Privacy advocates gained access to a powerful tool bought by U.S. law enforcement agencies that can track smartphone locations around the world. Abortion clinics, places of worship, and individual people can all be monitored without a warrant.
The plate number is visible from behind with the naked eye and the cover is pretty low profile. There are “tinted” covers from amazon that don’t actually protect you from cameras and look WAY more suspicious. At least the ones I’ve used, there has never been a problem. I actually got pulled over one time after an 8 hour drive from St. louis to Atlanta. I arrived at about 5am and forgot to turn my headlights back on after filling up with gas and a cop followed me and pulled me over. Mind you, I had a $300 bag of cannabis products from a dispensary in the trunk (reason for the trip + housesitting for free room and board for a month). It freaked me out a little bit, but he said nothing about the plates and let me go. I don’t know if he noticed. If it scares you that much just make sure you have good situational awareness on the road. Even if you do get pulled over for the plates it’s just a fine.
Regardless, it is illegal in most (all?) states to obscure your plate in any way, and they can ticket you if they feel like it. It’s a “reason” to pull you over… sounds like you just got pulled over by someone who wasn’t an asshole.
I don’t know how the laws work regarding this outside the states though.
The laws vary by state to state. California law specifically prohibits covers that prevent cameras from reading the tag, but in Alabama the law has a loophole, which I’m sure it shares with some other states.
"Alabama Code Title 32. Motor Vehicles and Traffic § 32-6-51
Every motor vehicle operator who operates a motor vehicle upon any city street or other public highway of or in this state shall at all times keep attached and plainly visible on the rear end of such motor vehicle a license tag or license plate as prescribed and furnished by the Department of Revenue at the time the owner or operator purchases his license.
Anyone violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be punished by fine not exceeding $500.00 and, in addition thereto, shall be prohibited from driving a motor vehicle in Alabama for a period of not less than 60 days nor more than six months."
As you can see, the plate must only be visible with the naked eye. In any case, even if you were driving in California the only way a cop would know it blocks cameras is if they had a mounted plate reader using IR and you had the IR cover. To avoid that you could simply remove it and only keep the one which turns black at an angle. Their reader will be none the wiser, and it will still be more effective than nothing.
Until you get pulled over for those plate covers.
The plate number is visible from behind with the naked eye and the cover is pretty low profile. There are “tinted” covers from amazon that don’t actually protect you from cameras and look WAY more suspicious. At least the ones I’ve used, there has never been a problem. I actually got pulled over one time after an 8 hour drive from St. louis to Atlanta. I arrived at about 5am and forgot to turn my headlights back on after filling up with gas and a cop followed me and pulled me over. Mind you, I had a $300 bag of cannabis products from a dispensary in the trunk (reason for the trip + housesitting for free room and board for a month). It freaked me out a little bit, but he said nothing about the plates and let me go. I don’t know if he noticed. If it scares you that much just make sure you have good situational awareness on the road. Even if you do get pulled over for the plates it’s just a fine.
Regardless, it is illegal in most (all?) states to obscure your plate in any way, and they can ticket you if they feel like it. It’s a “reason” to pull you over… sounds like you just got pulled over by someone who wasn’t an asshole.
I don’t know how the laws work regarding this outside the states though.
The laws vary by state to state. California law specifically prohibits covers that prevent cameras from reading the tag, but in Alabama the law has a loophole, which I’m sure it shares with some other states.
"Alabama Code Title 32. Motor Vehicles and Traffic § 32-6-51
Every motor vehicle operator who operates a motor vehicle upon any city street or other public highway of or in this state shall at all times keep attached and plainly visible on the rear end of such motor vehicle a license tag or license plate as prescribed and furnished by the Department of Revenue at the time the owner or operator purchases his license.
Anyone violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be punished by fine not exceeding $500.00 and, in addition thereto, shall be prohibited from driving a motor vehicle in Alabama for a period of not less than 60 days nor more than six months."
As you can see, the plate must only be visible with the naked eye. In any case, even if you were driving in California the only way a cop would know it blocks cameras is if they had a mounted plate reader using IR and you had the IR cover. To avoid that you could simply remove it and only keep the one which turns black at an angle. Their reader will be none the wiser, and it will still be more effective than nothing.