'Magic' number plates save speeding Chinese drivers
Tania Branigan
guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday May 6 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/06/china2
It's the kind of invention that would make Q proud. But unlike James
Bond, Chinese drivers are using technology to save their pockets
rather than their country.
Speeding motorists in the south are escaping fines thanks to machines
that switch the numbers on their licence plates within seconds, state
media claimed today.
"More than 50% of cars caught on camera for speeding and other
offences either cover up their plates or use a fake licence plate," a
traffic policeman in the Yangjiang, Guangdong province told Beijing
Youth Daily. "Our chances of capturing them is next to nil."
The newspaper said that a basic remote-control device cost from 800
yuan (£58), while an advanced version that took less than three
seconds to change numbers cost around double that.
"The era of covering up the licence plate by hand has passed," a
driver surnamed Zheng said.
A salesman from Guangzhou, Guangdong's capital, described his devices
as "really convenient and economical too".
Last month, the state news agency Xinhua re****ted that China had
confiscated thousands of fake military vehicles and number plates in a
crackdown on citizens masquerading as members of the People's
Liberation Army. "Police officers are reluctant to pull over drivers
of military vehicles even if the drivers are breaking the law," it
said.
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