Published: 01.27.2004
By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX - You may have seen those plastic license plate covers. You may even
have one yourself.
Now state lawmakers are moving to make the devices illegal - and those who use
them criminals.
Without dissent, the House Transportation Committee on Monday voted to ban the
use of any covering or substance that obscures the numbers, characters, validating
tabs or the state on a license plate. The legislation, HB 2133, now goes to
the House Judiciary Committee.
Rep. John Nelson, R-Phoenix, said the plastic sheets are designed for one purpose
only: to make it difficult, if not impossible, to view the plates. And they
have become far more popular since several Arizona communities have started
using photo radar and red-light cameras.
"Believe me - it works," Nelson said.
The sheets work on various theories. But they are engineered in such a way that
a clear photo can't be made of the full plate from one side or another.
That especially thwarts photo radar trucks that are parked by the side of the
road.
Those trucks take a picture of the front of the car when the radar detects an
over-limit speeder and again of the back, when the car passes, to get the license
plate.
The first picture identifies the driver; the second picture enables police -
or the private firm that runs the photo radar in some communities - to send
a citation to the registered owner.
The Tucson Police Department experimented with photo radar last year, but the
system has not been implemented permanently in the city.
Brian Livingston, representing the Arizona Police Association, said the issue
goes beyond photo radar and whether lawmakers like it. He said it also hampers
the ability of law enforcement officers to investigate hit-and-run accidents
and other crimes.
"As vehicles leave the scene, most citizens cannot read the plate,"
he said.
Livingston said that means a witness might get only a partial license plate
number, something he said a judge might rule was not enough probable cause to
stop a vehicle.
The legislation also includes a prohibition against using electronic devices
to obscure a license plate. Alberto Gutier, the former head of the Governor's
Office of Highway Safety, said there now are gadgets that mount over license
plates and allow a motorist to push a button on the dashboard to momentarily
blank out the plate.