Modified Vehicles & Anti Social Behaviour

Modifying your car is something that we know is popular, but many people don’t understand how this fits in with the law and what you can or can’t do. Not all the modifications we see are either legal or safe.

When modifying your car there are some important issues to consider ensuring your vehicle is legal to drive on public roads and to make sure your insurance company is aware of all modifications.

Wheels and Wheel Spacers

Common modifications are largely cosmetic, however can cause problems with offsets and stretched tyres etc. Wheel spacers to push the wheels further out in the arches need to be declared to your insurance company and can in some cases adversely affect the handling of your vehicle. It is not safe to cut the original wheels studs in order to the fit the spacers. Any wheel other than what was fitted to the car when it left the factory is a modification. 

Your wheels must not be so big that they cause the tyres to rub on the body work or mechanics of the vehicle and tyres must not protrude beyond the arch to leave a tread pattern exposed.

Tyres

Fitting stretched tyres is not only illegal but could adversely compromise the handling and safety of your vehicle. Fitting this type of tyre contravenes the type approval of the tyre and renders it not fit for purpose. This could lead to prosecution for dangerous condition of the vehicle. Your tyres are the only part of your vehicle that touches and keeps you on the road and they must be in good condition. The minimum legal tread depth is 1.6mm over the continuous band comprising the central ¾ of the breadth of the tread and the entire circumference of the tyre. Check for uneven wear on your tyre if you have lowered suspension and always buy the best quality tyres you can afford.

Lights

Blue lights - only registered emergency service vehicles can use blue flashing lights. It is an offence for your vehicle to have LED or neon lighting anywhere on or in the vehicle which emits a blue light that has the appearance of the flashing movement. You cannot fit blue bulbs to your side lights.

Other lights - It is an offence to show a red light to the front of a vehicle (including a reflector) and/or a white light to the rear unless reversing. It does not matter where on the vehicle the lights are, only that they can be seen from the outside. Flashing green lights can on be fitted on a medical practitioner’s vehicle.

Fog lights – For vehicles fitted with separate fog lights, it is an offence to use them unless visibility is less than 100 metres. Fog lights dazzle other drivers and case cause a danger.

Wrapping your car

You can wrap your car, however if the colour change is more than 50% (even if temporary) then you must notify the DVLA so that is appears on your vehicle V5c.

Number plates 

Number plates must conform to current requirements in relation to size in terms of the number plate itself and the characters, spacing, format and font.

You must not misrepresent the characters either, for example by spacing them to make up a word or name or by strategically placing fixing screw covers to alter any character. Fonts including italic, bold and shadow are all illegal.

Number plates must be white reflective to the front and yellow reflective to the rear and the characters have to be black. The exception to this rule is if the vehicle (note: the legislation states vehicle not the number plate itself) is registered prior to 31 December 1972, in which case black and silver number plates can be fitted front and rear. They must be displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle and cannot be in the windscreen.

If the number plates on the vehicle do not comply with the above legislation this could result in a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued and/or the DVLA being notified of the offence. Ultimately, the DVLA can withdraw the number plate from the vehicle temporarily or permanently, even though you pay for them. The DVLA still own the plate, you are just given the privilege of displaying them on a vehicle. 

DVLA Leaflet INF104 Refers  INF104 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Suspension

Good quality and well fitted parts are fine but cut springs and DIY mechanics are a recipe for disaster. Your suspension must comply with the ‘construction and use’ regulations and be able to pass an MOT at any time. If your suspension is so low that it causes the vehicle to be dangerous in its handling or the wheels/tyres rub on parts of the bodywork, then this is an offence. If your vehicle is found to be in a dangerous condition, then it will be prohibited from use on the road. You must not cut your springs and your springs and dampers must be maintained in good condition. You should also check your wheel geometry after fitting new suspension parts to avoid tyre wear or adverse handling.

Tinted windows
Heavily tinted windows will seriously reduce your view in certain weather conditions and most definitely at night-time.

The legal requirements allowed are 75 per cent of light through the front windscreen and 70 per cent of light through the side window on the front doors. Any rear door glass and rear windows are not included in this requirement so they can be as heavily tinted as you like. The same rules apply to chameleon tint. Sun strips cannot be so low that het impair the driver’s view.

We do have instruments which can now measure the severity of a tinted window. If a window is found to be too heavily tinted the motorist could be subject to a fixed penalty notice or reported to court.

Noise

There are times all of us feel like listening to loud music. However, listening to loud music can affect your health and your driving style. The louder the music, the faster the beat, the more Kiley you are to drive faster, jump a red light or have a collision.

Body work

All body work modifications must be secure and have no exposed edges likely to cause injury – if there are exposed sharp edges a vehicle will be prohibited.

Insurance

You must notify your insurance company of ANY modifications on your vehicle. Failing to do so could seriously reduce and future claim you make. You need to make sure that any modifications are acceptable under The Road Vehicles (construction and use) regulations 1986. Any modification made to your vehicle should be carried out by a suitable qualified person to ensure your vehicle remains roadworthy.

 DVLA leaflet INF104 refe

 Section 59 of the Police Reform Act – antisocial driving offences
New laws in respect of certain anti-social driving offences can now be dealt with by Section 59 of the Police Reform Act.

Basically, what that means is if you are seen:

• Driving in a careless or inconsiderate manner
• Driving on common land, a footpath or bridle way or any land which is not part of a road.
• Driving in a manner which is causing/has been causing, or is likely to cause alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public.

Then a Section 59 warning can be issued to you. This warning is placed against both the driver and the vehicle and lasts for 12 months.

If the driver of the vehicle or the vehicle with the warning issued to it is then seen driving in any of those conditions again in the next 12 months the vehicle can be seized and, if not collected after paying for recovery and storage costs, it will be crushed. Please note that this relates to either the driver with the Section 59 or the vehicle.

To report anti-social driving visit Vehicle nuisance involving cars, bikes and mopeds | Dorset Police

For further information please email dorsetroadsafe@dorset.pnn.police.uk for the attention of the Road Casualty Reduction Officers.