Heading back to Moscow... How should I prepare in the coming months?

[rosco]

That’s true except the plates in Northern Ireland have a format whereby you know instantly, the vehicle is from there.

Also FYI, you’ll be lucky to see any plates in Scotland with GB on them. I’ve never gone out of my way to ask not to have it and it’s never been on any of my vehicles.

Storm in a tea cup.

All Scots registered cars using the new reg number ( licence plate) format since 2001 begin with a 'S' ....

When travelling abroad - many nations INSIST on the country identifier being present - with many folks from Scotland, in France, using Ecosse and Norn' Irn drivers - as Ste pointed out - feeling disenfranchised - using N.I 

As an aside.. it's amusing that GB drivers choose N.I plates to 'posh up' their cars - or cover up how old they really are...  I had VIJ 53 on my Jag XJS ( older man's Ford Capri ) - bought it for £50 off a written off Ford Escort XR3i in Bangor, Co.Down .... and sold it for more than the Jag !

I'm not sure what your first point adds to the discussion? We're talking about country identifiers - not registration numbers.

Your second point is new to me, if its actually true. I've never experienced any problems driving around Europe with a private UK plate and no country identifier. Which countries insist and do they police it? I must have been given a free pass by all 12 countries I drove through extensively.

[Poldark]

If it's like Russia there is a permission card thing they can use. Locals know all about it.

I wouldn't sweat about the licence, a 10 Euro bill will probably solve any issues with traffic cops. Plod out there are all bent as a nine bob note. We have aged topics on this subject. 

Maybe his other half will know, he hasn't a clue otherwise I'll drop 10€ here or there

Next you'll be telling me I can buy myself another licence for the hell of it, they can't be that bent can they? I know in Moscow it is more laziness than corruption, always willing to help a lost idiot mind

[Ste]

I just bought my new chariot in NI car was Southern Irish, then exported to NI, now has an NI plate and that plate has no markings on at all, looks weird, so I asked. That's how all this was explained to me.

I have a private to put on it, a Scots plate actually, but I was told best to keep NI plate on it while I'm working in the South, aroused less suspicion from the Garda who see NI cars crossing the border all the time - a proper GB one more rare and targetable. This is because the Irish Gov. have VRT, a tax on cars coming into Ireland not for holidays reasons and it's stupidly expensive, taking € 5 figures on any decent car from EU. Totally illegal too, there's supposed to be no customs or tax on intra-EU goods, Brexiters note!

I too was told ages you NEED the country symbol on your plates by law travelling with ur car in EU, so I've always done it for piece of mind, but I've never been stopped and neither has anyone I know.

Also as a matter of interest there are Irish registered cars legally running in NI on Eire plates because they are plates from pre-1922, when Ireland was part of the UK, and they are allowed. Love little legal anomalies like that!

If I'm here in Ireland after another six months I can legally 'reimport' the car without paying VRT and it will get it's original Irish plate back, which is a cracker since the car was originally owned by the head honcho of Three Ireland....

Then the road tax (UK) goes from £535 to Motor Tax (Ireland) of €1837.......

Nore interest stuff aka boring stuff! in NI all MOT stations are run by Gov, no private local garage ones, and the Irish equivalent, NCT, is the same, though much stricter, lasts for two years, they even check the age of the tyres, €55 for the test.

[msmoby]

When travelling abroad - many nations INSIST on the country identifier being present -

Like who?

All the countries in Europe I have driven all kinds of cars in and this has never cropped up. Including driving a Mustang to Estonia and back on North Carolina plates. 

..and WHEN did you last drive illegally? :

From the AA: "Rules of the road, country by country
Your Vehicle

GB sticker

You must display a GB sign and could be fined if you don't.

The GB letters must be black on a white, elliptical background. They must be at least 80mm high with a stroke width of 10mm.
If you've got euro-plates (number plates including the GB euro-symbol) you don't have to display a conventional GB sticker within the EU.
Outside the EU, some countries still require a GB sticker even if you have euro-plates, so it is always safer to display one."

[rosco]

Talking about Irish anomalies.

I was working over in NI earlier this year and needed to hire a van for the job. This particular van had no blue tooth and Mrs Rosco phoned me about 9pm whilst driving from Belfast to Enniskillen. I literally answered the phone and said I'm still driving but I'll be at the hotel in 15 mins.....call you back.

Not 5 mins passed and the blue lights on an undercover BM went up like a xmas tree. They caught me whilst driving in the other direction, turned round and pulled me over. To be fair the cop was a really decent bloke and was almost apologetic for catching me breaking the law. We had a good chat, got on well and I was hoping to duck a charge via the salesmans licence.

He went back and sat in his car with his colleague for 10 mins then came back to the van window. He told me it'll turn out ok for me but I just need to post him my licence (he didn't take it away because I had the ferry to catch) and pay a £60 fine or thereabouts.

In the UK it would automatically be 6 points & a couple hundred quid. In NI its 3 points and £60 but because I had a DVLA UK licence, it doesn't marry up with the NI licensing, even though its part of the UK.

So I paid the fine, sent my licence away and I have 3 ghost points floating around which the courts and insurance companies cant find. What a ridiculous situation but I'm delighted its so.

I got caught speeding in the south about 10 years ago and it was much the same. I just assumed NI would be aligned with the DVLA.

[Ste]

They'll create you a record on DVA(NI) system so if you ever move to NI and renew your licence there, they'll be attached then. Same in South, they keep scaring folks with tales of fully aligned systems but they're not.

In NI they only just got rid of the paper counterpart...

Nadia got done for 50kms in a 40 in Germany, €15 fine and no points, that's more like it!

Drove down from Belfast to Dublin two weeks ago, car has mph speedo (with kms on dial too, but smaller) and limits are in kms in the South, 120kmh on motorway, silly me just sat at 70mph all the way, limit is actually 75mph converted so could have easily got away with 85......