Drivers making cars 'invisible' to speed and bus lane cameras

The new number plates are reflective and cannot be read by cameras. The practice has been dubbed 'ghost plates' and is illegal

Motorists are dodging speed cameras by using ingenious 'ghost plates' to make their cars invisible to the law, council chiefs have warned. The illegal plates, which reflect camera flashes, prevent detection by speed and bus lane cameras and are also referred to as 3D or 4D plates. Authorities are now ramping up efforts to stop drivers from exploiting this loophole.

Two years ago the person responsible for overseeing our national Automatic Number Plate Recognition system disclosed that a surprising number of drivers – around one in 15 – manage to trick the system with relative ease.

Upon leaving his position, Professor Fraser Sampson penned a letter to Transport Secretary Mark Harper lamenting the lack of action against these simple yet cunning tactics.

To combat the issue, councils have been provided with new cameras capable of recognising the elusive number plates. In Wolverhampton local wardens were equipped with the advanced tech as part of a rigorous enforcement campaign last year.

Those caught can expect a £100 fine for such infractions.

In his correspondence with Mark Harper, Prof Sampson outlined how individuals were dodging fines by cloning number plates, using reflective tape, and purchasing 'stealth plates', thereby evading charges for speeding or entering low-emission zones.

He highlighted that there is only 97 per cent accuracy in reading number plates, resulting in an astonishing 2.4 million incorrect readings each day, leading to wrongful fines for innocent drivers.

He pointed out that around 15,400 traffic lanes monitored by cameras submit between 75 and 80 million reads daily, sometimes exceeding 80 million.

Prof Sampson also mentioned the possibility of reaching 100 million reads per day by the end of 2024.

Prof Sampson highlighted the vulnerability of the ANPR system despite its technological advancements, saying: "For all its technological advancement and operational indispensability, the ANPR system still relies ultimately on a piece of plastic affixed to either end of a vehicle.

Served by a wholly unregulated market, what my predecessor termed the humble number plate represents a single and readily assailable point of failure with the ANPR network being easily defeated by the manufacture and sale of stealth plates, cloned registration marks and other rudimentary obscurant tactics."

He elaborated on the ease with which the system can be compromised: "The result is that the ability to frustrate the ANPR system remains staggeringly simple at a time when proper reliance on it for key public services such as policing, law enforcement and traffic management is increasing daily.

Emission zones and other strategic traffic enforcement schemes put motorists in situations where they have to make significant financial choices and it is at least arguable that the incentives for some to 'game' the ANPR systems have never been greater."

Additionally, Prof Sampson pointed out simple methods of evasion: "Merely by applying reflective tape to distort part of a registration plate or purchasing stealth plates from online vendors, motorists can confuse and confound current number plate recognition technology and both of these are easily obtainable.

One recent estimate suggested that one in fifteen drivers may already be using anti-ANPR technology; it is reasonable to expect this conduct to increase as the reliance on ANPR for new traffic management schemes continues."