Test plate: when it can be used, limits and fines

Intriguingly, that square “plate” usually superimposed on the real plate. It’s there test platea tool granted by the Ministry of Transport to professionals, traders and companies. Unlike common license plates, the test plate is not linked to the vehicle but to the company that requested it. Consequently, since it is continually moved from one vehicle to another, it is not seen fixed on the car but kept in a special case. The dimensions are different (it is quite small and square) and the format is different: the test plate is identified by a sequence of five alphanumeric characters blacks on a white background. Here’s what you need to know.

GRANT

—

To establish the main regulatory “boundaries” on test plate it is Presidential Decree 474/2001, which among other things sets the dimensions at 165 x 165 mm. The tool can be requested by a series of professionals (manufacturers, dealers, workshops, research bodies, etc.) for whom there is no obligation to register vehicles that “circulate on the road for needs connected with technical, experimental or construction tests, demonstrations or transfers, also for sales or set-up reasons”. The license plate can be used on an unregistered vehicle or one already registered but without third party insurance or inspectionon board which you can travel on any Italian public road for journeys not exceeding 100 km. It can be used, for example, by a dealer to let a potential customer test the car. The insurance company of the test plate is liable for any damage to third parties caused by an accident.

LIMITATIONS

—

However, the legislation poses some limitations limitations on the use of the test plate: You can’t apply it on a car and use it freely. The authorization can be used on only one vehicle at a time and must be kept on board the vehicle. There purpose of the move it must also be consistent with the need for which the test plate was requested (it must be legitimate), and the holder of the test circulation authorization or alternatively one of his employees or collaborators must be present on board the car, provided that they have a delegation and have a demonstrable “functional collaboration relationship with the authorization holder”. In short, it cannot be used as if it were a “normal” license plate.. The test circulation authorization, therefore the test plate itself, is valid for one year, at the end of which it must be renewed if necessary. A recent regulatory update has introduced the possibility of request more than one test plateand at the same time limited transportation to a single passenger, excluding the driver.

SANCTIONS

—

If the car with test plate comes used improperlyfor example for personal travel, or the holder of the authorization or even a delegate is not present on board, the Highway Code, in article 98, provides for an administrative fine of between 87 and 344 euros. If you exceed three violationsthe sanction is double: the administrative one varies from 173 to 694 euros, and the confiscation of the vehicle is also foreseen.