http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/06/2237157.htm

Speeding drivers using licence plate switching device

Speeding drivers in south China are getting clear away thanks to machines which switch the numbers on their licence plates in seconds.

“More than 50 per cent of cars caught on camera for speeding and other offences either cover up their plates or use a fake licence plate,” a traffic policeman in the Guangdong city of Yangjiang was quoted by the Beijing Youth Daily as saying.

“Our chances of capturing them is next to nil.”

The price of the remote-control device starts at about $A120 while a more advanced apparatus with the ability to flip over the numbers in less than three seconds costs more than double.

“The era of covering up the licence plate by hand has passed,” a driver surnamed Zheng told the newspaper.

“It’s really convenient and economical too,” a salesman who specialises in such devices in the provincial capital of Guangzhou was quoted as saying.

In April, Xinhua news agency reported that China had confiscated thousands of fake military vehicles and number plates in a move to crack down on citizens masquerading as privileged members of the the People’s Liberation Army.

In years past, Chinese counterfeiters have used fake military vehicles to ship bootleg cigarettes and other goods, previous reports have said.

Like the rotating license plates on James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5?

I’ve been trying to get that installed on the Clio but the dealership aren’t mad about the idea. And Halfords I just don’t trust.

Wont it end up being like radar detectors, that just having such a device in your car is grounds for a fine? (Not the Radar detectors even work anymore anyway)

I presume the plate switching is for speed cameras, not for when you are actually pulled over by police. How do you know when you are going to get court? You might as well leave it swapped all the time.

They’ll ban it (if it’s not already illegal) but like so much of China, it’s practically unenforceable. Vast portions of the country can have them openly and nobody will stop them. A country of 1 billion people and most of it’s rural. Good luck to them.

It’s illegal here, that I know. Mainly because the second plate would have to be stolen (which could get you in trouble anyway if the police phoned in your number) or fake (and chances are your ‘random’ plate matches somebody’s somewhere).

Renquist - 12 May 2008 01:56 PM

Like the rotating license plates on James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5?

I’ve been trying to get that installed on the Clio but the dealership aren’t mad about the idea. And Halfords I just don’t trust.

Also, it is so last century. Inventive is replacing your number plates with custom LCD displays, that way you can have any number you like at the push of a few buttons.

(I like to ‘borrow’ the numbers off police cars!)