Cloned Plates: Register of Keepers – Lacking Integrity?
A 14/08/2024 BBC report titled ‘Thousands hit by fines from cloned car plates‘.
‘A BBC investigation has uncovered a sharp rise in penalty charge notices (PCN) cancelled due to car cloning, with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) saying it is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve identification and enforcement of number-plate crime.’
The article can be read in full on the BBC’s web site, here. Further statements of note were:
- Car cloning involves criminals stealing or copying another car’s registration plates, often choosing plates from a vehicle that looks similar to theirs.
But the issue is ‘plate’ cloning, not ‘car’ cloning.
- ‘It likely that the introduction of Ulez has increased the number of cloning activities across London. One would imagine that people are trying to avoid paying the Ulez charges by cloning their plates.‘
Really? Stop and think what a change of plates actually achieves and whether accumulating such charges for another is the reason for this activity.
- The ease of obtaining fake plates is alarming.
Agreed. But why order them and create a link between supplier and purchaser?
- The current situation was described ‘as a “wild west,” with compromised integrity of vehicle identification systems as a result’.
By ‘vehicle identification system’ it is assumed this refers tot he DVLA and link between identity, the Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) and keeper. If this is, as stated, compromised is the systems integrity undermined such that it cannot, or should not, be relied upon as the basis for action?
- Vehicle cloning is a criminal matter, which the police enforce and prosecute.
Mixing ‘car’ and ‘plate’ cloning again.
For more detailed comment about the situation – please read this LinkedIn article.
