Stupid Plate Tricks: Do Covers Help Scofflaws Beat Cameras?

Whereas “radar detectors” have been utilized by drivers for decades in an attempt to evade speeding tickets, “license plate covers” are the new fad – being used by motorists to shield their vehicles from red-light cameras. And while it’s “perfectly legal to sell and buy license plate covers, you can’t actually drive around with them – tinted or clear – on your car in Oregon or Washington.” In fact, there were 210 citations written in Oregon last year for “obscured plates,” at $287 a pop. However, because most drivers seem to be ignorant that the product they purchased at an auto-parts store was, in fact, illegal, most cases are handled with a warning. On top of the legal issue, the products tend not to work. ACS and Local Solutions which operates thousands of photo-enforcement cameras around the world claim it’s “extremely rare that it has to toss a ticket because of a plate cover.” Additionally, Adam Savage, of the television series “Mythbusters,” says that “None of the products available to us at the time of filming worked as advertised.”