A pilot project in Mount Pearl and Paradise with speed cameras last year picked up a lot of vehicles whose plates were unreadable. In most cases, the lettering had peeled badly, possibly due to a manufacturing defect. But in any case, it is against the Highway Traffic Act to sport an ID tag in such condition.

Eighty-six per cent of the plates on vehicles cited for speeding were fine but the rest, 14 per cent, could not be identified according to the minister of digital government and Service NL, Sarah Stoodley.

In those cases, the owner of the vehicle would not get a ticket. Minister Stoodley says anyone with a defective tag can drop in or make an appointment at a government service centre and a replacement will be provided free of charge.