[bambax]

The DB5 in Goldfinger (1964) had revolving licence plates.

A cursory Google search comes up with some shady websites that sell similar tech, but it would be a nice DIY project to make a licence plate screen that can be changed on the fly (e-ink based maybe).

Has anyone tried it?

[nopcode]

SWIM has a leaf-shaped magnet that can be demagnetised via remote.

You put it on the plate so that it cannot be scanned but if police pulls you over it falls off.

[remus]

I remember a story of a guy who had his license plate on a hinge with a little cable attached to the cigarette lighter in the car. When he wanted to speed in an area with cameras he'd pull out the cigarette lighter to fold the plate up, then pop it back in to fold the plate down when he was finished. This struck me as a very neat solution, and nicely disguised too.

[_whiteCaps_]

https://www.surreynowleader.com/news/golden-ears-toll-evader...

“Officers are always looking for uninsured vehicles,” said Surrey RCMP spokesman Cpl. Scotty Schumann. “The officer was very surprised when he saw a valid B.C. license plate magically lift into place after they had passed the toll cameras.”

[pictureofabear]

That man deserves a medal for keeping that 1993 Geo Metro going.

[russdill]

A really good hack to get around the fact that motor vehicles are by law easily traceable is to...just take mass transit.

[floren]

But when mass transit phases out paper tickets, "use the convenient app for a 20% discount!", it's not much better...

Even with paper tickets, if you paid with a credit card there's now a perfect record: Jim Smith got on at the Fruitvale station and got off in Fremont, stayed there two hours, and then came back the same way.

[dylan604]

the old trick at the air port was to buy mulitple tickets leaving around the same time to different destinations at multiple airports ultimately traveling under false ID under a different name. that's surely feasible for pretty much anybody not just super spies, right?

[getcrunk]

Not anymore ... With facial recognition and passport/I'd databases?

[fsckboy]

face recognition is also a thing, though perhaps not as publicly accessible as a license plate

[bjacobt]

What about https://reviver.com ?

[fsckboy]

assuming the people here are not in general criminals, I'm not sure that committing a fake license plate crime is the best way to go about staying under the radar.

[rozab]

This would be flagged immediately. Law enforcement cameras check the plate against the registered make, model, and colour (which are public record in the UK)

[bambax]

Just pick up a plate number that matches your car; it's not like every car is unique. (But of course that would be harmful to the rightful owner of that registration number.)

Also, it's a little doubtful colors can be recognized in all light conditions (at night, in a tunnel, etc.)

And if the car is simply parked (vs. a road check), does it matter that it's "flagged"? What could happen? There would have to be a warning somewhere for the car to be impounded, or to send officers to wait for the owner to show up. Very unlikely IMHO.

[dylan604]

What happens if you paint your car? Are you supposed to inform your gov't?

[tristor]

Yes, actually, although generally speaking it's not widely enforced. Generally you won't get caught as long as the color on the registration matches the factory color in the VIN database, but you are supposed to ensure the vehicle description is accurate when you renew your registration and providing false information is a criminal offense, so if the color changes, you should update your vehicle registration.

[astura]

Yeah, you are.

Family member of mine actually got in trouble because the dealership typed the wrong color into the registration paperwork. The color on the registration didn't match the actual color of the car therefore it was considered illegally registered and the car was impounded during a routine traffic stop.

[dylan604]

I love hearing these stories of "with all other crime being solved" officers have moved onto the petty stuff /s

[scrumbledober]

yes

[mistrial9]

the only time I saw this in real life was a twenty-something guy with a high powered street motorcycle. It was not stock and had odd parts (which makes other mods less obvious). I believe he had a kill switch for all lights on the bike, which made reading the plate at night more difficult, but the immediate use was to run from a hiway patrol when challenged. No idea how that worked out for him over time.

[mellavora]

Hard to run away from an oncoming truck which didn't see you because you were running dark

[mistrial9]

well sure but if you are running a high powered street bike, the truck is only one of many immediate dangers..

I believe that license plates used to be made of metal with reflective coating and ridges (made by prison labor?) but today on the street I am seeing what looks like white paper with black lettering?

[mwcremer]

Obligatory XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1105/