More news about cars, motorcycles and traffic – in the GAZAS.LT section.
From February 1, 2025 the stricter assessment of the condition of license plate signs at the technical inspection center is cancelled. Such a decision was taken by the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration (LTSA), after reviewing the statistics of identified deficiencies collected over the past two years and reassessing the reasons for initiating these changes.
Tightening would not help achieve the goal of preventing distortions
The state of the license plate is assessed during the mandatory technical inspection. The need to tighten the current procedure and requirements for assessing the condition of license plates arose from the improper reading of license plates – if a license plate is not properly attached, the meanings of symbols and numbers can be distorted, for example, 0 can be read as 8, instead of the number 6, the number 8 , and instead of the letter C, the letter O, and so on.
In order to avoid such misunderstandings, it is planned from 2025 in February to tighten the assessment of the condition of license plate signs at the technical inspection center and to consider the possibly misleading confirmation of the number plate as a “major defect”. In this case, the car would not be able to participate in public traffic.
“We reviewed the statistics of license plate defects accumulated over two years, and we also cooperated with the technical inspection association Transeksta, the Lithuanian Police and AB Regitra.” After assessing the challenges for both car owners and these institutions, we decided not to implement the change – non-compliance of the sign with the requirements will continue to be seen as a minor deficiency”, says LTSA director Genius Lukošius.
The tightening is canceled after assessing that the change would have affected a large proportion of car owners and would not have achieved the desired goal for which it was initiated.
Impressive statistics: the share of damaged numbers was an eye-opener
According to “Transeksta” data, from 2023 in July until 2024 in June almost 115 thousand during the technical inspection of the vehicles, a minor defect was found where the fasteners and/or associated holes were in the area of the license plate markings. This is slightly more than 11 percent. all vehicles that have passed technical inspection.
Practice shows that not all violations on the license plate affect their recognition by automatic violation control systems.
“There are also cases where the symbols or numbers of the number were damaged due to improper validation, but the automatic damage control systems read it well.
Mandatory technical inspection will certainly not solve the problem of drivers who maliciously seek to disguise or distort license plates, because this can be done even after leaving the technical inspection center,” Genius Lukošius comments on the decisions.
How will “ambiguous” numbers be evaluated?
In the future, only those drivers will be disciplined, whose vehicles’ license plate automatic violation control systems do not record or record incorrectly.
If, during the technical inspection, the inspector notices, for example, a screw screwed into the license plate clearly maliciously and with the intention of misleading, this will be considered a major defect.
LTSA will continue to monitor the situation – if abuse cases increase, together with social partners, solutions will be sought to eliminate such vehicles from participation in public traffic.
The requirements for correctly affixing vehicle license plates were approved in 2023. in the month of February.
What should be known when validating vehicle license plates?
License plate inscriptions of all types and formats have a security zone for license plates (shown by the red dotted line in the picture) that cannot be violated.
In this license plate marker area:
• letters and numbers should be intact
• clearly readable
• there can be no signs of damage or drilling, screws.
Damaged or damaged license plates can be replaced at Regitra AB. How to do it, more information at www.regitra.lt.
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**Interview with Genius Lukošius, Director of the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration**
**Editor:** Thank you for joining us today, Genius. The recent decision to cancel stricter assessments of license plate conditions during technical inspections has stirred quite a discussion. Can you explain why this decision was made?
**Genius Lukošius:** Thank you for having me. After a thorough review of the statistics over the last two years, we found that a significant number of license plates did not affect their readability by automatic violation control systems. In fact, our collaboration with organizations like Transeksta and the Lithuanian Police suggested that tightening these requirements would inadvertently impact a large number of car owners without achieving our original goal of avoiding misreading.
**Editor:** That’s an interesting perspective. What does the data specifically show about license plate defects?
**Genius Lukošius:** From July 2023 to June 2024, we discovered that about 11% of vehicles presented minor defects related to their license plate fasteners or markings. However, not all defects actually hindered the recognition of those plates by automatic systems. This data highlighted to us that the proposed improvements wouldn’t necessarily prevent misuse or distortions.
**Editor:** So, does this mean that inspecting license plate conditions during technical inspections will remain largely the same?
**Genius Lukošius:** Correct. Minor deficiencies will still be permissible, and we will focus on gross violations. In cases where inspectors identify intentional malfeasance, such as screws meant to obscure or alter the plate, that will be classified as a major defect.
**Editor:** Moving forward, how will you address the problem of drivers who might deliberately distort their plates?
**Genius Lukošius:** We will closely monitor patterns of abuse, and if we find a rise in deliberate distortions, we will work with our social partners to develop solutions that could eliminate such vehicles from public traffic. The key is a balance between enforcement and practicality for everyday drivers.
**Editor:** Thank you, Genius. Your insights into this issue are invaluable as we continue to assess vehicle regulations in Lithuania.
**Genius Lukošius:** Thank you for the opportunity to clarify our stance and decisions. We’re committed to fostering road safety while considering the realities faced by vehicle owners.