These stickers are presented as the ultimate weapon to escape the radars. Here’s how they work.
Avoiding radars is the wish of many drivers. Some do it the right way, respecting the highway code, while others try tricks and schemes to avoid fines. Indeed, on social networks, many messages promote stickers of a particular type which prevent the registration plate of a vehicle from being read by an automatic radar.
What is it about ? These stickers are sold on the Internet in packs, like a deck of cards. Each sticker represents a letter or number. You must reconstruct your registration number and stick each sticker on the corresponding letter or number on your plate. Stickers are most often made from a reflective material, similar to that used in road signs or safety clothing. These materials contain microprisms or glass microbeads that reflect light back to its source. So when a speed camera flash goes off, the light is reflected directly back to the speed camera, preventing the license plate image from being clearly captured.
Thus, in a normal situation, manipulation of the license plate is invisible to the naked eye. A few meters away, we don’t see anything in particular. It is when the car passes in front of a radar and it triggers its flash that the material of the sticker comes into play and forgets the radar. So much so that the photo taken shows an empty plate or only the few letters and numbers that have not been replaced by stickers.
While this method might interest some Internet users, it carries enormous risks. The first is that these stickers only work for flash light radars. But these radars tend to disappear recently. They are replaced by infrared radars. Flash light and infrared radars differ mainly in their method of detecting and signaling speeding. Bright flash cameras use visible light to photograph speeding vehicles, often at night, which can be dazzling to drivers. In contrast, infrared radars use technology that captures images without emitting visible light, thereby reducing discomfort for drivers and allowing more discreet detection, day or night. So the stickers are totally powerless in this case. Likewise, the mobile binoculars used by the police are not dazzled by the stickers.
Finally, article R. 413-15 of the Highway Code is particularly severe with those who would like to cheat: “The fact of possessing or transporting a product likely to disrupt the operation of devices, instruments or systems used for reporting infringements of the legislation or road traffic regulations or allowing one to evade the reporting of said offenses is punishable by the fine provided for contraventions of the fifth class. “The following sanctions are provided for: a fine of €1,500 (€3,000 in the event of a repeat offense), deduction of 6 points from the license, suspension of the driving license (3 years maximum), confiscation of the vehicle.
You should also know that the police are well aware of this trick and that they know how to detect it, even in broad daylight. It is enough to shine a flashlight on a modified plate to see if the stickers have been applied. The safest thing is to take your foot off the gas….
