Covering license plates is becoming more common in European cities since the introduction of a video surveillance system to control paid and illegal parking. Drivers use different methods – from a leaf from a nearby tree, stickers to cardboard. They do all this so that the cameras do not read their license plates and thus avoid fines. Although legal sanctions for illegible plates are foreseen, their application is not always consistent.
In theory, municipal police control this and fine drivers. In practice, on every street you can see a driver trying to cheat the system.
The global phenomenon of license plate manipulation
This problem is not limited only to Europe. In New York, drivers are resorting to creative tricks such as scratching and painting certain numbers on license plates, using a clear coating that makes it difficult for cameras to read, and even installing mechanisms to rotate the license plates at the push of a button.
In New York, this phenomenon gained momentum when a new congestion charge was introduced.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are used in many systems around the world, including toll collection, parking enforcement and traffic violation detection. These systems have their application in traffic safety and efficiency, reducing the number of violations. However, many still see them as simply stealing money from drivers. For this reason, their effectiveness depends on the ability to prevent manipulations. This is why more advanced algorithms and detection methods are constantly being developed.
