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My wife has plastic number plates. In a small rear end shunt which has left the vehicle perfectly drivable, the number plate has shattered leaving us technically illegal.

A metal one, of course, could be hammered out straight and used again- as so many of us have done...no doubt multiple times

Of course, they cost more (at least it's a relatively nominal one-off cost). But it's a victory for common cents over common sense, even worse when it comes from Government.

Even worse, consider this: someone has a deadly accident (let's say a single vehicle accident, SVA) in the country. Car runs off the road, rolls, hits tree, bursts into flames and is burnt out. A plastic number plate is gone- shattered and burnt. A metal one- usually steel still, aren't they- has a good chance of surviving and therefore quickly assisting with IDing the vehicle and its owner, perhaps driver. The ID plate and/or VIN and/or engine number, as we knwo could be different (changes) or burnt out if they're alloy/aluminium. registration is the primary way of IDing a vehicle.

All VH-registered (for Oz) aircraft are required to carry a small (brass I think) plate in the cockpit with the identifying registration of the aircraft for this very reason. It's usually on the dash too, as you have to ID yourself on the radio by callsign and it's nice to have it there when you hop between aircraft! And we've all seen how aircraft can crash and burn. It's no bigger usually than (say) three keys on your standard computer keyboard. Brass because it will withstand a ferocious fire (steel won't). That's all it takes.

Plastic number plates should be banned, in my personal opinion.

(Rant off)

Very good question but where do you draw the line when it comes to an accident. It's like safety at work.. it's getting worse.

Personally I don't consider the rego plate as the 'prime' id. IMO they are more easily changed than a VIN tag. The VIN is usually stamped into the metal part of the fire wall and if was melted then I feel a metal number plate would be the first destroyed.

As for planes, it's very different as their fuel is a lot more volatile and the Call Sign tag inside is for identifying yourself to others and control. All pilots are frequired to fill in a flight plan and most log in before and after the flight.

RSR 555 wrote: As for planes, it's very different as their fuel is a lot more volatile and the Call Sign tag inside is for identifying yourself to others and control. All pilots are frequired to fill in a flight plan and most log in before and after the flight.

not sure about that. Airliners sure but GA and RAA. The flight plan is in the cockpit. Most all RAA use petrol. GA use Avgas which is high octane but no more volatile than petrol.

Back OT. Yer plastic number plate is a step backwards

New number plates are an aluminium alloy. They are certainly more fire resistant than plastic plates, but a properly hot fire (like a car left to burn without anyone trying to put it out) will still burn them easily. Mag wheels, window glass, etc will all burn or melt pretty easily in a car fire.

The average modern car, the only things left are the main pannels, engine block and the springs in the seats. Everything else melts, burn or otherwise disappears....

revmax wrote:not sure about that. Airliners sure but GA and RAA. The flight plan is in the cockpit. Most all RAA use petrol. GA use Avgas which is high octane but no more volatile than petrol.

Back OT. Yer plastic number plate is a step backwards

Most turbine/jet powered aircraft run on Jet A1 which is much more stable then Avgas. Avgas is getting phased out in a couple of years...

All IFR flights and VFR flights in the following categories are required to submit a SARTIME flight notification to ATS, or, as an alternative, to leave a Flight Note with a responsible person:
a. RPT and CHTR flights;
b. over-water flights;
c. flights in Designated Remote Areas;
d. flights at night proceeding beyond 120NM from the aerodrome of departure.

So if you don't fit into that category and remain outside controlled airspace then nothing is required.

And if the engine is cast iron there is still an engine number and dental records to ID the victim, mind you the aluminium plates of today likely fly with a bumper to safety in many an impact
Most plastic plates are a shatterable acrylic, may be better if made of same as bumper with metal tag encased, like the idea behind LPG and CNG tanked vehicles with steel plate that is less resistant to melt in fire

RSR 555 wrote: As for planes, it's very different as their fuel is a lot more volatile and the Call Sign tag inside is for identifying yourself to others and control. All pilots are frequired to fill in a flight plan and most log in before and after the flight.

(off-topic)
Pure gliders (sailplanes) also have the plaques (without the fuel). Many times I've had to look at it whilst calling from an unfamiliar aircraft .

Flight plans are not required for most general aviation flight. You can call up the tower in a controlled area as you approach it... but without a filed flight plan they won't have planned for you so you can get delayed. Canberra's fine so long as you don't try peak-hour- in that case you're likely to be shunted around by some weird circuitous route.

A filed flight plan also gives Search and Rescue (SARWATCH). At busy major controlled airspaces like the Sydney basin a filed flight plan is advisable and definitely assists all. Outside controlled areas it's entirely up to the pilot in command.

(on-topic)

purp wrote:New number plates are an aluminium alloy...

Bugger, didn't realise that. They'll probably disappear in a fire too. As you say, the only large bits left from a proper fire (but not, say, like the tunnel fires with an external fuel source) are generally the steel bits of which there are less and less in modern cars.

But at least an aluminium alloy number plate shouldn't shatter like plastic in a small incident.

pitrack_1 wrote:But at least an aluminium alloy number plate shouldn't shatter like plastic in a small incident.

Yeah while that's good, in Vic it's technically illegal to tamper with your number plate - this includes straightening it out after an accident!

Cheers

Bennie

The plastic plates are designed to shatter in the case of an accident, the reason being is that hit you hit a pedestrian then you don't cut them in half.

Like I said

talking illegal ....I saw a car turn in front of me and at some angle all of a sudden half the plate just blurred at the halfway across point must have been one of those camera shy WA sourced plate protector , not as hard to detect by an enforcement agency officers eyes though !

revmax wrote:Like I said

What does this refer to?

RSR 555 wrote:The plastic plates are designed to shatter in the case of an accident, the reason being is that hit you hit a pedestrian then you don't cut them in half.

That's a bit full on and over the top isn't it? Who mounts their number plate anything other than flat on the bumper/bull bar? I know my number plate is not a knife in waiting!

Also, if you're a pedestrian that's in the process of being hit by a car, wondering if the number plate is plastic or metal would be the last thing their worried about. I wonder how many have died due to metal number plates in car accidents?

I would say that the plastic number plates would be more about cost cutting in the production process, plus if you need to replace them more often then the government gets more out of you - they don't sell these things to you at cost price!

You should see the original plates we used to have - 2 or 3mm pressed plate steel with enamel coating. Worth their weight in gold if still in usable condition!

Metal plates FTW!

Oh, and technically by law, if you've managed to bend your number plate you're not allowed to straighten it out as that's tampering. Serious on that one!

Cheers

Bennie

pitrack_1 wrote:All VH-registered (for Oz) aircraft are required to carry a small (brass I think) plate in the cockpit with the identifying registration of the aircraft for this very reason. It's usually on the dash too, as you have to ID yourself on the radio by callsign and it's nice to have it there when you hop between aircraft! And we've all seen how aircraft can crash and burn. It's no bigger usually than (say) three keys on your standard computer keyboard. Brass because it will withstand a ferocious fire (steel won't). That's all it takes.

(Rant off)

I have heard pilots calling the tower or approach control "XYZ Tower/Approach this is VH - ??? ............... (to co-pilot) what's our callsign today?", so even a brass plaque is beyond some supposedly knowledgeable people.

Makes you really wonder about the 2 x sitting up the front sometimes.

El_Freddo wrote: I know my number plate is not a knife in waiting!

I agree whole heartedly. Although, having said that, motorcycles used to have front numberplates. They stopped that because they *were* a knife in waiting. Although if you look at the below photo of my grandfather in the 1930s on his triumph, maybe the way they were mounted was the problem...

RSR 555 wrote:The plastic plates are designed to shatter in the case of an accident, the reason being is that hit you hit a pedestrian then you don't cut them in half.

Lol, thank god they won't be cut, Only squashed. Maybe make the car out of plastic. Well thats what some car panels are made of these days....

My grand dad used to have this really old car, can't remember what brand, none of the brands still in business 2day, but that thing would be involved in an accident with a truck, and it would have a slight ding and a broken headlight. Today, well its a right off!! but that said, you have a much better chance of surviving in your plastic car than is a 80-90's car.

purp wrote: Although if you look at the below photo of my grandfather in the 1930s on his triumph, maybe the way they were mounted was the problem...

Awesome!

But imagine getting hit by that lol

A question for the likes of anti bullbar lobbyist Harold Scruby - what are pedestrians doing in front of a moving car for anyway ?

steptoe wrote:A question for the likes of anti bullbar lobbyist Harold Scruby - what are pedestrians doing in front of a moving car for anyway ?

Getting run over, presumably.

I think there is a lot of potential to tweak the laws concerning vehicle use in urban and city areas, the change the culture of pedestrian/car interaction, right of way, speed limits, etc.

BUT,

Banning bullbars, making them removable, etc is retarded.

Car + Person = car. and it always will.

purp wrote:Getting run over, presumably.

I think there is a lot of potential to tweak the laws concerning vehicle use in urban and city areas, the change the culture of pedestrian/car interaction, right of way, speed limits, etc.

BUT,

Banning bullbars, making them removable, etc is retarded.

Car + Person = car. and it always will.

Bullbars are illegal in Mauritius:( I won;t be able to send my car as is if i head back home:(. Apparently because when involved in an accident they hold there shape and destroy the other car killing the occupants. For some wired reason since its been banned, people still die in car accidents....