L Plates

When your vehicle is being driven by a provisional licence holder it must display L plates of the prescribed size that are clearly visible to the front and rear.

The dimensions of the L plates are shown below.

Some L plates are made with reflective white material - technically these are not legal for rear placement because it is illegal to show white reflectors to the rear of a vehicle - however, they are highly visible and in our opinion do not pose a danger. It must be stressed however, that you use this type of plate at the rear you must be aware of the legal position an accept that you are technically in breach of the regulations.

L plates must be on a 7" by 7" background, therefore, additional writing on the plate (such as your phone number) renders it invalid, as do rounded corners.

There is no specific legislation with regard to use of L plate on front and rear screens, however, the DSA may refuse tests if the plates are fixed to the screens. The law requires that the driver must have an unobstructed view from the vehicle - this suggests that any L plate on the front screen would pose a problem. Plates that are placed directly behind the driver should not cause any problem and would be highly visible to the following drivers.

Plates should be as near vertical as possible - tests have been refused where plates lie flat on the bonnet of a car. The L plate in the illustration on the right would be OK, however we would recommend that the plate was fitted on the right hand side of the vehicle.

Headboards do not need to have L plates attached, however, this is probably the best place for them because they are highly visible and can be easily removed. If the headboard has 'non-regulation' L plates, the vehicle must have regulation plates fitted elsewhere when being driven by a provisional licence holder.

Normally the L's are most visible on headboards if displayed on the right hand side.

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