MsAgnesDiPesto · 19/01/2022 08:11

It's not practical to always have a readable number plate - you could check it when you leave home it be illegible half an hour later!

But you’re breaking the law and risking a fine each time you ignore it. Check before you set off again and wipe it if needed. You know if the conditions are such that it’s likely to need doing and it takes, what? Ten seconds?

So many people drive without knowing or caring what their responsibilities are regarding their vehicle. Missing headlamps so it looks to oncoming drivers like you’re a motorbike at night; headlights cocked up to the sky, or straight into the eyes of anyone on the other side of the road; idiots who think their lights are on because their driving lights are showing at the front but are completely unlit at the back - all of these I see all the time, and all are dangerous. The vast majority of people seem never to check that their car is roadworthy before setting off. Modern cars do lots of things automatically but you can’t just get in and drive every day without topping up, wiping over, and checking lights regularly.

NommyChompers · 19/01/2022 08:15

To PP saying you’re too busy... you don’t have to wash the whole thing! I clean the plates and lights regularly but don’t bother with the rest. Because it’s about safety and I can’t be arsed getting pulled over by police

BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation · 19/01/2022 08:17

Nor is it a life skill FFS

Ensuring your vehicle meets all the legal requirements for being out on the road is a life skill. It's not an optional extra.

somewhereovertherain · 19/01/2022 08:27

@AffIt

Is it not technically an offence in the UK to have certain parts of your car obscured (registration, lights etc)?
Yes if your number plate is unreadable it’s illegal. I know a work colleague has been prosecuted for having an unreadable plate through dirt.
somewhereovertherain · 19/01/2022 08:30

@Sowhatifiam

Because life is too short.
Takes seconds to wipe your plates and lights. Life’s to short to die cause your lights are filthy and you can’t see.

Hopefully you’ll get done for it.

Oblomov22 · 19/01/2022 08:31

I don't accept the excuse of I'm too busy. It's illegal. If you're that busy then you probably shouldn't be driving.

MarshmallowFondant · 19/01/2022 08:35

I have seen quite a few recently that are completely obscured. I think it is down to not wanting to be picked up by ANPR etc.

Not really. I drove (almost 2 weeks ago) 75 miles down a motorway and 75 miles back again in the aftermath of heavy snow. The gritters had been out, the road was covered in salt and water, the car got filthy.

I haven't got round to taking it to the car wash yet. It's fairly dirty and that's from one journey. People commute a similar distance every day and in cold weather the roads are treated every night. So your car is going to be permanently mucky and might need washed every day. Who has time for that? So you leave it until it is too bad to bear and then clean it.