‘Migués’ against a traffic ticket
Bad drivers have resorted to devices that are easy to buy online in order to avoid radar checks and avoid fines for speeding, not obeying the rotation of the vehicle and other types of violations.
They are ingenious equipment, capable of “tricks” that make it impossible to read a car’s license plate and even to measure speed by inspection devices.
Such items are not always prohibited for sale, although they are used against traffic laws.
We have selected some examples of products adopted by malicious drivers, which contribute to making traffic less safe and more chaotic – especially in large urban centers, so affected by excess cars in traffic.
ON UOL Automobili does not encourage their use and warns that you should be punished if you are caught with the devices by the police or a traffic agent.
anti-fine sticker
Anti-radar stickers, which are applied to one or more signs on the board, can be purchased at a starting price of under R$100 for a set of seven films.
His work is explained in videos circulating on social media: the sticker has a coating that reflects the infrared light emitted by most radars today, replacing flash conventional and activates at night and in low light.
The film reflects this light and eventually blinds the camera, preventing recognition of that letter or number. In other words, the trick is not effective when there is an abundance of natural lighting.
Advertising anti-radar stickers; the seller promises that this trick will not be revealed in a possible inspection
Image: Reproduction
According to lawyer Marco Fabrício Vieira, member of the Thematic Chamber of Legal Efforts Contrana (National Council of Transport), using or selling resources that prevent the correct reading of signs on the board is not a crime. But drivers caught are subject to fines for traffic violations.
“The use of equipment, devices or electronic or mechanical support that can hide, prevent or make it difficult to record or read signs on a vehicle’s identification plate, such as those available on the market, constitutes an offense under paragraph III. 230 of the OZZ [Código de Trânsito Brasileiro]”, says Vieira, who is also a consultant at Cetran-SP (State Council for Traffic in Sao Paulo).
He adds that the offense is of a very serious nature, with a fine of R$293.47, plus seven points on the owner’s record and the removal of the vehicle.
On the other hand, the expert points out that changing the letters or numbers of the license plate in order to punish another vehicle is a criminal offense that can lead to arrest.
“One who uses any material to induce the reading of one sign by another, by using glue, paint or partial removal picture, commits a very serious offense under Article 230, Item I of the CPC. This behavior is also characterized by the criminal offense of unauthorized alteration or marking of identifiers from Article 311 of the Criminal Code, which is punishable by a prison sentence of three to six years and a fine.
Radar ‘Scrambler’
The devices can ‘scramble’ the radio waves from the radar, making speed measurement impossible
Image: Reproduction
Another deceptive strategy is to use electronic equipment that detects and then “encodes” the radio waves emitted by mobile and portable radars, making speed measurement impossible.
They are not difficult to find for sale on foreign e-commerce sites, and are offered at prices between approximately R$600 and more than R$1000 – not including the payment of taxes and duties associated with their importation.
They use technology similar to that of jammers or “capetinhas”, which disable vehicle tracking devices.
There are also special devices for stopping guns that track speed using laser beams.
Others make it impossible to identify the offending car flashes hidden in the board frame, it activates whenever a radar is detected. Your flashes “blinds” the surveillance camera, making the characters in the photo unreadable.
The device advertised on foreign sites uses flashes to literally blind a radar camera
Image: Reproduction
According to Vieira, the use of devices and software specifically to detect the presence of radar does not violate the law, although it is “reprehensible”.
Mobile applications such as Waze, for example, perform this function without questioning traffic rules.
On the other hand, the expert reiterates that means that can directly interfere with the reading or identification of the license plate are illegal.
Whoever reaches for “shufflers” commits a very serious offense and the vehicle must be removed.
“An anti-radar device should be considered one that interferes with radio waves emitted by measuring electronic equipment for inspection or any other device that can prevent the recording of signs from the vehicle’s identification plate,” the lawyer clearly states.
Plate ‘007’
A device that literally hides a car’s license plate is another trick of bad drivers
Image: Reproduction
The rotating number plate was made famous by the film “007 vs. Goldfinger” (1964), in which the spy James Bond, played by Sean Connery, activates a mechanism to change the registration code of his Aston Martin DB5.
The concept has gone beyond the cinema and, in the real world, has been used in Brazil and other countries with a difference: instead of changing the plates for others, with different characters, the device hides the vehicle’s original plate.
It works like this: using a cable or an electric mechanism, the guide can turn the board completely and display a piece of black plastic in its place, as if it were just the frame of the board.
In this way, the driver avoids identification of the car by radar cameras, in order to avoid fines and even commit criminal offenses behind the wheel.
There is a variant of the technology, in which the panel is covered with a kind of flexible curtain, stretched by pressing a button.
Brazilian federal road police officers caught a rotating plate on a vehicle registered in Argentina
Image: Reproduction
In other cases, the sheet is only tilted at a 90-degree angle, enough to cover it – this configuration is mainly used on motorcycles.
So as not to arouse suspicion, the process is then reversed and the plate is seen again.
A quick internet search shows that these illegal devices are being sold on e-commerce sites and social media markets, at prices of around R$1000 per pair.
Police operations caught cars with the device, which motivates the setting up of very serious violations, points out Marco Fabrício Vieira,
According to experts, using an anti-radar plate is a traffic violation, but it does not characterize criminal practice. Hiding the panel, he explains, is legally equivalent to working without the panels after the deadline for the installation in question has expired.
“When a vehicle is operated with one of the plates not visible, either because it is completely or partially covered or because it has one or more signs with faded paint, it is characterized as an offense under Section VI. of Article 230 of the OZTZ”.
Thus, the owner of the vehicle is fined R$ 293.47, plus seven points in the health record and removal of the vehicle.
A cloned board or one with deliberately altered characters is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment and a fine
Image: Reproduction
What if the spinner doesn’t just hide the original board, but instead shows another one, like in the 007 feature film? In this case, informs Vieira, in addition to the penalties described in the above paragraph, the behavior is also characterized by the criminal offense of unauthorized handling or marking of the identification mark of a motor vehicle, defined in Article 311 of the Criminal Code.
In this case, a sentence of three to six years in prison and a fine is threatened.
This is the same criminal classification adopted in the case of cloning or deliberately changing the signs of a certain plate, using insulating tape, paint, toothpaste and other materials – there are also stickers for changing the letters and numbers on the plate, which can be recorded even by infrared cameras that used by radars.
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