Drivers can still be caught by cameras without 'white dots'

• Source: Global Times
• [08:55 September 08 2010]
• Comments

Local traffic authorities refuted the widely circulated rumor Tuesday, saying that scraping off the white dot on vehicle plates will not make cars unidentifiable to road cameras.

Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday that a large number of car owners in the city removed the white dot on their car plates, believing that it would make it impossible for road cameras to catch the numbers on the plate when the cameras catch drivers breaking traffic laws.

Local traffic police explained that the dot is only used to divide the letter from the numbers on the plates. City road cameras are advanced enough to not only catch plate numbers, but also obvious physical features of the driver, said police.

Police added that even painting over the white dots, or covering the plates with reflective materials will not prevent cars from escaping the radar of road cameras.

On news portal Eastday.com yesterday, an Internet user claimed the dot covers a digital chip, which makes it possible for road cameras to focus in on the vehicle. The website said that many local drivers believe this to be true, which is why they remove the white dot from their plates.

Some 50 vehicles parked along a major road in the city were found to have their white dots missing from their plates, according to an investigation carried out earlier by Eastday.com.

Global Times