Radar detector/License plate spray paint saved me

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

If anyone knows of Rt. 198 in Laurel, MD, they know how the cops are on there. I work near Vandusen and 198 and there's always a Trooper running radar. Well, today he was running laser. SNEAKY. Last night I sanded my front plate and put a few layers of a flat white primer on it. The numbers are untouched, as are the state and www.md.gov sh*t on the bottom. The plate reflects no light though. I got this idea after watching a few forums online. They were buying things to cover the plate and some reflective coating and whatever. I had primer at home and rustoleum flat white metal door paint.

I'm going 85 on a road that was 45. Not sure why, but my car was just cruising. It was me and 1 other car on the 95 overpass but he was about 3 lengths behind me so I was definately in the open. My Laser alert starts to go ape sh*t so I slow down pretty quickly. It goes off for a second, and then back on when I'm down around 50 mph. I was about 200 yards from the cops and still none of them came out into the road to get me. As I passed one looked at me and then back onto traffic where his partner was hitting up the laser. MY PAINT IDEA WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!................NO TICKET FOR ME! :)

wonmyxB · Joined: 04 Jun 2004 Posts: 73 Location: Laurel MD

That's cool :clap: I live near there and I have seen state there the last few weeks from time to time. They have got some balls to do that step out in front of car that move fast

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Yeah. I would just throw something as they pass and then when they pull over ask them why I pulled them over! :rofl:

hiram · Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 261 Location: miami

good job

Remote_Stud · Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 55 Location: Remote location

Thats a pretty slick idea.. I dont understand really how just doing the licence plate would make that happen.. does it have to shoot off the plate?

kanundrum · Joined: 07 Jun 2005 Posts: 4607 Location: Laurel,MD

Whole idea of a laser is from the time is hits a tager to the time it bounces back to the laser gun. This in terms give actual speed. The license plate contains reflective chips kinda of like metallic i think that would bounce back resulting in the speed. If those chips arent there i guess its kinda like stealth coating so it would not get a proper read out.

the official stuff name is called VEIL if i am correct.

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

^^Correct.

Without a shiny surface, the laser is absorbed. With a dark black primer first layer, it creates an opaque coating and then you can add the white layers. And yes, 99% of the time, the cop shoots the plate b/c it's the first thing that is coming towards them that is a clear shot onto your car.

trialsindude · Posted: 9/29/06 6:21PM Post subject:

Or they can shoot at the headlights, think about the states that doest require front plates....

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Rockblocker headlight film. Absors laser. Brother in law is a cop and tried it :).
Problem with shooting anything other than a liscense plate is that the light beam can be scattered too much. Also, with the liscense plate, you can angle your plate and divert laser reflection. All tips from a cop :)

kanundrum · Joined: 07 Jun 2005 Posts: 4607 Location: Laurel,MD

Funny thing I was traveling behind a cop today who I am sure was running instant on just cause I was getting 1 bar of kband wortha of signal emissions from him. Then jumped from 1 to like 6 (Beltronics sti). I didnt think it could detect instant on but it did a great job from like .5 miles away. Although most people might chalk it up to be random k band's from banks or something.

cameracar · Joined: 30 Jul 2004 Posts: 158 Location: MD

Those guys have been working that spot for over 15 years, so you had no excuse if you know where they are.

For those traveliing through Frederick County, MD be aware that the Sheriff and MD Troopers use LADAR. I have been getting hits in the new European band radar (Whistler shows XK for it) from some of the new black and white deputies cars in the last few months too!:nails: Thank God MD State Police have basically abandoned the VASCAR system! (an optical system that used the white hash lines on the road and the troopers had timing computers in their cars and just watched you at a very long distance to get your speed) I-95 South at MD 175 under the bridge and I-95 South in Harford County were the big time hot spots. But they still like using the same positions for LADAR.

Bottom line, I try to mentally map hot spots on as many roads as possible to expect pop ups.

(Did I mention VA is very sloppy with radar) :lalala:

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Yes. Agreed.

It's LIDAR though :P
LADAR is military style laser (guidance systems...) and LIDAR is civilian/police laser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIDAR

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Yes, the European band is called Ku, but does come up as XK band.

BrEaK_AwaY · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 4378 Location: Baltimore, MD

ok... so basically you took rough piece of snad paper, for the majority of the plate (white areas only), primed it in black, then painted it white. no clear coat? does it look the same as a normal plate? cant you get in trouble if a cop notices the plate has been tampered?

i will probably try to make my plate angle down though...

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Yeah, 2 coats of black after sanding, 2 coats of white primer, 2 coats of flat white rustoleum, and 1 coat of clear coat. Make sure that all the reflective emblems and words and numbers/letters show like they were never touched. Sand in between each coat to get a smooth finish and you should be fine. It is illegal to tamper with your license plate, but mine looks just like a stock plate, just really clean.

kdog_1981 · Posted: 10/5/06 4:58AM Post subject:

hmmm pretty cool!!....

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Ok, my brother in law, the cop, told me this:

Almost 100% of the time, LIDAR is aimed at your license plate b/c it's the one point on the car that is directly aimed back at them. They could should your hood or your bumper, but the angles of each would bounce that LIDAR back in a different direction. No point in shooting the rims b/c they will deflect LIDAR all over the place. The good thing is that he said it's extremely hard for cops to get a reading using either LIDAR or RADAR. It's pretty hit and miss, although LIDAR is supposedly 100%. He told me that it's really hard b/c so many other things could factor into a bad reading. Too much light, dust in the air, fog, rain..........anything that obstructs a 100% perfect line of sight will give off a false reading to the cop. He took a look at my plate and said it looked pretty good. If the cop was to touch the plate, then there would be problems, but just looking at it, you can't tell the difference.

Just take your time doing it and make sure you mask off all numbers/letters/state name/reflective emblems and you should be fine.

BrEaK_AwaY · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 4378 Location: Baltimore, MD

i dont have the patients to do all that... i think ill just put it at a pretty good angle facing down to the ground... a few washers should do the trick... but i may need to drill more holes in my bumper...

web · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 2338 Location: Central Maryland

Yeah, that's the other thing you could do. Also, if you do that and don't want to sand and what not, just put 3-4 layers of clear coat on the plate after cleaning it with some alcohol. It will make it very reflective and give false readings that way. Even though the angle is to the ground, some light will still reflect so if you can capture more light to reflect back, it can confuse the LIDAR.

awdisuzu · Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Posts: 119 Location: Santa Clarita, ca

or another option is to drive the speed limit