Morpy ... I think you're argument is a tad too simplistic ......
And John ... sorry ... I knew someone would bite!!
See the small number plate is either one of two reason ... fashion as you say or to try and avoid detection as Morphy says ....... personally I can understand the fashion one and have some sympathy .. although I've never bothered as I can't be arsed with the hassle it might cause.
As for the "simplistic" reasoning that we get the laws we vote for .... sorry but that just doesn't hold water mate......
We get the laws that the establishment decides it wants ... and the reasons for those can be various from crime fighting/reduction ... ease of doing something, reduced expenditure or social engineering.
Elections are decided on major issues ... not the detail of minor laws/regulations etc..... if a local MP wants your vote and will do somehting about the local schools/health service/policing etc. then you'll vote for him ... even if he thinks bikers ought to have number plates 10ft wide ... as the other issues are of far more consequence to society.
Thus politicians/civil servants are able to introduce laws/regulations (and these days more like statutory instruments - which mean no debate/discussion/agreement) that fit their purpose.
The policing debate will no doubt go on and on and on and on and on .....
My personal pet hate is the stupid reduction of speed limits that's appearing everywhere. The national limit is being eroded down to 50mpph wherever you turn. There's no debate/discussion/agreement - it just gets done.
Those that argue in favour use the simplistic "it's safer" argument. I don;t agree with that... it's more complex. Of course if we all didn't do more than 5 mph and someone walked in front of us with a red flag it wold be safer!!
Fact is accidents happen ... if someone has an accident we shold be looking at the real cause.
Take my pet soap box of the Cat & Fiddle roads ..... blanket 50 MPH limit even where the main road is better than the single track side roads with a 60mph limit !!!
Why is this .. it's cause some numpty's who can't control themselves and their machines come off and injure themselves. The problem is not the limit it's the numpty's and that's what should be tackled.
Meanwhile if I were to exceed the 50 mph limit I'd risk prosecution even though I could legally do that speed on a more unsafe road!!
The "cure" for any problem needs to be commensurate with the "risk" otherwise folks will question it and you eventually get unrest.
The health service has programs of innoculation for various things - but only those where the risk from not doing it is assessed as being high.
We don't all get told we must take a bunch of pills each day to keep colestrol/blood pressure/reduce risk of weils disease etc. 'cause it doesn't make sense to treat everyone for the problem afflicting the few.
The real danger at the moment that I see (both industry & govt etc) is that we are rapidly losing "corporate memory" ... what most folks would call "job knowledge".
With the fashion for "rapidly changing to react", "competency" based management etc we are losing sight of the long and hard learned lessons of our forbears (of even fozzy bear!). We now have to measure everything and only devote time to those things that can be measured.
This is a indication to me of weak management and ill thought through policies.
If you look at policing we can see that the key measures seem to be detection rates for notifiable crimes ... wonderful sentiment but what does it achieve in reality ???
It means that there's little incentive to deter crime by having "bobbies on the beat" as it's put.
Fact is the general population is not actually that daft after all ... it's understood that having police officers nearby or visually present/active reduces crime.
The public are more interested in stopping it happening in the first place rather than "detecting" it once the damage has been done.
Now there are all sorts of things about can we afford it etc... but that's just avoiding the issue. Personally I'd reduce MP's salary and expenses to pay for that !!