January 17, 2025, a Lagos high court said the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has no right, henceforth, to arrest motorists with faded number plates on their vehicles.
Justice Akintayo Aluko made the order restricting the FRSC from imposing any fine or punishment on any driver for driving with a faded vehicle number plate.
The man who took the case to court, Chinwike Chamberlain Ezebube, will certainly be happy. It is normal for him to cling the glasses for the victory in court. But the repercussions are damaging to the fight against crime and criminality in the society.
The judgement in a suit marked FHC/L/C5/253/2024 directed the plaintiff to approach the defendant, FRSC, for the replacement of his faded vehicle number plate and that the defendant shall replace same upon payment of the reasonable and requisite fee.
The judgement is akin to what the late fiery lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, did to registration of political parties in the country some years back.
Concerned about his political association not getting registered by INEC, the late Fawehinme approached the court.
The outcome of the court judgement was the plethora of political parties that saw to some being owned by one man with only one office in Abuja contrary to the then law that for political a association to scale registration hurdles, it must have offices in at least two thirds of the states.
With the judgement obtained by Fawehinmi, more that 60 political parties were in operation, thereby getting the electorate confused and INEC more tasking to get a viable voters slips.
The recent court judgement against the FRSC can be said to be similar which might not augur well with the fights against crime in the society.
Let me explain.
Faded number plates can be a concern for road safety and law enforcement.
The FRSC has repeatedly urged motorists to stop driving with faded number plate to avoid prosecution.
The corps advised that motorists should always use water and soap to wash the number plate of their vehicles to prevent it from fading.
Accordingly, it is expected that it can develop some problems such as being damaged and faded before then.
The purpose of using number plate is for proper identification and security, also personalised for each vehicle.
“A vehicle can be used to commit crime and if that happens, FRSC can track it on its National Vehicle Identification Scheme.
It is expected that number plate should be replaced except the security features are intact and it will be visible within 60 metres distance.
Expectedly, a number plate can fade easily which can be as a result of chemical being used to wash the car.
“If a number plate fades, you have to replace it. If a number plate is damaged, you have to replace it and motorists should stop using private number plates for commercial purpose.
It should however be noted that FRSC only produces number plates while the State Government Motor Licensing Authority under the Board of Internal Revenue issues number plates and replacement.
As such motorists should quickly inform the authority whenever they discover any defect on their number plates for necessary replacement.
In spite of the court judgement, the offence of faded number plates had been in the FRSC system since inception and was captured under number plate violation.
“There are so many offences rated under the number plate violation such as broken number plate, faded number plate, covered number plate, non-use of number plate and we have misuse of number plate.
“The misuse of the number plate means that one is using a private number plate for commercial use.
“These are the categories of offences that fall within this violation,”
A concerned road user asked on the moral that, if you are driving and hit somebody and escape, how do you expect the law enforcement agency to get the number plate of the vehicle that absconded from that point?
“Especially in the situation of hit and run, the act says the number plate should be visible by 60 metres distance.
If your number plate has faded, there is no way security agencies can record that.
“So many people have used faded number plates to perpetrate atrocities and that became an issue while trying to identify such vehicles,” he said.
As for who should be held responsible, here are some possible answers:
Vehicle Owner: ultimately, the vehicle owner is responsible for ensuring their number plates are legible and meet the required standards. In the street expression, a cloth must fade after much wear and wash. Will the owner blame the manufacturer for the wear and tear? He is expected to go for a new one instead of wearing faded clothes.
Number Plate Manufacturer: If the number plates were poorly made or used substandard materials, the manufacturer could be held liable. That’s if it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is of poor quality.
Road Authorities, In some cases, road authorities or transport agencies may be responsible for ensuring that number plates meet certain standards and regulations.
What are the consequences of Faded Number Plates
Traffic fines or penalties, which the court says for now should not be pending if the FRSC will appeal the case.
If your number plate has faded, there is no way, with the Police or the FRSC can record that. “So many people have used faded number plates to perpetrate atrocities and that became an issue while trying to identify such vehicles,” an officer of FRSC said.
There is always difficulty in identifying vehicles involved in accidents or crimes which compromised road safety. It will be an uphill task for FRSC staff to quickly identify the ownership of such accidented vehicle and inform the families of people involved.
The police will also find it difficult to trace users of faded number plate. By so doing, criminals will have a field day operating without hindrance. It will be more tasking for security agencies to keep tab on vehicle involved in crime and criminality.
Then what are the solutions to this faded number plate palavar?
There is need to regularly inspect and maintain number plates for the good of all and to make the job of security agencies to curb crime on our highway reduced minimally.
In addition, FRSC, which is mandated to create standard for number plate production quality control, should monitor Lagos state which is presently producing number plates issued in Lagos.
Just as the court ruled, there is need to regularly replace faded or damaged number plates promptly. This is for the good of the society.
Expectedly, the production of the number plate must involve the use of high-quality number plates that meet regulatory standards
Also, the FRSC should be encouraged to conduct regular checks and enforce regulations for the good of all.
