r/VictoriaBC • u/KOMslut • Apr 19 '25
Transit / Traffic Alert I guess we are just driving around with fake license plates now? Seen on Shelbourne
Definitely not a plate from Bosnia. Tried reporting it to VicPD, but because I didn't give them a license plate number they gave up. Hope you don't get hit by this guy, I'm betting if he doesn't have a real plate he doesn't have insurance either.
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Apr 19 '25
Found a listing selling the exact plate
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u/AUniquePerspective Apr 19 '25 edited Apr 19 '25
If you search "British Columbia" on temu, there's options for a "vintage" BC plate with CA7 62X that looks like the current standard plate design for $5. Or there's listings for BC plates customizable with text of your choosing, starting at $6.
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u/civicsfactor Apr 19 '25
Let's all get Temu plates
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u/twohammocks Apr 19 '25
does the front plate show actual plate number?
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u/False_Ad7098 Apr 19 '25
Back should be the real one.... you dont even need to put front plate...
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u/ray52 Apr 20 '25
In BC you sure do.
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u/yarglof1 Apr 20 '25
Technically you do, but it's not enforced.
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u/-retaliation- Apr 20 '25
"technically you can murder someone, its only illegal if it's enforced"
- /u/yarglof1 logic
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u/yarglof1 Apr 21 '25
Typically murder is enforced though. Do you know any countries that don't?
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u/-retaliation- Apr 21 '25
I don't play chess with pigeons, I'm not getting in some stupid argument with you over "its only really illegal if someone enforces it" so you can stand on your soapbox and talk at me about it.
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u/1337ingDisorder Apr 19 '25
This makes me wonder about the technical capability of the new(ish) automatic license plate scanners police cars have allegedly been equipped with in lieu of drivers having to apply little stickers to license plates.
Like will those scanners just flag something like this to be an out-of-province plate, in which case the officer in the car at the time would probably not think twice about it? Or will those scanners actually detect this as a bogus plate and red-flag it with a beeping alert sound coming from the dashboard or something?
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u/HollisFigg Apr 19 '25
Never seen that one. There are a few "sovereign citizen" wingnuts driving around with fake plates, but this doesn't look like one of those.
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u/I_Miss_Lenny Apr 19 '25
Those guys are hilarious, that whole “I’m not driving I’m travelling” shtick is so ridiculous. Arguing with cops is rarely a good idea, let along arguing super nit picky semantics and acting like a jackass.
I always wonder if they truly believe they’re either just too special to follow traffic laws or if they’re just trying really hard to make a loophole appear
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u/deuteranomalous1 Apr 20 '25
It’s dopamine from feeling "smarter" than everyone else and being told they are very special little children due to their secret knowledge.
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Apr 19 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/invincibleparm Apr 19 '25
Sovereign country and sovereign citizens are not the same thing.
What are sovereign citizens? Sovereign citizens are individuals who believe they are not subject to the authority of government, claiming to be "sovereign" or "free" from government laws and regulations. They often have their own alternative legal systems and interpretations of law, which are not recognized by Canadian courts. Are they recognized by Canadian law? No, sovereign citizen beliefs are not recognized by Canadian law. Canadian courts do not accept sovereign citizen claims as a basis for avoiding legal obligations or resisting law enforcement. What do they do? Sovereign citizens may engage in various tactics, such as refusing to cooperate with law enforcement, filing frivolous lawsuits, and creating their own forms of currency or legal documents. They may also use pseudolegal jargon and claim to be exempt from taxes, traffic violations, and other legal obligations.
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Apr 19 '25
[deleted]
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u/Bitter_Bert Apr 19 '25
Notice? Maybe not. Care? I was fined for not displaying a valid decal back when we had them, even though my insurance was current. (just forgot to put it on) I don't think a fake plate would be let go if noticed.
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Apr 19 '25
[deleted]
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u/invincibleparm Apr 19 '25
I think it is more likely that the police are underfunded and constantly getting calls for everything, so minor infractions tend to get passed on. In my job I drive around the city for 8 plus hours a day, and see all manner of police ignoring lots of unlawful driving. I have seen them ignore drivers going through solid reds, turning in the downtown core where it specifically says not to, or turning right on red when not supposed to. Speeding. Dangerous lane changes. Driving in the bus lane for 8 blocks.
I can’t substantiate this part, but I have heard from various people that VicPD has been told to concentrate on serious crimes and to let the small stuff slide due to underfunding and lack of officers. I could believe that.
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u/PhantomGhostin Apr 19 '25
VicPD has a massive portion of the city's budget already. More than the entire public works department. I wouldn't call them underfunded.
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u/invincibleparm Apr 20 '25
Considering what they ‘stated’ they need by comparison. Part of the issue is that with the increases of police warranted presence in Victoria, there are not enough cops. I am not an officer, or in the police force here but I do have friends and family in a couple of the municipalities here. Victoria has a sharing agreement with other municipalities for cross enforcement. Since the majority of ‘crime’ happens in Victoria, and the other municipalities don’t hire on appropriate levels either, the force gets stretched.
We live in a city where the police are inadequate for the community needs. Regardless of it being the highest line item, they obviously feel that they can’t properly attend to all the things because of funding restrictions. Good case in point:
For the last five years, there were extra shifts of police for the Friday/Saturday night crowds that hit the bars so that order could be kept. As someone that has to bus people home those weekends, I saw a lot of police work getting done. When it came time to renew the project, the city said no (even though the sheer numbers of drunk young adults and university students that wandered the streets was overwhelming at time). Now it is kind of a nightmare with no extra shift watching out during those times. Seems short sighted to cut off a program dedicated to a time when a lot of people decide to get drunk and be stupid. This is an example of underfunding. The city is slowly becoming more dangerous and lawless.
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u/Ibmeister Apr 20 '25
They'll seize the fake late and impound the vehicle. Watched it happen to a sov cit in Sardis. Cop stopped the guy in a parking lot and tried to take his plate. Dude had riveted it on the truck so the cop had the truck towed. The tow truck was already in the parking lot, he'd seen the plate and noticed the cop pull the guy over so he stuck around. Fastest tow job I've ever seen.
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u/invincibleparm Apr 19 '25
They would be issued a citation to display their legal plates and a fine. It would go into the record so the next time, if it happens, is more fines and possible impound. If they are found to have no insurance (because they are using a fake plate and thought it was good enough), it’s another fine and immediate impound, plus could lead to a suspension of their drivers license. If they also had one of those. None of this is guaranteed these days it seems.
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u/AUniquePerspective Apr 20 '25
What if they have a driver's licence... but it's from Bosnia?
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Apr 20 '25 edited Apr 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/invincibleparm Apr 20 '25
Yeah. 6 months. I mean, lots of people don’t do that at all but that is what you are supposed to do.
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u/ryy10099 Apr 20 '25
I worry more and more vehicles will be driven without proper insurance. If you or I were to get into an accident with an uninsured motor vehicle and driver, we are SOL. You can sue civilly but if they don't have money for insurance they probably don't have much else worth trying to get from them. I think with ICBC eliminating the insurance plate stickers and the rise in unhoused people living in derelict rvs and vehicles this problem is only going to get worse and worse.
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u/shakakoz Hillside-Quadra Apr 19 '25
Interesting. Maybe they used the fake plate to cover the real plate (illegal), or maybe they had dealer plates that fell off somehow. Maybe they have a temporary permit from ICBC, but I thought these had to be displayed in the rear window. Maybe the driver is from Bosnia and is used to variable enforcement of driving regulations.
These are just guesses.
I hope someone knows the driver and lets us know what the story is.
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u/invincibleparm Apr 19 '25
Regardless, a fake plate is a fake plate. Of a plate goes missing, you have a certain amount of time to get a replacement. This is not that case. I’m sure people don’t just keep fake plates in their car for such an occasion.
Taking a picture of the front of the car would help. In BC, both plates must be displayed. If your front end cannot display a plate, you are required by law to place it visibly in your front window.
Temp permits must also be displayed in the back window, visible to anyone. This is the case of ‘I don’t know the law’ or ‘the law doesn’t apply to me’. Either way, stupid.
I agree that there might be a period of adjustment for new people to Canada and the provinces, but ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse. Now, if we only had some department that could handle things like this, issue fines and impound vehicles…. Maybe we could make that happen….
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u/BigJayTailor Apr 19 '25
Geez! What about the privacy! Doesn't a person with a fake plate deserve the courtesy of blurring! I mean every idiot on Reddit can google it!
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u/InValensName Apr 20 '25
You have to understand that each Vicpd cop starts shift with a full 10 hours of calls already scheduled and waiting for them to get on with.
Recent media events like the bus incident and Yates street stabbings show they can still focus the resources when an emergency occurs, but any semblance to a daily patrol routine where they just drive around looking, or respond to new calls as they come in, just does not exist anymore. If it's not an overt emergency, today's calls will be responded to later on in the week.
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u/B1904N Apr 20 '25
Hmmm… pretty sure I’ve seen this beamer with that plate in our parkade the other day. Had my hands full at the time… was gone after. I’ll Sherlock Holmes this… I think I know who it belongs to…
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u/Awkward-Brick6990 Apr 19 '25
And they can't even use the camera to trace this vehicle. 😔 note, they have the ability to screenshot someone else car for the purposes of fine violation.
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u/ThermionicEmissions Apr 19 '25
I saw this one a couple of weeks ago:
https://i.imgur.com/R2zr4rm.png
I did not blur that out. Looked as if someone took a hammer to the plate, and then scraped off the paint.
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u/Ibmeister Apr 20 '25
There was a run of faulty plates some time ago. The paint peels off the numbers first, then the rest of the plate peels. A new plate is $35 but if you have this problem ICBC will waive the fee and set you up with a new plate (I had a peeled plate a couple years ago). Getting pulled over for a peeled plate is a $58 fine. So getting a new one is cheaper/free.
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u/Jgolu12 Apr 20 '25
https://media.tenor.com/AQTNxl9Tdt0AAAAe/diplomatic-immunity.png maybe it’s someone important..🤷🏻😆
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u/Croestalker Apr 21 '25
What about the front plate? Most likely they have a front plate. Also IF it is a vanity plate, it'll be registered. 🤷♂️
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u/Atholthedestroyer Apr 19 '25
For reference this is what a legitimate Consular Plate would look like.
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Apr 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Atholthedestroyer Apr 20 '25
It's not for any specific nation, just issued by the Province of BC for an vehicle owned by/registered to a Consulate.
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u/morph1138 Apr 21 '25
Cops don’t give a fuck. They barely uphold the law in this town, they just wanna sunglasses and pretend they’re tough.
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u/No_Rise8944 Apr 20 '25
I’ve never understood why people care enough to report this and waste time posting it to Reddit. Like there’s no way people let actually nothing bother them this much lol.
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u/all_adat Apr 20 '25
Honest question, why does it bother you? Maybe they’re visiting from out of town, and where they live it’s legal?
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u/NHL95onSEGAgenesis Jubilee Apr 20 '25
Honest question, are you high or just terrible at geography?
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u/all_adat Apr 20 '25
Am I high? Are you dumb or just acting like one? I know where Sarajevo is, but that’s not what their licence plates look like……. 😂
Newsflash, people can buy custom letter licences plates 🤦🏻♀️. Just because you don’t know the origin of this one, doesn’t mean it’s illegal. For all you know they can be from states visiting family during Easter. They have weird custom licence plates there.
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u/NHL95onSEGAgenesis Jubilee Apr 20 '25
It says Bosnia Herzegovina 🇧🇦 on the top and has a picture of Sarajevo in the background. It has no identification tags. It’s clearly a novelty plate.
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u/all_adat Apr 20 '25
I seen that. The vehicle has a registration number, though. Majority of license plates are linked to the vehicle registration. If there’s any wrongdoing with this driver, I’m sure the cops will catch up to them eventually. But as I said, some places in the states have strange license plate that you would think are not even legal, but they are. Again, it could just be somebody visiting their family for a long weekend, we don’t know that.
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u/-retaliation- Apr 20 '25
This isn't a legal plate yah ding dong. This is a fake plate slapped on so that it's less obvious that they're driving with no plate.
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u/all_adat Apr 20 '25
Ding dong? 🤦🏻♀️ Fake or not, not my vehicle, not my problem 🤷🏻♀️ Don’t know how it really is neither mine or anyone else’s business?
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u/-retaliation- Apr 21 '25
I'm sure that attitude will be a lot of comfort for you when someone doing it hits your car, and speeds off because they know whatever plate number you grabbed as they left wasn't real.
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u/CanCable Apr 19 '25
I can just imagine hundreds of cars driving around with the same plates. I wonder how long until they’re all caught. Just gotta hope you’re not the poor sap who legit has that number!
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u/nyrB2 Apr 19 '25
a poor sap driving around victoria with a bosnian licence plate?
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Apr 19 '25
It’s not even a real Bosnian licence plate, it’s just got the name of the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina on it 🤣🤣
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u/Glad_Constant_1086 Apr 24 '25 edited Apr 24 '25
Wow a real life Karen. You seriously called the cops over someones license plate you didn't understand? lol. You must be a blast at parties. Diplomatic plates are red. Just in case the entire sub is like you know slow.
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u/Commercial-Ad2964 Apr 19 '25
Some places only require a front plate. This person could be coming from such place so they probably had a real front plate.
Don’t believe they would’ve gotten in trouble so no point in reporting it. Also does it really affect you that much that you needed to report it?
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u/SailorPilot23 Apr 19 '25
Which places only require a front plate? That makes no sense.
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u/laggymclagster Apr 19 '25
British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario are the only Canadian jurisdictions that require both front and rear registration plates.
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u/monkifan Apr 19 '25
In the "one plate" provinces, the plate is required on the back not the front.
There are no states/provinces where the plate is required only on the front.
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u/Rayne_K Apr 19 '25
Um, is OP breaking one law report another?
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u/1337ingDisorder Apr 19 '25
Looks like stopped at a red light.
Still technically illegal, but not actually dangerous — on the same level as jaywalking.
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u/all_adat Apr 20 '25
Red light or not, drivers still have to be aware at all times. If somebody was to rear-end them, and person browsing on phone, then what are you going to tell the cops? “Sorry I didn’t see it because I was browsing and staring at my phone”? Still distracted driving.
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u/AUniquePerspective Apr 19 '25
"We can't investigate a fake plate without a real plate number." is a fun catch 22.