Photo Radar - was Re: oops... (was Re: Nology)

[Clarence L.Snyder]

Marc Piccioni wrote:
> 
> We have photo radar here in Alberta, most of the time they park on the
> right hand side of the road. All that is needed is to bend the right edge
> of the plate 45 deg. this way the camera can't read the last digit. It
> works.
> /Marc
> 
> ----------
> From:   Tom Parker[SMTP:tparker at nznet.gen.nz]
> Sent:   January 5, 1999 6:23 AM
> To:     Mos
> Subject:        Re: oops... (was Re: Nology)
> 
> Mos <s2193387 at cse.unsw.edu.au> wrote:
> 
> >What about painting the reflective stuff with opaque paint? Still the same
> >colour, just much less reflective.
> 
> In NZ if they catch you covering your plate in any way, you are in big
> trouble. If a copper was following you, he might notice that your  plate
> doesn't refelect like it should. At night, even dirty Plates light up from
> 100's of metres away.
> 
> My personal system would look a bit odd on most cars. I drive a mini which
> has
> a number plate hanging under the front bumper, with the bottom edge about 4
> inches above the ground. Mine is rather loosely attached and is bent in
> such a
> way that it hangs straight when you are stationary, but flies up under the
> bumper enough to dissapear when you are moving.
> 
> The only problem is if you see the camera and hit the brakes, then it
> probably
> reappears.
> 
> Doesn't work on the rear plate though.
> 
> --
> Tom Parker - tparker at nznet.gen.nz
>            - http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/8381/
> 
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Just "french" the plate - same effect, and legal.
When Ontario had Photo Radar they could not catch transport (semi)
trucks, because the rear plate of the cab was obscured, and the trailer
plate was untraceable. The flash had to shoot forward to avoid blinding
drivers (and tipping off oncoming traffic) The readability of the older
plates was pretty poor as well (not all are reflective) so tickets were
regularly issued to the wrong vehicle - including some that had been off
the road for several years and the plates not turned in.
Until transponders become standard (electronic toll roads like the
Ontario #407) photo radar will continue to be rather arbitrary and
failure prone - read that unfair. With electronic toll routes, radar
will be unnecessary, as average speed over random distances can be
calculated and the fine applied directly to your account. Driving with
unpaid fines amounts to theft of services, and can result in criminal,
not civil, liability when the fines excede $500.
Big Brother WILL be watching.
Now, the flip side.
You pull onto the toll road. If you do not pass the next scanning point
within, say, twice the expected time has passed, they automatically send
the wrecker out to look for you. Safety is enhanced as you never have to
accept "help" from a stranger. If someone is abducted from their broken
down vehicle, the authorities know EXACTLY who has been on that stretch
of road in the target time bracket.