'Readability issues' with some black number plates

Waka Kotahi has known for six months that police officers are experiencing difficulties reading new black number plates that went on sale last year.

"In certain conditions (i.e. in change of light and at certain viewing angles), the black background plates are unable to be read accurately by the human eye," a Waka Kotahi spokesperson told Fair Go.

Despite this the black plates are still available for purchase, even after new concerns from police last month that in some lighting and from some angles the plates are too hard for a roadside camera to capture a clean image.

"It has resulted in not being able to identify vehicles for some traffic safety camera detected incidents (speed and red-light) and delays in officers being able to accurately read a vehicle number plate in some situations," a police spokesperson said.

Waka Kotahi said it supplied copies of the new plates to the Police Infringement Bureau prior to their release to the public, and also tested their compliance with NZTA standards for readability by tolling cameras.

Now, the regulator has admitted, "Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras (safety/speed cameras and cameras at toll roads) can experience some difficulty capturing the number plate when software settings are not optimised".

Authorised retailer Kiwi Plates has stopped playing an advert made by agency Saatchi. Both Saatchi and Kiwi Plates are owned by the same multinational advertising and marketing conglomerate, Publicis Group.

The fault has incensed one motorist who came to Fair Go with his concerns.

"They don't work!" said Ross Smith from Hamilton.

"When you're following a car with your lights on at night, the black becomes white and obliterates the lettering."

Smith raised this with Kiwi Plates and Waka Kotahi because of the safety implications for other road users - and for the security of a vehicle with black plates that might be harder to identify if stolen.

"The public have a right to be able to read a plate," Smith said.

"I'd say to the guy at Kiwi Plates, 'mate, you had one job'".

Kiwi Plates has referred all questions on the matter to Waka Kotahi, which told Fair Go it's investigating the "readability issues" affecting up to 48,000 black plates already on the road.

"The readability issues are thought to affect a relatively small subset of these.

"The testing currently being undertaken by Waka Kotahi will determine the exact nature of the problem, the number of plates likely to be affected, and whether or not any plates will need to be replaced," Waka Kotahi said.

The plates retail from $199 for a simple remake of an existing plate, so at retail prices there are at least $10 million worth of new black plates already in circulation, making it a costly problem if it proves not to be a "small subset" that are faulty.

Waka Kotahi has told Fair Go that the cost of recall and replacement would not fall on the owners of black plates, but it couldn't confirm whether the taxpayer or Kiwi Plates would cover them.