After commenting on my traffic camera ticket, I thought about a jammer for them. Would this work?
I noticed on my camcorder that when I used its IR remote, that it “saw” the light coming from the remote and recorded it as a white flash.
Now, if I [list=1]
[li]go to Radio Shack and got a bunch of IR remote bulbs[/li][li]string them together electrically[/li][li]arrange them in a web[/li][li]place them over my licence plate or plates and power them[/li][/list=1]
would this record as a confusing grid of lights over my plate number by these cameras? If this works, is it illegal? If so, why aren’t those stupid smoked plastic plate covers?
OK, it’s probably illegal. But would they catch me?
Since the bulbs are tiny and clear, the plate would be completely readable normally. And if a camera recorded my image, how would they find me if they can’t read the plate?
Um, I’d think that sooner or later, some cop walking back to his car at Dunkin’ Donuts past your car is gonna happen to notice that you’ve got lights hanging all over your license plate. Going over to investigate–“What is that, Christmas lights or somethin’?”–he will end up writing you a ticket.
One other tidbit. I was researching the various laws against obscuring license plates. Those smoky license plate covers are illegal - but it seems the laws are rarely enforced. Also, in some places (like Virginia), it is illegal to alter the color of your license plate. Hmmmmm… They may not have intended it when they wrote the statute, but it seems IR bulbs would violate both the spirit and letter of the law - at least in this aspect.
You probably wouldn’t be caught until you were pulled over for some other reason.
Well, not that I’m advocating breaking the law, but if you drove the LEDs hard enough, making them shine bright enough, you would only need to place them around the plate, in a custom frame.
Then your plate would be unobscured, and the frame would look like just another one of those cheesy marquis frames… if a cop asked you to demonstrate it, you could just say it was broken.
But it’s a lot easier to just not run red lights! We’d all appreciate it if you don’t. Thanks in advance.
You would need to test it to see if it worked. You can’t trust that the red light camera uses the same sensor that your camcorder does.
As far as getting a ticket goes I don’t think you would get a ticket. People have all sorts of funky lighted license plate holders just put some regular lights around it and say you are being hip not breaking
While driving on the New Jersey turnpike earlier this year, I got distracted from counting the cars to notice a Miata with DC plates in front of me.
The licence plate had a weird film on it, so that when viewed from a certain angle (directly behind, I think), the licence plate number was blurred out. When viewed from any other angle, it was perfectly readable.
those stupid photo tickets (which i think are totally bogus) are usually dependant on being able to verify the driver’s face in the photo. so when going through an intersection where you know there is a camera, you can just block your face somehow and they can’t verify that it was you driving the car, therefore can’t give you a ticket.
I have worked for one of the dreaded photo radar/red light camera companies! Oh no, I am such a menace to the free world!
Smoky plate covers don’t work. “Obscuring” plate covers don’t work. Usually, covering your face doesn’t work, because you are driving and you don’t see the flash until it’s too late.
Unless of course, you are running a red light on purpose, and you plan ahead… :rolleyes:
I agree, best not to get a ticket! It’s just not worth the hassle! Especially if my kid is going to be crossing the street at an intersection you like to run…
You don’t want people calling you “Rebecca Gayheart” now, do you?
This is not true. AFAIK, most jurisdictions, when issuing traffic infractions of this nature, rest on the presumption that the owner of the car is responsible for its disposition. If you get a parking ticket, try telling the court that someone else borrowed your car and parked it illegally. I’m sure they won’t make you pay the fine if they can’t prove you’re the one who parked the car.
There is a spray that you can apply to license plates that creates an invisible film that scatters the light from a flash in such a way that flash bulbs are relfected as bright white flashes, rendering the image un-readable.
The spray is sort of like a silicone spray, with thousands of little reflecting particles…under most conditions, it invisible…but when a flash hits it, it just reflects a bright white fuzzy flash.
I’ll try to find a link somewhere. Last time I found some good links I posted them only to have the boards go down and have some threads lost. Argh.
Purely hypothetically-- what about painting “dazzle” camoflage patterns over the plate using some IR reflective pigment (I’m thinking that Liquitex iridescent mica that looks clear head-on, but is highly reflective from any sharp glancing angle)? Not complete coverage, but enough to obscure the letters?
BTW…these sprays were used most frequently in toll lanes that required “EZ Pass”, or “Fast Pass” type payment modules.
the idea: Don’t buy the module, disguise your plate with said spray, and drive thru the tolls. Most let you thru, to keep traffic flowing, and then flash a pic of the plate and send you a ticket, unless you’ve called and made payment within 24 hours.
