Crossing the Fox Lane bridge on the way to get a newspaper I turned on hearing a car crossing the single (LTN) carriageway. A grey Smart car headed toward Green Lanes with no rear reg plate but then as if by magic a roller blind type of operation followed and behold, a reg plate was revealed! That’s James Bond’s Aston Martin DB7 style if anyone remembers. I assume the same magic applied to the front-end plate too. LTN’s , speed cameras, ANPR, yellow box junctions, the list of opportunities seems extensive and day to day no one would be any the wiser with such a "10 second" operation. I wondered how many other similar system-abusers are on our street and roads.
The newspaper I went on to buy had on page 2 a story that 1 in 15 cars might have “ghost plates”, these being 3D or 4D or spray covered such that ANPR cameras could nor read them. Apparently a DVLA exercise was underway to stop their production in authorised sites. These James Bond mechanisms need to be added to that review. In the meantime look out for a dark grey Smart car – I was too taken aback to note the revealed registration.
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