Transparent License Plate Covers will be Illegal

[Techman]

metoo4...I take the Guy off ramp from the Ville-Marie expressway at around 90-110. It's the twisty bits that make driving fun.

It's not my fault that so many people don't know how to drive. I always love watching people drive after the first snowfall that covers the lines on the roads. You see people driving all over the place because they don't have the lines to guide them.

I'd say that at least 30% of the people on the road have no business being behind the wheel of an automobile. The Quebec driving test is so unrealistic that a 12 year old could pass it and it is no guarantee that someone can actually drive in the real world.

 

[metoo4]

Techman, Amen to all you just said! Hey! I love curves! Road curves, feminine curves...

The problem with driving exams everywhere in the world is there's no real "situation" training or reaction evaluation. The little uneventful 15 minutes with an examiner is useless. It need to be real possible road conditions and the only way to do that is a simulator and, that's not going to be common tomorrow...

but we're moving away here... Back to what's on the plate... cover...

 

[metoo4]

Ok, I've just re-read this article and the Highway Safety Code.

NOWHERE does the code specifically talk about transparent plate cover, NOWHERE!!

This is another ploy from a journalist looking for a few minutes of attention: let's put a big headline on a topic that's just good for a back-page note...

The BMW dealer have nothing to worry about; his customers won't become dangerous criminals because of his plate cover, unless it's not totally transparent or hides part of the plate.

Here's the french, so the accepted version: The bold is my highlight.

251. Nul ne peut:
...

2° placer ou appliquer ni faire placer ou appliquer sur un véhicule routier tout objet ou toute matière pouvant nuire de quelque façon au fonctionnement normal d'un cinémomètre photographique ou d'un système photographique de contrôle de circulation aux feux rouges ou à l'enregistrement des informations sur la plaque d'immatriculation par l'appareil photo d'un tel cinémomètre ou d'un tel système de contrôle.

333. Nul ne peut conduire un véhicule routier dans lequel se trouve un détecteur de cinémomètre ou sur lequel est placé ou appliqué tout objet ou toute matière pouvant nuire de quelque façon au fonctionnement normal d'un cinémomètre ou à l'enregistrement des informations sur la plaque d'immatriculation par l'appareil photo d'un cinémomètre photographique ou d'un système photographique de contrôle de circulation aux feux rouges.


​

The key word here is "nuire", as in obstruct, prevent, make difficult, block... A clear, flat protection cover clearly doesn't fit this category.

Now, make it tinted, curve it, add some "blurring" effects, some "stars" effect, block part of the plate with the border or other such stuff and now, it becomes illegal.

But a simple flat, clear plastic who doesn't make it difficult for a human eye to read the plate won't cause problems to the camera so, no risks of ticket.

Remember the cop would have to prove there's an issue. Taking a simple flash picture of the plate yourself with a cheap camera should suffice to convince any judge that the expensive professional radar camera won't have problems seeing the plate.

 

[Techman]

I've seen some of those plate covers that were so dirty and yellowed that it made it almost impossible to read the plate at all, much less to take a photo of it. So even if you take photo radar completely out of the equation, I think it's about time that these things were banned in any case. A car license plate has to be visible at all times, even in the winter. I've known people who were ticketed for having a snow covered plate in winter and they bitched about it while I laughed at them.

I don't think anyone would be complaining about the law if they were trying to read the plate of a car that was involved in a hit and run on their own car and couldn't because it was obstructed by snow or some stupid covering.

 

[Techman]

Forget about the existing Highway Safety Code. This is a new law that goes into effect on Aug 16th. I doubt that you will find it in existing laws available for viewing on the net and will probably be included in a future revision. But actually even a clear cover can block the ability of a photo being taken due to reflections. Don't forget that these cameras are not positioned directly behind the vehicle at a zero degree angle.

 

[joelcairo]

I'd say that at least 30% of the people on the road have no business being behind the wheel of an automobile.

I completely agree - but in Massachussetts I'd change the figure to 99.97% !

 

[Doc Holliday]

Not that many sandstorms in Québec and we don't have a front plate so, no gravel road or bugs problems.

But you do have tornadoes!

 

[mtwallet]

Techman, with the design of newer cars, ie: the licence plate is at the bottom of the bumper, recessed about 3 inches, the aerodynamics cause a vacuum that sucks snow back onto the bumper instead of away from the car. Unless you drive so damn slow that you aren't making any sort of air disturbance, you can't help but get a buildup on the licence plate. I was pulled over for just that, a snow covered plate, however when I pointed out, and took a photo with my phone, that the cop's OWN plate was covered as well, I was let go. I clean my licence before and after any trip on a snowy day, so instead of laughing at the people you know, try suggesting some common sense to them.

Master_bates by randomly moving the cameras, you are demonstrating logic and common sense...That's why it's not up to you. LOL!

As for the new law. It's just another way to get money for the government coffers. The cameras were scrapped in Ontario because it jammed up the courts. So they tried them in BC with the same results. Now they are here. Typical of the arrogance of the Quebec government: Nobody else can make it work, so we'll throw millions of dollars at it just try and prove them wrong. Maybe the fines from licence plate covers will offset some of the inevitable losses.

 

[Mike Mercury]

A bike rack will hide the plate.

The plates are optically read.
Radar wavelength is too long to resolve the plate relief, also paints on the plate are designed for visual appearance in the visual spectrum not in the microwave spectrum.

Radar waves are used to determine the vehicles speed.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Ontario used photoradar for 6 months or so & make millions of $$. Then the cops & politicians (mostly the cops, though) started complaining since they couldn't talk their way out of a speeding ticket anymore. I've never met a cop yet who doesn't overspeed when he's driving, both on the job & in his personal life. So Mike Harris of then Ontario PC party made scrapping photo radar as part of his political campaign & once he got elected, that's the first thing he did: he got rid of it, much to the delight of some members of the law enforcement community & some politicians.

I wonder how long it'll last in Quebec.

(By the way, it's since been used on some toll highways in the Toronto area....but people who hadn't even been hundreds to thousands of miles from the area suddenly began receiving speeding tickets & highway usage bills through the mail. The only explanation is that some people using those particular highways would doctor their own licence plates or replace them with fake ones....and imagine the cost of going all the way down to Toronto to fight the ticket when you live at the other end of the province...ridiculous!)

 

[Kavorkian]

They should have been illegal a long time ago, but this is Quebec. It takes time for the Quebec Government to move their asses and get things done. These licence place covers are just like mask, the sole pourpose is to obscure the identity of the owner of the car. Others will say that it is for the pourpose of keeping the licence plat clean.

 

[Techman]

Techman, with the design of newer cars, ie: the licence plate is at the bottom of the bumper, recessed about 3 inches, the aerodynamics cause a vacuum that sucks snow back onto the bumper instead of away from the car. Unless you drive so damn slow that you aren't making any sort of air disturbance, you can't help but get a buildup on the licence plate. I was pulled over for just that, a snow covered plate, however when I pointed out, and took a photo with my phone, that the cop's OWN plate was covered as well, I was let go. I clean my licence before and after any trip on a snowy day, so instead of laughing at the people you know, try suggesting some common sense to them.

Master_bates by randomly moving the cameras, you are demonstrating logic and common sense...That's why it's not up to you. LOL!

As for the new law. It's just another way to get money for the government coffers. The cameras were scrapped in Ontario because it jammed up the courts. So they tried them in BC with the same results. Now they are here. Typical of the arrogance of the Quebec government: Nobody else can make it work, so we'll throw millions of dollars at it just try and prove them wrong. Maybe the fines from licence plate covers will offset some of the inevitable losses.

This is a friend that routinely cleans off the passenger side window, clears the windshield and driver's side window and drives away without clearing any other part of the car. Trust me, he deserved to be laughed at for getting a ticket for not clearing his plate that day. And he didn't learn his lesson after that either because tht wasn't his last ticket for having too much snow on his car.

Anyways, I've said it before that I think photo radar is nothing but a cash grab and it will do nothing to stop dangerous driving which is not always related to speeding. Some drivers who putter along at 60 kph on the highway are more dangerous than most of the drivers who drive at 120 or 130.

But photo radar aside, I think that banning license plate covers is a good idea for reasons that go beyond photo radar and I have no problem with that law being put in place.

Techman