In a message dated 07/01/2008 14:32:23 GMT Standard Time, dorothy.robbi [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
It is not everyone's business. It is between BW and the boat owner. Perhaps you are right, there may be no point in having a visible licence. If BW staff can check with their system via a hand-held device whether a boat is licenced or not, then paper licences may be pointless. As the good Cap'n Beeky says, should he display his tv licence in the front window? Both the BW licence and the VED systems were introduced before high-speed mobile computer links became relatively cheap and easy. With number plate recognition systems the police or the DVLA contractor (NCP) drive down a line of vehicles and match the numbers against a list of payers or non-payers. Or they can set up a temporary system by the side of the road and do the same. The DVLA system now matches up against the insurance and the MOT-test databases so it is possible to check that a car is also properly insured and checked for safety (ignoring the fact that five minutes after the test something might happen to the vehicle to make it unsafe!). So perhaps the need to display the tax disc is now redundant for cars as well, but unless the authorities or Parliament decide that they have time to actually stop and think about the real current need for a tax disc then the police will still enforce the regulations. But the offence you are likely to be charged with is not failing to have your car taxed but 'failing to display a current licence' so even if you do have a current licence, but haven't yet put it in the bottom left-hand corner of your windscreen (as required by the regs), you can still be prosecuted. Incidentally, the Construction and Use regulations do not require a vehicle to have a windscreen so how can you attach the tax disc? ;-) DaveD I raise money for charity just by searching the web! www.everyclick.com is an internet search engine with a big difference - it donates half its revenues to charity, please support them too! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
