Definitive tax disc display poll

[Warthog]

I've been searching around and can't really find a definitive answer as to whether it is ok to hide your tax disc under your seat. My tax disc just got nicked off my bike but luckily it was out of date. The holder also got nicked so I am now forced to be a member of the under-the-seat- brigade. But will I get into trouble?

Prace bets now!!!

[speedplay]

Display your tax disc

Display a tax disc on the passenger side (kerb side) of the vehicle’s windscreen. If there’s no windscreen or you have a motorcycle or sidecar, display the tax disc on the kerb side of the vehicle.


Pinched from here:-


http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_10021514

[petevtwin650]

Hi Nick,

Thank goodness it was only an old disc. You leave your bike in a public bike park during the day or on the street at night? If so I would say you run the risk of some jobsworth doing you for "Failure to display"

Cos we don't leave the bike for long in public places we have, so far touch wood, got away with it.

[tigersaw]

Mines displayed in a concealed position.. if that makes sence.
i.e. the tax holder is turned so its behind a panel

[Stu]

I keep mine at home. Although I might get round to displaying a copy.
Stopped 3 times on this bike & more so before & never had the subject raised - although I would never consider riding without actually being taxed.

I Don't park it in the street very much at all.

So what am I supposed to vote :???:

They nicked an out of date tax disc :shock: you sure it didn't just fall off?

[ethariel]

I keep mine in my jacket pocker (in a holder funnily enough), the one on the bike is about 2 or 3 years ols now and a photocopy to boot.

Had a spate of disk and plate thefts from my area so after the 3rd one was nicked (and painfull experience reporting it to lewisham nick for a 3rd time and wanting yet another crime number off them) i just gave up.

Takes the pi$$ too that if its nicked you have to PAY to get it replaced /boggle

[Viney]

I have had one tax disc knicked, so i bought a better holder and to date its never been touched. Mine is on the nearside on the chain guard bolt slid being the heel plate. Its visible.

[Warthog]

One thing I am thinking here: if the DVLA know online that your bike is taxed, and your tax disc has your registration on it so it can't be used on any other vehicle, why can't you just get a free replacement sent out if someone nicks it? I mean, its more of a certificate of proof nowadays than an actual valuable item?

Pete: It ran out over the time that it was parked, so technically there were a few days left. It was under a cover and I looked on the ground everywhere. It might have fallen off but I can't see any evidence of it. Who knows.

I park on the street overnight, so I guess there is a very high chance of a traffic guy seeing my bike at some point. I guess I will get a new holder. Can I display a photocopy or is that just as bad?

[Ceri JC]

I've always displayed mine, never had it nicked, touch wood.

It's bonkers that tax discs are required these days. When they're so happy to rely on linked databases for DVLA registrations, insurance, MOT etc. why not just throw tax into the mix? ANPR/coppers would be able to tell from your plate whether you're taxed or not, so no need to for physical tax discs to exist at all IMO.

[speedplay]

I noticed that the disc was missing from the mrs car this week and asked her about it.
She didnt even realise that it was gone:rolleyes:
I know it was on there as i stuck it to the screen myself 3 weeks ago.
Jenn has a bit of a habit of forgetting to lock her car so I know where its gone...
Although its registered as being taxed with the dvla, she still stands a chance of being pulled for failure to display.
It just seems to be a farce or even just a money making scheme making people pay £7 for a replacement.

[vardypeeps]

Mine broke off of the Bandit and I had to get a replacement holder and tax disc only to have a copper knock on the door a few days later holding it in his hand!

[Daimo]

My tax disc on my old bike got very dirty, so I took it off. I got a fine for not displaying it. Some bellend ticket monkey in the city.

Since then, i've never even had the tax disc on the bike. Over 2 years now, and not been done again.

Whats the point in some mulit million pound system if they can't even use it to check tax. Don't see the point in having it on as its on the system, so whys it matter if i've got a poncy bit of paper stuck on my bike somewhere.

Use that system you robbed the taxpayers of to fund instead?????? Likewise for insurance, MOT and such...

Every copper i've met says its not viable information..... So why f-ing have it???

[AndyW]

Every copper i've met says its not viable information..... So why f-ing have it???

Because the law was made before it was possible to check via a database, and it takes a lot of time to change the law, plus a cost of something ridiculous, around X million.

[Baph]

I've been stopped for white lining (TS20 :(). When chatting to the copper, he asked to see my tax disc, as the holder was caked with oil (it was near the chain then).

So I told him it was under the seat, as the holder is so caked up with oil. He told me then that he could of done me for not displaying.

Since then, I've been reliably informed (by one of the cops that frequents the .Org), that the offence of not displaying tax went out a long time ago, and there's nothing Police can do about it.

Traffic Wardens however, well, take your chances.

My tax disc is now displayed in a theft-proof holder near the front wheel. It's so theft-proof that I recently got a new tax disc, and haven't been able to fit it yet because I can't get the damn thing open!

[Bluepete]

I my be wrong ;), but I honestly can't imagine any Cop putting a ticket on a Bike for Fail to Display. Don't forget, most of my lot are inner city Cops, and not jobsworths with a grudge. We have more than enough to do without being pedantic!

I've been told it's no longer a ticketable offence to fail to display a VEL and I certainly have access 24/7 to the DVLA database. The only time we take action is when the VEL is out of date by more than one calender month (that may be 28 days, erm......)

Even then, we have to check with a DVLA representative to authorise any action.

HTH!

Pete

[Sid Squid]

I know a few people who have the original in a holder on the underside of the seat, and a copy in the holder, some have 'Copy, Original With Owner', on the copy, some just have a good quality colour copy and have never been asked about it.

[MR UKI (1)]

In my wallet, never had any probs, touch wood :)

[jimmy4237]

Mines a good quality scanned in job, then printed out onto photo paper. It looks original, lives behind the rear heel plates, and no jobsworth traffic warden or copper has even given a second look yet. The original is kept at home for safekeeping.

Why should we have to pay for a replacement or display at all when all the cops have to do is do a pnc / anpr check on your number plate?

When you get pulled by traffic cops in a van or a truck, the 1st thing they do is pnc check the driver anyway. The aberdeen traffics are well known for the practice. The pnc check tells the cops what driving entitilements you have, and all the current dvla data on the vehicle and you.

[TEC]

.... My tax disc just got nicked .... holder also got nicked ....
So you sure it was nicked and didn't just fall off, had that happen myself :(

Would have selected in full view etc but as its not unless you look properly ..... :)

[Tim in Belgium]

Luckily you don't have to display the disc over here, you just pays your money and off you ride, although you can ride before you pays your money as long as you pay (i.e not SORNed equivalent).

With modern databases I also wonder why the UK feels it still has to display a tax disc, fair enough send one out for the owner to keep at home with his insurance and MoT certificate, by why have to display it all the time? (apart from the fact that to get it you should have insurance and a valid MoT....)

[Warthog]

So you sure it was nicked and didn't just fall off, had that happen myself :(

Would have selected in full view etc but as its not unless you look properly ..... :)

It might have fallen off, but it was bolted on and then kept under a cover for a month and now I can't find it. Not that it matters much, I just wondered how to proceed now. I think I might make a colour photocopy, that sounds like a good idea.

[Red Herring]

Mines a good quality scanned in job, then printed out onto photo paper. It looks original, lives behind the rear heel plates, and no jobsworth traffic warden or copper has even given a second look yet. The original is kept at home for safekeeping.

Why should we have to pay for a replacement or display at all when all the cops have to do is do a pnc / anpr check on your number plate?

When you get pulled by traffic cops in a van or a truck, the 1st thing they do is pnc check the driver anyway. The aberdeen traffics are well known for the practice. The pnc check tells the cops what driving entitilements you have, and all the current dvla data on the vehicle and you.

Mmmmmm...That be a forgery then, several years clink!!

Personally I don't display the disc on any of my bikes, but I do carry it in my pocket when I ride, and I never have to park any of my bikes on the road or unattended. It is still a £30 FPN for not displaying a tax disc, but if you can produce it to the copper you would have have done something to seriously annoy him to end up with a ticket.

[Baph]

It is still a £30 FPN for not displaying a tax disc, but if you can produce it to the copper you would have have done something to seriously annoy him to end up with a ticket.

When I was 'threatened' with the offence, it was stated that it was £60, not £30.

But he told me that he'd seen me in his mirrors a couple of miles back. I told him I'd been following, and keeping pace for the last 25. He hadn't seen me for a good 15 miles, and that was very obvious.

During those 15 miles, I think he thought he was on his private runway. As I said, I was keeping pace with my thinking being "Well, if he can, so can I, he's not on a blue light call."

I think that may of wound him up a little. :oops:

[Red Herring]

The £60 FPN is for not having any tax, not failing to display it. Police officers don't need to display blue lights to use their traffic exemptions, sometimes they only use them if necessary to get traffic out of the way, and sometimes they deliberately don't because they don't want to give themselves away. Imagine if you were following them like you were and they then "give up" on whoever they had been shadowing, they could then decide to have you as a consolation prize instead.......

[Baph]

The £60 FPN is for not having any tax, not failing to display it. Police officers don't need to display blue lights to use their traffic exemptions, sometimes they only use them if necessary to get traffic out of the way, and sometimes they deliberately don't because they don't want to give themselves away. Imagine if you were following them like you were and they then "give up" on whoever they had been shadowing, they could then decide to have you as a consolation prize instead.......

All very good, but there's some vast assumptions there. :)

1. I was informed at the roadside that not displaying was £60, but that he'd "let it go". I've later found out this is incorrect (prior to this thread).
2. The section of road where I followed the cop at high speed had no other traffic on it, until the downhill section where I was leading. We were still over the speed limit then, overtaking everything on the road, and nothing whatsoever was said about excessive speed. Even before I said how long I'd been behind him.
3. When I did BikeSafe, many months after the above incident, who should be there? Yup, the same copper. So I had a chat about it. He openly said (in front of everyone in the room) that he was just on his way back to the station after attending a conference. He also openly stated his speed, and gave positive comments about my riding to the whole group doing BikeSafe that day, before we'd gone out for the assessment ride.
4. When I said I was following him, I was a good mile to mile & a half behind him. I would get a view of him just before he disappeared around the next bend. As things happened, once he did see me (I got a little closer), he made it obvious he'd seen me in his mirrors. I kept at the same speed, and he pulled over letting me pass. I was then stopped about 7 miles further down the hill for crossing a solid white line.

What I'm getting at, is that coppers are just like everyone else. They abuse the rules too.

[-Ralph-]

I have a good colour photocopy in the holder and the orginal in my wallet.

The copy is in a tax disk holder which just covers the outer rim so you can't see that the jaggedly perforated edge has been replaced by a cleanly cut circle, and it's mounted where the dealer put it when new, at the front of the rear swingarm on the chain cover, where it get's mucky anyway, so there is no way in hell without taking it out of the holder you'd ever know it wasn't the original.

I haven't put "Copy" on it because why provoke the question when a copper or traffic warden looks at it? I can't see the difference so why would anyone else question it. Anyone who looks I'll just keep my mouth shut and not incriminate myself. A traffic warden is not allowed to interfere with the bike at all, and if a copper suspects a copy and wants me to take it out, then I'll deal with the issue at that point, tell him his suspicion is quite correct, and produce the original from my wallet.

[Daimo]

ooohhhh, found my tax disk in my bag, still in teh holder :lol: .

And yes Pete, I was given a ticket, in a private parking bay in London where 15 other bikes were, all of vastly worse condition than my (then nice new SV).

I even contested it, wrote a letter, and the f-ers still made me pay. Could not believe it. I even wrote that the tax disc WAS on the bike but due to the way bikes were parked (i.e close next to each other) there was no-way they could see it and why was I given one, especially if they checked their system.

One of my more "you badgers" days....

Or the time I've been randomly pulled for a stop checks.

"is this your motorcycle"
yes
"is it insured"
hmmmmm, new motorcycle, full proper decent bike gear, yes i've scrimped on insurance. Check your system....
"has it got an MOT"
Errrr do you know anything about motor vehicles???? Great to see another officer who knows his laws properly... Check your system.
"where is the tax?"
In my pocket, so no-one can steal it
"its not visable" (OK he has a point, its a legal obligation to have it showing, but he'd cheesed me off already)
Well can you see it right now?
"Yes"
Well its visable then isn't it :lol: You can now see it. Unless it has invisible sauce all over it?

I get sh1tty with all dumb ass traffic wardens and coppers now. Those that have respect and treat you like a human and actually know what they are on about, I have all the time in the world for these people. The power trip muppets though will get as good back as they try to dish out...

MET police really ruined my opinion of the police force :lol:

[glade]

I renew online... have been doing it 6-monthly in case i decide to sell bike.

One period i filed the envelope and never even took the tax disk out.
Current period i put it in my bike jacket pocket intending to put it on the bike, but never got round to it... is still in my pocket.

I have been pulled for speeding - all checks over the radio.
When I had an accident and the police recovered my bike for me, all checks done over the radio.

I think it makes sense to keep it on the bike incase you get challenged. but i'm not too worried about it. At the same time i'm not that worried about it getting nicked if it was on the bike - i'm just lazy. manyana.

[tinpants]

The £60 FPN is for not having any tax, not failing to display it. Police officers don't need to display blue lights to use their traffic exemptions, sometimes they only use them if necessary to get traffic out of the way, and sometimes they deliberately don't because they don't want to give themselves away. Imagine if you were following them like you were and they then "give up" on whoever they had been shadowing, they could then decide to have you as a consolation prize instead.......


Erm, I don't think that is quite right.

The only time anyone who is blue light trained can use their exemptions is when they are using blue lights. If a police officer is responding to an emergency without the use of blue lights then they have to obey the laws of the road. We had this drummed into us during my blue light training as a paramedic. If you exceed the speed limit (when on an emergency) without a visible and, if necessary, audible warning and you have an accident it will be deemed to be your fault.

Just my £0.02 worth.

[Baph]

Erm, I don't think that is quite right.

The only time anyone who is blue light trained can use their exemptions is when they are using blue lights. If a police officer is responding to an emergency without the use of blue lights then they have to obey the laws of the road. We had this drummed into us during my blue light training as a paramedic. If you exceed the speed limit (when on an emergency) without a visible and, if necessary, audible warning and you have an accident it will be deemed to be your fault.

Just my £0.02 worth.

I remember my brother saying, and now teaching others the same.

But then, I also know my brother may of used blues/sirens when he's late for his tea! :rolleyes:

[Red Herring]

Erm, I don't think that is quite right.

The only time anyone who is blue light trained can use their exemptions is when they are using blue lights. If a police officer is responding to an emergency without the use of blue lights then they have to obey the laws of the road. We had this drummed into us during my blue light training as a paramedic. If you exceed the speed limit (when on an emergency) without a visible and, if necessary, audible warning and you have an accident it will be deemed to be your fault.

Just my £0.02 worth.

Really, so when a copper is following you in order to gather evidence against your speeding they have to have their blue lights on do they.....think about it for a moment, they have to speed in order to keep up with you!

Now an ambulance driver may well be different (actually it's not different in law, just in their training) after all, an ambulance has no reason for not using blue lights does it?

[Baph]

Really, so when a copper is following you in order to gather evidence against your speeding they have to have their blue lights on do they.....think about it for a moment, they have to speed in order to keep up with you!


That's kind of a moot point.

If there's two officers in the car, then their word can be taken as evidence in court, and they don't need a calibrated reading.

If they're relying on calibrated speed equipment, this can calculate very very quickly the speed of another car. Maybe 10secs follow tops. Then blue's to pull the vehicle over.

[tinpants]

Really, so when a copper is following you in order to gather evidence against your speeding they have to have their blue lights on do they.....think about it for a moment, they have to speed in order to keep up with you!

Now an ambulance driver may well be different (actually it's not different in law, just in their training) after all, an ambulance has no reason for not using blue lights does it?

Not all the time, no. However there are times when a silent approach is required by an ambulance. In these cases the crew must respond within the limits of the law, ie obey the law of the road.

[ogden]

My GSXR doesn't even have a tax-disc holder and the disc itself lives in the same folder as the V5 and everything else at home. My RGV has a long-expired tax disc in a holder on the bike and the valid disc is sitting on the bedroom floor waiting to be stored in the same manner as the one for the gixer. I didn't spot an option for this on the poll, which is a bit weak.

I haven't had a copper query my tax disc in almost 15 years. I was tugged for riding in a cycle lane a couple of weeks ago and plod didn't even check insurance, let alone tax, I was just given a ticket.

Seriously. Life's too short to worry about correctly displaying a tax disc. Stop worrying and enjoy life.

[dirtydog]

I never display mine and have never been done for it or even questioned about it's whereabouts

[Red Herring]

Not all the time, no. However there are times when a silent approach is required by an ambulance. In these cases the crew must respond within the limits of the law, ie obey the law of the road.

Do blue lights make a lot of noise then?

[Red Herring]

That's kind of a moot point.

If there's two officers in the car, then their word can be taken as evidence in court, and they don't need a calibrated reading.

If they're relying on calibrated speed equipment, this can calculate very very quickly the speed of another car. Maybe 10secs follow tops. Then blue's to pull the vehicle over.

Actually it's 2/10th of a mile whilst maintaining a constant gap........

[MCN_LiamM]

I've had two tax discs nicked in two years so now I colour photocopy my tax disc and put the photocopy in the tax disc holder and put the proper one under my seat.