Nobody tells you when you buy a caravan what is actually going to get you fined if you drive into New South Wales (NSW) or Victoria. We bought our caravan from the Gold Coast and assumed everything was in order. Driving over the border into NSW and we suddenly find there is a law for the height of number plates. Our caravan sports a lovely Queensland number plate in the middle of the back of the van and measures 1530 cm from the ground.
I was just looking through the information on the internet and came across the law that states in NSW that a caravan number plate should be a maximum 1300 cm from the ground. When I started to ask around most people did not have a clue about this law, however when you say the fine is over $400 and three demerit points, they suddenly start paying attention. The police do not seem to give you a chance to move your plate if you are not familiar with the laws in their State, they will just issue a fine.
Most of the older caravans have been built with the number plates clearly in the centre or off centre on the back of the vehicle (and that is far too high). The difficulty is they say speed cameras only read up to 1300 cm and so that is why the cut off point for height of caravan number plates.
Tomorrow we have the wonderful task of relocating the number plate to our bumper bar. We booked the van into the local Caravan Repair Company who was also unfamiliar with this law. I am sure he thought we were a bit odd moving the number plate to the bumper. The large blank space in the middle of the back of the van leaves us no choice than to attach a well designed nomad plate to cover the gap.
So in case you do get pulled over …bring your licence. Think the fine for not being able to produce one on the spot in NSW is $99. It all adds up! Have you been fined? Do tell us about it. Send your comments to ihoptravelwebsite@gmail.com.