Whats the go with certain number plates? (seems a bit slim shady)

[HULK EF]

As above^... Have noticed driving around at night lately certain BLack number plates appear at certain distances when headlights on them to virtualy turn a bright silver shade making the letters/numbers all but invisible..

Is this an official RTA plate? or people trying to avoid speed camera's.. ?? surely unreadable number plates would land you in the poo if a patroling officer was driving behind you?

[Revolver]

Which state?

[HULK EF]

The 1st state! lol NSW.

[V3RSAC3]

Yeah they have them here in S.A. they are made that way for some reason. Ours are the custom XX plates that do it.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by HULK EF

As above^... Have noticed driving around at night lately certain BLack number plates appear at certain distances when headlights on them to virtualy turn a bright silver shade making the letters/numbers all but invisible..

Is this an official RTA plate? or people trying to avoid speed camera's.. ?? surely unreadable number plates would land you in the poo if a patroling officer was driving behind you?

YES!!! I'm not the only one.

I have seen it many times now, don't know if they have hit the cover of the plate with reflective film / spray but I know exactly what you mean.

The plate from a certain distance / angle is almost a whitey / silver blur and you cannot make out the letters till very close, if at all.

This only appears at night.... Very curious if anyone knows the answer.

[kaniSS]

Happens with Red plates a lot. I bet you 100 it's an RTA stuff up...

[R1XSTA]

Nothing beats the old Number plate protectors that at a 10degree angle, become invisible.

[jamesson1980]

I got some pics here somewhere of a car that's parked at work.. it's not the plates, it's a cover and for cops following the car it looks normal but once viewed from any wider or higher angle (say the angle of a toll or speed camera) all that can be seen is silver.
One moment I'l get the pics...

[R1XSTA]

Originally Posted by jamesson1980

I got some pics here somewhere of one I spotted parked at work.. it's not the plates, it's a cover and for cops following the car it looks normal but once viewed from any wider or higher angle (say the angle of a toll or speed camera) all that can be seen is silver.
One moment I'l get the pics...

Thats what im talking about right there!

[craigrobinson]

where are the pics?????????

[jamesson1980]

AS you can see, it's impossible to see the whole thing at once. And anyone other than a car directly behind will never see the whole thing.

Personally, if I don't wanna pay a toll, I don't use the road, don't want speeding fines, don't speed.. but some have outsmarted the system (for the time being at least).. and as you may notice, the owner probably doesn't struggle for a dollar.. in fact, I personally know he doesn't

[burnz]

Originally Posted by jamesson1980

I personally know he doesn't

how well do you know this bloke??
ask him where to buy!

[R1XSTA]

They're incredible. But i think you get a hefty fine if you're found to have them!

[craigrobinson]

oh look there is a Chev Badge..... hahahahahahahahahahaha sorry, just stiring the pot.... only a little.... lol.

i wanna get some of these plate protectors!!!!

[TheInterceptor]

Originally Posted by craigrobinson

oh look there is a Chev Badge..... hahahahahahahahahahaha sorry, just stiring the pot.... only a little.... lol.

i wanna get some of these plate protectors!!!!

Group buy!

[jamesson1980]

Yeh the car is mint, with or without the Chev badge.. massive wheels, huge exhaust note, plus they have a matching sedan, same colour, same wheels, one digit difference in the number plate.. but same plate covers on both cars. It's clever but I think it's a non-bloke act hiding your ID to get away with stuff on the road

[Dave3911]

I met someone once who had their plate rigged up with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_glass once. Doesn't really work for speed cameras/police.... but he used it for free travel on toll roads all the time.

He was saying that as it only remains clear with a charge applied (and obviously not wanting to be too obvious when parked) he had issues with the battery running flat - so ran a 2nd battery just to power it. He also had issues with the glass being a bit fragile and had a few breaks.

A lot of time, effort and $$$ though.... probably a lot more than if he had just paid the toll! But still, was quite cool to see his no. plate disappear at the touch of a button.

[stevz]

I recall reading somewhere that speed cameras use infra-red technology which focuses on the raised lettering of the number plate, and with a little manipulation of the image using a computer program, the number plate can still be read no matter what coatings/covers/sprays are used to disguise it.

[Airmon]

Its not a number plate cover that is causing this. It is just the new NSW RTA Custom plates. I think they are supposed to be reflective for safety but they become fairly useless.

Its only fairly recent (6-12months) and its only custom plates, be they black, pink, white, etc, I've seen a whole range of colours do it.

A few mates have gotten these plates, no covers, and they are impossible to read at night from a distance.

[xtremerus]

That's why number plate covers are illegal.
Though 1000s of cars have them.

[Halfmo Rocks]

the OP said black plates...i assume he means white on black...i know what he's saying, here's a couple of pics of mine

daylight in the driveway



and night time with a flash, just a minute ago


from this angle it is close to unreadable



but here it reflects, very shiny...but you can still read the plate.
some reflective safety feature i assume...there were just as i got them from the rta

[HULK EF]

thats the plate! ^ how he hell a black back ground turn shiney slver??!!!

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by HULK EF

thats the plate! ^ how he hell a black back ground turn shiney slver??!!!

Have had new plates for about 2 weeks now and they do the same thing. Im not fussed.

[cartaa100]

i have the the custom black and white nsw plates and they have just a normal number plate cover on them there are pratically invisible with any head lights on them! :P

[2011G6E]

Last year at the Rockhampton Swap Meet I was walking towards the entrance and saw an Asian family pull up in a 1990's silver 450 SEL Mercedes Benz. Bit tatty round the edges, but still a nice car. As I casually glanced at the rear of the car as I approached, I realised I couldn't read the licence plate...it was just fogged. Puzzled, I watched it as I walked past, and the numbers "appeared" as I was directly behind it, then as I walked further, they faded and fogged out again!
Really curious by now (and making sure the owners had walked inside the showgrounds), I had a really close look, and couldn't figure out how it worked. It appeared to have a normal clear plastic licence plate surround with black plastic border, like you'd buy for five bucks in any discount store. I walked back and forwards behind it a few times, and it seemed that unless you were directly behind the car or maybe a couple of degrees either way, the plates were invisible!

I'd imagine it was some sort of fresnal lens effect in the plastic licence plate cover, but it was very ingenious. Fresnal lenses are usually pretty obvious though even looking directly through them, so if it was one, it was very carefully moulded into the plastic.

I did wonder what the fine would be for something like that, as if casual old me noticed it straight away, the The Plod would have to notice it sooner or later. Unless you were ballsy enough to claim total ignorance and that they were "on there when I bought it".

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Unless you were ballsy enough to claim total ignorance and that they were "on there when I bought it".

ignorance is not a defence in face of the law. that's the rule, otherwise half the country would get away with breaking the law.

[Halfmo Rocks]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

ignorance is not a defence in face of the law. that's the rule, otherwise half the country would get away with breaking the law.

exactly...intentionly blurred or dirty from the environment both mean ''you know what you did wrong''...as they should. number plates are there for a reason

[GreenMachine]

When I got my first (and only) set of personalised plates back in 2000, there was a rumor that gold lettering on a black plate (in QLD) was the hardest to read, so I chose that colour.

It was right - From new, the "gold" was a dull bronze and as soon as the plate is dusty, it's completely unreadable. This has got worse and worse as the plates have sat in the sun over the years. Qld Transport got wise to this last year and changed the gold colour to a brighter, more reflective paint.

They issued everyone with this colour combination with a set of replacement ones by post, but they didn't arrive. Shame.

[CANFRY]

ive got premium black plates with white letters and with the slightest light at night time you seriously cant see them, i think the rta mite of stuffed up but ive been defected for other things and the coppers havnt said anything about it.

[RyanFalcon21]

I hope the vic plates are the same :P