L plates on the motorway

I'm going on holiday on Friday with my family, so we're driving down to Birmingham airport on the motorway. Thing is, my dad's insisting on taking my car down there instead of his, (obviously, he's gonna drive it) and I was thinking that we should take the L plates off because learners can't drive on the motorway, and if you have a full licence you're not supposed to drive with L plates anyway. D'ya think we'll get pulled over for this, because I don't think he's going to take them off?

Reply 1

herecomestrouble

14

nah - ive seen a few before: shouldnt be a problem!

Reply 2

abc101

17

I do believe it is illegal to drive with L plates on unless a learner is driving the car or the driver is an ADI. The only time L plates should ever be seen on the motorway is when they're on an ADI's car and the driver is having a Pass Plus lesson. As you will be in your own car, not an ADI's car, other drivers on the motorway may well assume the driver is not qualified, and I think you would be quite likely to be pulled up for it. Just take the L plates off, and stick them back on when you get back home and you're driving! It is illegal to have them on if you're a qualified driver so I don't see why he wouldn't want to take them off?! Unless they're the sticky type that are difficult to remove, but, really, you need to take them off.

Reply 3

JC.

19

I'll have a fiver with you abc101 that he/she/it doesnt get pulled.

Reply 4

abc101

17

You're on! :biggrin:

Well it's still better to be safe than sorry, it is illegal so there's no point risking it is there?!

Reply 5

sophisticated

17

it is indeed illegal to drive with L plates on if you're not a learner, especially on the motorway, you could panic other people on the road!
buy P plates instead and use them?
other drivers will still treat you with caution.
edit; oh and why not just take the L plates off yourself?!?! its your car after all. take them off and hide them somewhere, or just chuck them out if they're non-magnetic. bottom line is you shouldnt be driving with L plates on if you've passed your test...your dad cant argue with the law.

Reply 6

sophie_05

i got pulled over for it!!! was driving my parents car few weeks back which has L plates on as my lil brothers learning totally forgot about the plates was going merrily down the motorway when i got pulled over by the police was crapping myself as i didnt know what i did wrong and first time was ever pulled over he was nice guy tho just explained about the L plates u can ethier take them off which with some u cant take off easily as they r stuck to the car so u have to put a black line thro it with tape! lesson learnt anyway total bs about panicking other road users tho ive seen many which obv r just people who havnt bothered to take them off no learner driver would go down a motorway as thats prob one of the first rules u learn

Reply 7

sophisticated

17

sophie_05

total bs about panicking other road users tho

um no its not....maybe not necessarily panic, (though i would be panicking if i saw a car with L plates on the motorway!), but i'm sure that everyone who has been a learner has noticed that other drivers treat you like an idiot when the car has L plates on, and do everything physically impossible to get in front of you or past you, which can only be dangerous on a motorway.

Reply 8

sophie_05

sophisticated

um no its not....maybe not necessarily panic, (though i would be panicking if i saw a car with L plates on the motorway!), but i'm sure that everyone who has been a learner has noticed that other drivers treat you like an idiot when the car has L plates on, and do everything physically impossible to get in front of you or past you, which can only be dangerous on a motorway.

not really.. i was never treat like an 'idiot' on roads anyway
and its different rules on motorway ive seen many and i have never given it a second thought to be honest and i never saw anyone treating it differently by overtaking as soon as poss ethier

Reply 9

sophisticated

17

sophie_05

not really.. i was never treat like an 'idiot' on roads anyway
and its different rules on motorway ive seen many and i have never given it a second thought to be honest and i never saw anyone treating it differently by overtaking as soon as poss ethier

how are there different rules for the motorway? LOL
its illegal to drive on ANY road or motorway with L plates on when you're not a learner.
you can keep arguing against my reasons for not driving on the motorway with L plates, but the law is still there for good reasons i.e. its dangerous! so i guess you're arguing yourself into a corner anyway lol :rolleyes:

Reply 10

sauce

13

on normal roads admitedly it's not as strict, for example if my mums teaching me and I'm in the car and I get all panicky really badly then we switch without taking the L's off. Wait that was worded a bit crappy, but I think you get me?
On motorways though learners are NOT allowed, only people who might have driving instructor cars are people on pass plus of driving instructors themselves. I've never seen someone with L plates on a motorway. Learners are not allowed on motorways so putting L's on seems to just be asking for trouble hun

Reply 11

sophie_05

lol ok dont burst a blood vessel im aware of the law and was meaning literally theres a difference didnt come across right just meant no1 who actually sees Lplates on a car on a motorway panicks and automatically overtakes

Reply 12

sophisticated

17

sophie_05

lol ok dont burst a blood vessel im aware of the law and was meaning literally theres a difference didnt come across right just meant no1 who actually sees Lplates on a car on a motorway panicks and automatically overtakes

Well unfortunately you're wrong cos there are some idiots like that and its happened to me when I've been driving and my sisters L plates have been on the car, and I've also had people cutting me up trying to get in the wrong lane to overtake me on roundabouts etc when the L plates are on.
Bottom line is, no matter what rubbish excuses you have, its illegal to drive with L plates on the motorway cos theres good reason for the law, which is what the OP was asking anyway.

Reply 13

mountainmetman

14

Chances are the rozers will look and see it's an older person driving and figure that either they left the plates on to teach their kid or that they've left them on so that if they go through a speed camera they can claim it was their kid driving and not get the points (mean but does happen).

Reply 14

ravenous_soup_dragon

9

I don't think you're meant to have the L plates on in any situation after you pass your driving test - I had a couple of pass plus lessons with my instructor and he removed all his signage and L plates before we started.

I think it's awful how some people behave when they see L plates - I've had far more close misses when driving with L plates than I ever have now that I don't have anything on my car just because people behave like idiots when they see a learner. Once, just after I got my car my Dad was driving it with the L-plates on to the garage and as we crossed a roundabout this silly cow deliberately cut us up really dangerously just because she saw the L plates and thought she could get away with it - but unfortunately for her my Dad is one of those really embarrassing road rage men...after she was chased up the by-pass by a little Ford Ka I don't think she'll be trying a nice move like that in the future :p:

(Not that I condone road rage, of course :wink:

)

Reply 15

InArduisFouette

21

unless you are an ADI you mustn't drive with L plates on (i.e. according to the law)

if the rattus rattus are bored L plates on the Mway gives them an excuse to pull you and generally inconveinence you by checking the things that they check when they pull someone

L plates on the motorway

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