Many have thought that license plate sprays and covers are a panacea for those afraid to get caught by speed radars and red light radars. Products like Photoblocker advertise their products as making license plates not legible by radar photos. Sounds good.... but do they really work?
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) went out and tested the products. Using 3 cars fitted with covers and spray, and one car as control car (ie not fitted with one of the products), they drove through a red light (traffic had been stopped, so not danger).
According to the test "The countermeasures had very little effect on the rear-plate vehicles, with the exception of the license plate shield, which caused a 38 percent reduction in plate legibility when combined with sun glare. The rear plates on the westbound vehicles plates experienced more sun glare than any other group in the test. This is most likely because the angle of the plate in relation to the sun reflected the glare more directly into the camera."
According to the study products like Photoblocker decreased the photo ability of the license plates by 10 to 20%, while the cover made 50% of the images unreadable.
The sun plays an important role in the productivity of the countermeasure products. A low sun makes the plates more difficult to read.
It's not the first time the products were tested and found not very productive. Discovery Channel's MythBusters tested plate covers in 2007, and arrived to a similar conclusion.
So it looks like the only alternative is to obey the rules of the road.... whether your in a car on or a motorcycle.
Via: The Newspaper
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