[Rossp]

Well, it's not often I admit I'm wrong...

But...!

I managed to get hold of a copy of the BS document (BS AU 145D) - bloody elusive. Read that cover to cover, then read the The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001, and all it's amendments. Phew. Geeky, yes, but I wanted to know.

The main issue the argument is over is to do with the retro-reflective properties of a numberplate. (Retro-reflective is where a proportion of the light shone on the numberplate must "return to source", as opposed to reflex-reflecting, where it basically scatters in all directions).

There are comments in the Road Traffic Act around how a plate must be MADE of a retro-reflecting material:

VEHICLES REGISTERED AND NEW REGISTRATION PLATES FITTED ON OR AFTER 1ST SEPTEMBER 2001 (MANDATORY SPECIFICATION)
1. The plate must be made of retroreflecting material which, as regards its construction, colour and other qualities, complies with the requirements of—
(a) the British Standard specification for retroreflecting number plates published on 15 January 1998 under number BS AU 145d(a)

And people, including me, interpreted that to mean the ENTIRE numberplate must be made of retro-reflective material (IE, some form of plastic presumably, because metal is of course NOT retro-reflective by it's nature). However, the law also requires (in the very same paragraph) that the plate must meet BS145D.

Here's the kicker. There's actually a specific comment in the BS AU 145D standards document which affects the above. The very first section in fact:

1 Scope
This British Standard specifies requirements for retroreflecting number plates for vehicles. The standard includes requirements for colorimetric and
photometric properties and tests for weather resistance, resistance to impact, bending, vibration, corrosion, solvents, water and extremes of
temperature.
NOTE. Retroreflecting number plates may be manufactured from
any material which performs satisfactorily in service, providing
the requirements of this standard are met.

The standards also made specific reference to the background of the numberplate:

3.6 retroreflecting number plate
A plate exhibiting the registration mark of a vehicle in which only the background to the registration mark consists of retroreflecting material.

This is important in just a sec. Bear with me.

So - the Road Traffic Act requires a number plate to meet the requirements of BS AU145D. the Standard specifically says a numberplate can be made from any material so long as the requirements of the standards are met <with regard to size, position, font, etc>.

So, in summary, I can find nothing wrong with the "legal" Dubmeister pressed numberplates now. they have the correct layout, font, spacing, standards stamp, makers mark and border. The only issue was that of the retro-reflectiveness, and they meet this by the use of a retro-reflective BACKGROUND as per the standards - the letters themselves are not retro-reflective, just the background, and so this standard is met.

I conclude that the pressed plates advertised by Dubmeister, and possibly others, are therefore in principle "legal" as advertised (talking exclusively about the retro-reflectiveness of course - I'm presuming they meet the other standards with regard to resistance to corrosion, bending, etc).

Essay over. I hope you didn't fall asleep and found it useful.

now go buy your pressed plates - just remember if stopped to have a copy of the The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001 in the glove box