A four-day deluge of letters and SMS messages sent out late last month by Access Canberra ahead of an extended automated number plate scanning program has revealed the startling number of unregistered vehicles on ACT roads. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading $ 0 / $ NaN /year All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox Interactive Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue Between July 25 and July 31, around 60,000 vehicle owners whose ACT rego had lapsed for between 14 days and 2 years were sent a tersely worded "courtesy letter" demanding owners to "register your vehicle - or risk significant fines".
The blanket mailout - together with 46,034 SMS - came as the government flagged that from August 27, it would trigger the capability to detect unregistered and uninsured vehicles through its mobile phone detection, red light and speeding cameras. "If you have recently registered your vehicle, please disregard this letter," the government correspondence stated. What happened next was significant.
From the start of August, any drivers caught by the ACT's mobile phone detection camera network will also be checked for valid rego. Picture supplied Within days of the letters and SMS going out, around 1600 more vehicle registrations - in addition to the ACT average of 12,400 regular weekly renewals - suddenly landed at the .