There are many products you can use to obscure your license plate in the market. In this regard, this article exposes how to make number plates invisible to cameras.
This article is purely for educational purposes, and the author and editor(s) are against blocking your plates from cameras designed to cite or tax you lawfully.
If you obscure your license plate, you avoid camera-based citations. Note that it is illegal in every state to obscure your motorcycle or car license plate while on the road.
There is no perfect way to block road cameras from capturing your license plate, except you can go fast enough to beat the camera. Although speeding can obscure your number plates, you wouldn’t want to go over 200 mph, especially on a busy roadway.
How to Make Number Plates Invisible to Cameras
In this section, you will learn to make your license plate unscannable. Again, it is illegal, and we’re not responsible for the outcome of how you use this educational piece on how to trick toll cameras. Many solutions are available that allow you to obscure your license plate in such a way that prevents road cameras from viewing it. Below are the ways how to make number plates invisible to cameras:
A Nano Reflective Tape
A reflective tape can make a number plate invisible to a camera. You only need reflective tape applied to the license plate.
A reflective tape works mainly for roadside photo-radar with cameras using high-intensity flash to tag your plate and, perhaps, speed.
- Get a reflective tape. You can purchase our recommended reflective tape online as you read on.
- Apply it to the number plate. When you apply reflective tape to a license plate, you can choose to cover either the registration number or just the part of the plate without it. For instance, if your plate is white, then you apply the tape to the white areas only.
When the camera flash shoots, it illuminates the number plate, and the camera settings are fast enough to freeze the plate image. However, because of the reflective tape, the camera sensors will bleed or blur light around the plate identification letters and numbers, making them unreadable. The captured license plate will show up as a fuzzy white rectangle due to the tape reflection.
Installing a Bike Rack
You can use a bike rack to make your rear number plate invisible to cameras. Some pickup trucks and SUVs use a towing attachment for attaching a bicycle. Some racks on a car are also capable of towing motorcycles.
- Install a rack. First, install a bike rack on your vehicle. Make sure your vehicle is capable of the bike you would be towing. You can refer to the user’s manual for your vehicle towing capacity.
- Block the license plate. Attach the rack in a way that blocks the number plate, making it invisible to road cameras.
Obscuring your license plate with a bike rack can land you a fine. Kevin Eklund has warned against blocking a license plate using a rear bike rack because it may land you in a $155 fine, depending on your state laws.
Meanwhile, the lawful way to attach your bike rack is to ensure that the license plate remains visible. See the image below:
You do not want the police pulling you over, and perhaps, accusing you of evading tolls and speed tickets with an invisible number plate.
#Tip
You can install some sort of controller in your vehicle that shifts the rack up and down to reveal or obscure the number plate whenever you approach a camera. Make sure to know what vehicle is following you behind. You may not want to use your controller when a coup vehicle follows you.
Using a PhotoBlocker Spray
You can use a photo blocker spray to cover your license plate from being detected by cameras on the road. Using a photo blocker spray of any kind is illegal in any state that uses road cameras to check violations or tolls.
California, for example, has a law that makes it illegal to use PhotoBlocker, PhotoSpray, or related products, which makes it difficult to capture a license plate. No photo blocker product must be applied to your plates to avoid obscuring them.
Suppose you spray PhotoBlocker or related product on your license plate, and a camera snapped a photo of it that has a glare. The number plate will be somewhat unreadable, and the company can fine you if they have proof that the glare on the plate is caused by a PhotoBlocker and not their photo equipment.
Does PhotoBlocker or stopper really work? Check out this video:
Also, the product manufacturer claims that you have to go faster to prevent the camera from shooting your license plate with any trace of your identification number.
Why you may not need a photo blocker to conceal your license plate from cameras:
- Using a photo blocker spray is illegal;
- The effectiveness of a photo blocker spray is not guaranteed;
- The camera administrators might still be able to capture your whole plate numbers by reducing the motion frames if they have video support;
- Some drivers can pull you over to question your dishonesty;
- A cop car may be following you behind; and
- Your license plate will gradually discolor (but not so soon though).
Using a photo blocker can be effective, and block your number plates unreadable by the cameras. You can apply it in a way that does obscure the full license plate. As in the embedded video above, you see that the spray only covers part of the number plate, depending on your DIY skills.
Fresnel Lens
You can use a Fresnel lens to make your number plates invisible to cameras. If you use a Fresnel lens, your number plate is visible when viewed straight on.
However, the Fresnel lens obscures the number plate when viewed from a high angle, such as where a camera is typically located.
The video above shows how the Fresnel lens can be effective when used on a license plate. You can improve the effectiveness of the fresnel by applying reflective tape to it.
Using Infrared LEDs
You can avoid being slapped with a fine in the mail by using infrared LEDs. Infrared LEDs on a license plate can shield it from speed cams and red light cams.
Infrared LEDs will not jam radars, but they can make it difficult for cameras to capture pictures of the number plate identification.
However, infrared LEDs mostly work when the camera does not use flash. How does infrared LED work to make your plate invisible? When the camera takes the picture, the LED flashes back, which blinds the camera and overexposes the photograph to glare.
Spraying Clear-Coat High-Gloss Reflective Substance
You can prevent cameras from capturing your number plate by using a clear-coat high-gloss reflective substance. Suppose you take a picture of a street sign. You will notice that the image will be washed out of the sign. Most road signs use highly reflective gloss paint to reflect light as much as possible.
If you spray the clear-coat high-gloss reflective substance on your license plate, it stops the camera from taking pictures with a flash.
In the first picture above, the camera captured the picture excellently. However, in the second picture, the clear-coat high-gloss reflective increases the contrast, causing excessive light on the license plate to cover the registration numbers.
If you use a special coating, it does not guarantee that you can get away with making your license plate invisible. Suppose the camera administrator hits a simple negative image filter. The license plate registration number will become visible enough for them to catch you.
Grease Up Your License Plates
One of the ways how you can make your license plate invisible to cameras is to make it dirty or grease it up. Of course, it is illegal to drive around with a dirty number plate. In NZ, you will get a ticket for a dirty number plate. Moreover, police are cracking down on drivers with dirty number plates on their vehicles and are dishing out hefty fines.
Some truckers design fake grease leaks on their vehicles, causing the grease to flow over the number plate. When they pass cameras, the registration number becomes invisible. The positive is that you can argue your way out of this if you get caught. Your argument would simply be that while driving, you have no control over or are aware of dirt on your plates.
Smear Banana on License Plate
Well, you’ve read that right. Get yourself a banana and smear leftovers on the plate to make yourself a ghost plate to avoid tolls. This method is non-techy and won’t cost you so much anyways in your blocking adventure.
Best anti camera license plate cover
Now, let’s skip to the good part—the part where you use the correct products to make your license plate blurry. Below are the best red light camera blocker options you should consider:
1. SANKEMU Double Sided Tape
We’ve tested this SANKEMU nano tape and it works like a charm. The adhesive is strong and it’s very transparent, so it doesn’t hide your license plate number, preventing cops from pulling you over.
This transparent double-sided adhesive tape is quite strong and durable. It bonds instantly to the license plate and doesn’t require curing or drying.
How to install:
You can make the installation in two ways, either (1) you carve the letters/numbers of your license plate (as in the video tutorial explained in the section above), paste each on the tape, and apply them to your license or (2) you just place the tape across your license plate number.
First, clean the surface of your license plate and cut out the appropriate size needed to cover the license plate. Make sure you remove the protective film of the tape before sticking it on the license plate to block cameras.
After installation, drive even in the rain, this nano tape won’t go off.
However, if SANKEMU Nano Double Sided Tape is back in stock, you should buy it instead because I have had multiple positive reviews on it. Nevertheless, I’m still confident in the updated pick.
2. Allen Sports Deluxe Trunk Mounted Bike Rack
This Allen Sports Deluxe trunk-mounted fits well on sedans, hatchbacks, minivans, and SUVs. It’s lightweight and the side straps increase lateral stability BUT it blocks your license plate number a lot.
It should take you just 5 minutes to set up. You’ll also have to pull the metal rods on both sides onto the other side of the frame. You need your manpower to move the metal rods to the other side, so the setup is a bit difficult.
For its affordability, the build and weight quality are amazing. It comes with thick tubing and powerful straps. It also has separate tie-downs for both bikes you’d be hanging there.
Unfortunately, all 6 metal clips you use to fasten the straps to your trunk edges are not cushioned! The solution is to get rubber material and glue it to the contact areas of the clips to prevent a scratch. You can also use tape to protect those areas whenever you’re entering a red light district.
After installation, I advise you to bundle up any remaining straps and have them wrapped with tape so you don’t have long straps flapping in the wind or even entangling to the bike(s) while driving.
If your bike is a heavy mountain bike, you’ll need strength for this. If it’s a lightweight racer bike that weighs less, not much strength is needed.
Apart from not coming with cushions (which is a downside), another downside is that this rack is not so strong for 2 heavy bikes, let alone 3. But it has a 3-bike version, so if you need to pack up to three bikes, select that version.
Overall, I call this a “red light blocker bike rack”. If blocking red light camera is illegal in your state, please don’t buy this bike rack!
3. Generic Spray On Photo Blocker
We’ve tried this spray-on camera blocker on a license plate and it works! It uses a reflecting crystal coating to repel the light. We’ve not tried other high gloss products though but this particular one does the job to ensure your privacy.
We’ve noticed that it works best on still-shot red-light cameras. Toll camera systems with rolling video are not really affected by this spray.
Note that this spray is not recommended for you to use illegally. It’s merely a patented formula for your privacy when you don’t want unauthorized people to randomly take clear pictures of your license plate.
4. VaygWay Smoked Car Plate Cover
First of all, I’d have recommended you buy this Photoshield Cover camera blocker to protect your license plate from unauthorized cameras—it’s really the best anti-camera license plate cover. However, even though it works but it “over-does” the job. It tends to give cops enough reasons to pull you over and ticket you for obscuring your plate number in some states.
Instead, we’re now recommending the VaygWay license plate cover. Don’t get this wrong, this particular cover still obstructs the license plate from unauthorized cameras! They’re quite dark and will produce glare when there’s a camera flash due to the bubble produced in the Krebs lens—this repels the camera from capturing your license plate number.
PS. Don’t buy this if obstructing the license plate is illegal in your state.
If you’d like us to recommend an LED bulb that can block unauthorized cameras, use the comment section.
Hey, before you go! If you’re like me and love to sneak booze where they’re not allowed, we have SOLUTIONS.
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