Due to illegible number plates, a total of 27,616 vehicles have been impounded in the first eight months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), said the head of the Information Center of Tehran’s Traffic Police.
Colonel Morad Moradi added that the figure marks a 128% increase compared to the same period of the previous year.
He warned that scratching, smudging and not cleaning a number plate, which render the digits unreadable, is a traffic offense and the drivers of such vehicles will be fined, Fars News Agency reported.
Moradi noted that altering a number plate is a serious crime and anyone who attempts to deliberately change the digits of a number plate could be jailed for 6-12 months.
As traffic restrictions have been imposed in certain areas of the city to help create a low emission zone, many drivers take unorthodox measures to enter the LEZ without having to pay a fine.
Aside from altering number plates, drivers tend to hire bikers for riding closely behind the car and covering the number plates to avoid camera detection. Others even cover their license plates using paper and tape before they enter the zone and remove the sheet once they are in the LEZ and safe from cameras.
