beating photo-radar | FerrariChat

beating photo-radar

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Bryanp, Jul 21, 2004.

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  1. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
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    Santa Fe, NM
    #1 Bryanp, Jul 21, 2004
  2. Enzo

    Enzo F1 Rookie

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    Pat Pasqualini
    #2 Enzo, Jul 21, 2004
    what is it about? That site makes you register
     
  3. Ferrari0324

    Ferrari0324 F1 Rookie

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    Brandon
    #3 Ferrari0324, Jul 21, 2004
    Can't view it if you're not registered.
     
  4. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #4 Bryanp, Jul 21, 2004
    oh christ - love the Post - I'll cut and paste in a bit. Basically, there is a clear-coat type spray that you can spray on your license plates that completely foils the cameras ability to shoot your plate once either the radar or the red-light-running trigger has been pulled.
     
  5. Bryanp

    Bryanp F1 Rookie

    Aug 13, 2002
    3,799
    Santa Fe, NM
    #5 Bryanp, Jul 21, 2004
    this is about a third of the article - the relevant part. I spared you the paragraphs wasted on the "ethical dilemma" one might face in using this product . . . .



    Cheaper than radar detectors (which are illegal in the District and Virginia), sprays such as PhotoBlocker, Photo Fog ($24) and PhotoStopper ($19.99) are advertised as reflecting the flash back at automated cameras to overexpose the license plate. The photo is said to look like a picture taken with a flash in front of a mirror -- glared.

    Other products cover license plates with plastic shields. The Reflector ($19.95) uses reflective sparkles embedded in clear plastic. The PhotoShield ($25) uses a thin prismlike lens. The License Plate Loover ($8.95) blocks the camera's view with an angled louver effect.

    These products sell mostly online, although some have found their way to auto parts stores. PhotoBlocker, for instance, is sold online at PhantomPlate.com and at 10 independent auto supply dealers between Baltimore and Centreville -- and at one car wash.

    "It sells okay. If I could sell it for $5, I could sell a whole lot more," says Harold Berger, owner of Kenilworth Car Wash in Hyattsville. "The people who usually buy it have gotten tickets. People don't want to spend $30 unless they got burned. It's like paying for a ticket upfront, only less."

    Joe Scott, marketing director for PhantomPlate, the Alexandria firm that makes PhotoBlocker, says about 100,000 cans have sold in four years. And with traffic camera programs multiplying faster abroad than in the United States, his product is now sold on six continents. "Sales have been phenomenal," he says.

    The big questions are: Do these products work, and are they legal?

    Former Baltimore police officer Bob Kleebauer conducted his own road test. Late one night in March, he drove to the intersection where his wife got a photo-radar ticket. His license plate coated with PhotoBlocker, he waited until no cars were coming, then ran the light.

    He took that "$75 chance" because he believes red-light cameras are revenue traps targeting decent people, says Kleebauer, now a telecom salesman. "Ninety-nine percent of the drivers who get caught are law-abiding citizens who do it accidentally. You are approaching a yellow light and you have a tenth of a second to brake or go. Make the wrong decision and they got you."
     
  6. Ferrari0324

    Ferrari0324 F1 Rookie

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    #6 Ferrari0324, Jul 21, 2004
    Ohh. I heard about that on tv a few months ago. They said that it really does work in California or Arizona (they use different types of cameras) but that it doesn't really trick the cameras in New York. Something about different cameras. You can also buy plastic covers for your plate that work the same way as the spray.
     
  7. nickm

    nickm Formula Junior

    Jan 20, 2004
    371
    Ventura Ca.
    #7 nickm, Jul 21, 2004
    $75 for a running a stop light ticket? I wanna live where you do!
    I'm pretty sure that ticket is $350 here, just north of Los Angeles.
    If I'm wrong about the exact price, I'm not off by mre than $50 or so.
     
  8. Ricambi America

    Ricambi America F1 World Champ
    Sponsor Owner

    Dec 7, 2003
    16,248
    Winston Salem, NC
    #8 Ricambi America, Jul 21, 2004
    Speaking as somebody who has been involved in a fairly serious accident because of running a red light, I think these products are obscene.

    Yes, the traffic cameras stink. Yes, they unfortunately encourage people to slam on the brakes to avoid a ticket. Yes, the camera/light timing is probably adjusted to generate revenue, etc. etc.

    Get t-boned at 40 miles an hour, and you'll think differently about going through a red light. Trust me.


    -Daniel
     
  9. Stackhouse

    Stackhouse F1 Rookie
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    #9 Stackhouse, Jul 21, 2004
    I just use the 007 rotating license plate to avoid the photo-cop.

    PD
     
  10. MondialTCab

    MondialTCab Formula 3

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    #10 MondialTCab, Jul 21, 2004
    If you don't want to register for a website, use this tool...
    http://www.bugmenot.com

    Enter the URL and get a username and password that is shared. For the Washington Post, you can use
    [email protected]
    cyberpunk

    - JMG
     
  11. RacerX_GTO

    RacerX_GTO F1 World Champ
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    #11 RacerX_GTO, Jul 21, 2004
    I'm not an advocate for running red lights, but I am surely no an advocate for money making red light cameras that are just ever so slightly tweaked to cash in on a 1 second yellow light or some other trick. I don't know what it is, but elected officials love money and they don't care how they get it.

    The sprays work as long as there is a red light camera with a flash. The key is to make the plate as gossy as possible.
    (It's texture resembles a super super hold hair spray, even dries like hairspray)

    Does anyone know about the next generation of red light cams?

    The don't need a flash, and they get a picture of you in front and in back. The new digital cameras are making headway in a very big way. They are mounted on high on top of the traffic signal posts and are usually white cylinder looking cams that are zoom capable with rotatable mounts. Anyone seen these yet? Metal detectors placed in the asphault before the limit line are designed to take a snapshot of a car moving foreward when the light is red. There is no film to take out of the box, so the ticket is printed at a remote location within hours.

    It's slightly off topic, but mounted on overpasses and slightly hidden, these same cams in the white cylinder cases are also enclosed with Lidar. You heard me right, Lidar, as in how fast were you driving. A remote operator can zap cars from his console and read the plates via zoom. Currently operational in Canada, I hope it does not make its way into the USA.
     
  12. JohnMH

    JohnMH Formula 3

    Jan 28, 2004
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    Dubai / Bologna
    #12 JohnMH, Jul 23, 2004
    We have that in Canada? Ok, I'm nervous now.

    The only thing you can do is fight every ticket, maximize the cost of prosecution such that it exceeds the revenue gained. Think of it as entertainment. If they want your $100, make them entertain you in court all day for it.

    If all tickets were contested, with adjournments, motions, etc., the system might not grind to a halt (it might), but it will make the enforcement of an unpopular law a less attractive option for local goverment who must cover the cost of the police, the expensive enforment equipment, the courts, etc. When an 8 hour day of the court only manages one conviction per hour, the system will run at an unacceptable loss.

    Ahhh... Now I feel better.
     
  13. Ingenere

    Ingenere F1 Veteran
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    #13 Ingenere, Jul 23, 2004
    I've only been 'foiled' by the speed cameras twice. Both times I was definitely speeding (60 in a 45) and both times I put my head down below the level of the dash and both times I got no ticket!!

    I would imagine what happened is that they have essentially no evidence of anyone driving the car...therefore no ticket!!!

    Best of luck

    Ciao

    Dino
     
  14. bernardo66

    bernardo66 The Crazy Cat Man
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Dec 14, 2003
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    #14 bernardo66, Jul 23, 2004
    How to beat photo radar? Locate the darned thing and (from behind) smash it to bits with a Louisville Slugger.
     
  15. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
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    May 29, 2001
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    #15 f355spider, Jul 23, 2004
    YEAH! With ya on that one my friend!! Stick it to the man! :)

    Dave
     
  16. KKSBA

    KKSBA F1 World Champ
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    #16 KKSBA, Jul 24, 2004
    One way I've heard of people thwarting the pole mounted speed cams is the building of a GPS database of known traps that sets off an alert in the GPS handheld when your approaching one. Early warning...
     

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