Originally Posted by Doug Stirling
OK..................lots of replys that are motr-or-less spot-on
Spent an hour driving around looking for a traffic car (they use mostly Mercrdes estates around here)............NONE were found - even in the usual hide-outs
Went into Yeovil police station and spoke to a WPC behind the counter.
Showed her the printed receipt showing 1 years tax bought & paid for by credit card this morning. I asked her the question re me driving around tomorrow/day after with the old (expired midnight today) disc on the screen.
Without hesitation she said I would be reported for failing to display a valid tax disc - simple as that.
I pushed her on weather or not I would be fined and she said she did not know, but the fact is that it was her duty to report me for breaking a specific law, "not displaying a valid tax disc".
TBH, I was wondering on the drive back, would a traffic officer do any different (after showing him/her the receipt as mitigation), doubt it somehow.
You sure it was a Policewoman and not front office staff or a PCSO. If one of my Officers reported you for failing to display in the circumstances you have described then I'd certainly be asking them what they think they were doing and cancel all the paperwork.
Here's the definitive answer.
It is fixed penalty offence for failing to display a valid excise licence. It was a £30 ticket but I believe it is now £60 or £80. My up to date aide memoire is at work.
If a vehicle is seen on a public road with an expired / no excise licence then a CLE2/6 would be filled out and submitted to the DVLA. It's the DVLA who use these forms to decide whether to prosecute.
If I stopped you and noticed you had no excise licence and you produced your receipt to me that you'd paid for it then I'd take no further action and I would bet that most Officers would be the same.