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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=81277

Speed camera foe tries a trick license plate ID

By Brian Powell, Tribune
December 27, 2006


CONFUSING: Sean Tierney’s license plate is made up of a series of O’s, D’s and zeros.

Sean Tierney hates photo radar. So he decided to think up a creative way to challenge the system and avoid a future ticket. Tierney is not covering up or altering his license plate in any way. And he’s not selling anything.

Instead, the Tempe high-tech businessman ordered a customized Arizona license plate of zeroes, O’s and D’s that blend together in a way that could make it confusing for a photo-enforcement citation reviewer to confirm the license plate.

Tierney doesn’t know if it will work, and doesn’t plan to test it by speeding by one of the cameras.

But he wrote on his blog that he hopes others will pay the $25 fee for a new vanity plate to take advantage of the 2,187 possible combinations.

“Photo radar (ticks) me off, to be quite frank, and rather than do some little trick to conceal the plate, I thought of a creative way to deal with it,” Tierney said. “Who knows if it’s going to help? I’m just telling people how to do it if they want to.”

Tierney, who has moved from Scottsdale to Tempe but still owns a home in Scottsdale, is the CEO of JumpBox, a Tempe-based start-up company that produces “virtual appliances” so software programs can be more quickly installed.

The 31-year-old said he’s received one photo-radar ticket on a surface street and, despite previously driving Loop 101 on a regular basis, never received a ticket from Scottsdale’s controversial freeway trial program that ran from January through October.

Tierney is opposed to the cameras primarily because Scottsdale calls them a safety measure, but Tierney said he believes the main intent is to make a profit.

The Loop 101 photo-enforcement program, which used in-pavement sensors and cameras to capture images of speeders on the freeway, has been a money maker for Scottsdale, bringing in close to $800,000 in General Fund profit.

It also has generated an additional $450,000 for its court-enhancement fund.

Final numbers are not available as citations continue to work their way through the court system.

Tierney also believes people become so preoccupied with avoiding a ticket, that more dangerous traffic conditions are created.

The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled on Jan. 16 to receive an analysis of the freeway photo-enforcement program, including crash, traffic flow and traffic volume data.

The council will then decide whether to resume the Loop 101 program.

Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman, said photographs from each speeding detection are reviewed by Redflex, a private company that operates the city’s photo-enforcement program.

A notice of citation is issued if there’s a match between the person driving and information registered with the Motor Vehicle Division, which is obtained by a photo of the license plate.

“If the license plate is unreadable, there’s nothing they can do with it and the activation is rejected,” Clark said.

When told about the concept of Tierney’s plate, Clark said he didn’t know if it would work. “The only way we found to beat a photo-radar system is don’t speed,” Clark said.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

And if they don't, then he has shot himself in the foot big style by creating an instantly recognisable licence plate and advertised the fact.

Not very bright those American folks are they

In the US most states don't require a front plate, so no SPECS there then. Also they can have temporary tags which are unreadable more than a couple of feet away. I see lots of cars with no tags at all, they don't seem to concerned about it. The police love it because it gives them the excuse to stop and check IDs for outstanding warrants.

I have been to 32 states and i drive/ride about 5-10Kmiles a year there. I have NEVER seen photo speed enforcement cameras. I have seen several red light cameras. I have been stopped 4 times by traffic police though....

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Speed camera policy Kills

Rigpig, as you say, if others don't buy the plates then his is uniquely identifiable, so he had to publicise it in order to encourage others to take up the other possible permutations. The more people to it, the safer each individual becomes.

On US custom motorcycles it is common to mount the plate side on. I wonder what ANPR would make of it if we started to do it in the UK on car front plates. come to think of it, is it illegal to mount a plate side on in the uk.....maybe not..........

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Speed camera policy Kills

That's why certain characters are not permitted for use on VRMs in this country (Q I Z from the top of my head), also a particular font must be used.

In theory, this trick can't happen in the UK - in theory

If this trick has been found to exist here, the character D might also become prohibited.

Hmmmm! I would not advise trying it out in our patch We do things the old fashioned way anyway

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Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

Q, and Z are used on index plates.
The yanks plate idea couldn't work here, because the plates are all uniform design. Hadn't you noticed how hard it is to get a new plate now ?. It is to stop "crooks" getting plates and cloning a car...Oh, but crooks don't obey laws do they....so...

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article334686.ece



http://www.spy.org.uk/spyblog/2005/12/national_anpr_database_guilt_b.html

Oops, I just found that Z is allowed (I'm sure it wasn't), but I can't find a personalised plate website that allows Q.
Perhaps I was (wrongly) thinking of the old style plates?

'Q' is reserved for use in special cases. 'Q' plates indicate a vehicle of indeterminate age. In most cases these vehicles are either imported or specially built: kit-cars, converted lawnmowers etc.

Ta

I've got a Jap import, can I swap the reg mark for one beginning with Q?

QU 1 CK

Numberplate information: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/media/pdf/leaflets/inf104.pdf

How come it is $25 for a personalised numberplate when it's £100s over here?

I searched for a registration and got this...

Yeek!

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Andrew.

Rip-off Britain, Thats because the DVLA has become a cash cow. not only do they sell your personal information to 3rd parties but they will rip you off for a personal plate. US registrations work completely differently to ours. If you move state you have to re-register and personal plates are on a first come first served basis. The don't have the same stupid age related plates or pre-set number/letter sequences either. Some citizens such as veterans also qualify for their own unique registrations as well.

here is how they do it Stateside...
http://www.dot.state.ia.us/mvd/ovs/plates/personal.htm

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Speed camera policy Kills

I think it's a really good idea that DVLA sells registrations at auction. The Government creates 'wealth' by issuing certain patterns of numbers or letters that people want to buy. The money paid for these registrations means less tax for the rest of us (all things being equal). And one presumes that the purchasers are happy or they wouldn't have bid for the plate.

However the reason for people deciding to spend thousands or tens of thousands on a 'cherished plate' remain a mystery to me. Is it mostly to do with 'new money'?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Several years ago now at the NEC motor show I enquired with a company there about the availability of plate 'ROB1N'. I was informed it was up for sale, and the couple selling it were inviting offers in excess of £75,000!!!!

Because stupid Brit consumers are vain enough to fork out £100s for a personalised number plate. Thats how come.

Yes, it's supply and demand. I can't see any problem with selling VRMs if people gain pleasure from them. I also have no problem with the DVLA selling them otherwise the "luck of the draw" would see the Government randomly giving away valuable assets to people who buy new cars.

I don't know if plates are transferrable in the USA as they are here. A ban on transfers would stop this trade dead in its tracks (and kill the car indusrty as lots of people would hang on to old cars with "good" plates).

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

The rules vary depending which state you are in. Some states the plate stays with the vehicle, some the plate stays with the persom.

I think generaly the rules work well over there. The authorities issue the actual plate (so no tampering with the layout) but the upside is that they generaly have a range of background styles to chose from to customise the design.

I like their motorcycle plates they are tiny compared to ours

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Speed camera policy Kills

Q plates have a bad reputation that would impact the price, I wouldn't recommend willingly putting a Q onto a vehicle:

http://www.hpicheck.com/newfrontend/glo ... sp#_qPlate
http://www.rac.co.uk/web/knowhow/glossa ... s_checks#q

Also some insurers refuse to deal with Q-plates, or hike the price.

They’re big business. When the Driving (sic) and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) began selling numberplates in 1989 as a means of boosting Treasury coffers, it raised £4.5m in the first 12 months. In the last financial year that figure had jumped to £77.5m. The total amount raised to date is more than £95Om.

Auctions are held in stately homes, country house hotels, even castles, and attract thousands of bidders in person, via phone lines and the internet. The DVLA’s most lucrative sale remains K1 NGS, sold for £235,000 in 1993, but prices are rising all the time and values can double on the open market, where the most desirable plates regularly fetch more than £100,000.

VIP 1, issued in Ireland to mark a visit by the pope, sold in 2000 for £85,000 and recently went back on the market for £250,000. Once irredeemably naff, personalised or “cherished” plates are now popular with everyone from salesmen to royalty. The Queen owns the registration A 7 and the Princess Royal once owned 1 ANN before giving it up for security reasons.