Reply #212: There are ways to defeat them.

[Xithras]

First, the spray on photoblockers really do work. They make your plates far more reflective, creating glare that makes the plates hard to read. For nightime photos taken with a flash, they're impossible to read. The problem? Finding the real deal can be tough. There's a lot of scammers on the Internet who will sell you repackaged hairspray or something like that KNOWING that you won't do anything once you find out the scam.

A newer trick is to put a thin sheet of smart glass between your plate and license frame. Smart glass turns white when an electric current is applied to it, effectively obscuring whatever is behind it. Wire it up to a button behind the steering wheel, and whenever you get to one of those intersections, just hit the thing. Your plates will be obscured and they can't send you a ticket.

Of course, both of these tricks are illegal as hell. It's very hard to get caught with the spray (they look fairly normal to the naked eye), but if a cop sees you hit the smart glass button, or if they DO catch you with the spray, you can face serious charges. Some people just get fined for obscuring their plates, but there have been a few cases where people have been charged with everything from "obstruction of justice" to "interfering with a police investigation" and "evasion". Depends on your local cops and DA.

Yes, I do have the spray on my plates. I have to pass through two camera equipped intersections every day...one of which is a known scam (impossible to get through the intersection before the light turns red if you enter as, or just after, it turns yellow).