Photo Radar

[Ronald T. Webb]

One comment on photo RADAR. In Anchorage, Alaska, it was tried. The judges would not convict (they are elected) and the people raised hell.

The police are public employees. They can be reminded of that if enough voices are loud enough!

Sorry to get so far off topic.

David Sagers wrote:

> The secretary here has a louver screen on the front of her monitor so that people can't read sensitive information over her shoulder.  The screen looks black if you are more than 30 degrees off center on the horizontal plane, but it does not block the view if you are above or below center.
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> The problem with louver film is that it would be very visible to the eye and you would be a target for police.  A better alternative would be a sheet of polarizing film.  Polarizing film would appear transparent to the naked eye but two polarizing filters crossed at 90 degrees block out all light.
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> I suspect that photoradar cameras have a polarizing filter set horizontal to cut back on glare.  A second polarizing screen, oriented vertical, over a license plate would block the view from a camera with a horizontally positioned polarizing filter.
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> You can check for a polarizing filter with another polarizing lens, such as a pair of sunglasses with polarizing lenses (mine were about $10 at Wal Mart).  Look through one polarizing lens at the photoradar and rotate the lens.  If the photoradar lens goes black then clear as you rotate your polarizing lens, the photoradar has a polarizing lens and you can use polarizing film to block the photoradar.
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> Most states don't have photo radar (yet!),  so you may not be interested in going to the trouble of getting a polarizing film to put over your license plate . . . Unless of course, you are concerned about secret government cameras tracking you as you drive down the road.