Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

More Americans are using fake license plates

slate.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 170 posts

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#121

Post by prepend »

bob1029 wrote: post #106

I'm not using fake, but I've got temp tags on my new car that I've not bothered to fix yet. They've been expired for about a year now. Real plates are sitting at the dealership. Urgency level is one of "maybe when I go to get my oil changed". Not sure how exactly I wound up feeling this way about administrative matters, but here we are. Tempting authorities with punitive options over pedantic crap is the extra spice…

My dealer mailed me my plates. Sees like lack of motivation is both you and the dealer.

I can imagine some dealership clerk coming into work and shrugging shoulders as they see the growing pile of plates .

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#122

Post by lotsofpulp »

StillBored wrote: post #28
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #2

I’m not an old person, but I know I’m going to sound like a curmudgeon saying this. I think it’s just moral decay. I can’t think of any other meaningful reason. In Phoenix, which I consider the national capitol of bad drivers, in the span of less than 10 years, I’ve noticed a staggering number of people in the metro area who just blatantly run red lights now. Sometimes seconds after they’ve turned. It’s straight up r…

I was taught to always assure that the drivers on the cross street are stopping, and its saved me a couple times, particularly in the rain when people think their car will continue to brake in 10' despite the roads now being covered with a mixture of oil, tire sludge and water which is almost as slick as ice. But, yes I find myself not having a lot of respect for much of traffic control these days, when the cities ca…

>when the cities can't be bothered to even make the lights flash at 3 AM, and instead are stopping me at every single light down a road for exactly zero cross traffic.

On the east and west coast, I feel like car sensing traffic lights are the norm.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#123

Post by arp242 »

kragen wrote: post #71

until about 20 years ago license plates were a reasonable compromise between privacy and accountability: they didn't have your name on them, and looking you up from the number could only be done by the police, who would only do it when it seemed important, and then only if someone made a note of the plate they couldn't, for example, make a list of everyone who was parked near a protest, and then search a database to…

> prohibiting police from using computer vision isn't it either; they'll just buy the data from a private vendor like ring

The answer to this would be to legislate what data private vendors like ring can and can't collect.

In the end I feel legislation is really the only option; some fancy stuff with crypto like one of the other commenters mentions sounds both complex and error-prone to implement and have it work well, and also risks being cracked either by reverse-engineering or just leaked decryption keys. And if $entity wants to track your car – or anything else – they can probably do so anyway one way or the other. The only real option without having to play whack-a-mole is decent legislation.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#124

Post by arp242 »

anonymousiam wrote: post #62
KennyBlanken wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have zero reason or excuse to be speeding, other than personal selfishness.

What about speed limits that were created for the purpose of revenue generation and not safety? One example: https://www.speedtrap.org/california/lone-pine/

Complaining about "going 90mph on a 65mph speed limit" is not a "speed trap"; a speed trap is a situation set up in such a way that many well-intentioned people make an honest mistake. Things like confusing signage, sudden and/or unusual change in the speed limit, and so forth.

This is just someone sour because they got caught speeding. For reference 90 mph is 145 km/h, it's pretty fast, and the limit in CA seems to be 70 mph at the most. Driving at 90mph is always wrong unless you are rushing someone to the hospital or similar emergencies.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#125

Post by CharlieDigital »

gorbypark wrote: post #111
kragen wrote: post #71

until about 20 years ago license plates were a reasonable compromise between privacy and accountability: they didn't have your name on them, and looking you up from the number could only be done by the police, who would only do it when it seemed important, and then only if someone made a note of the plate they couldn't, for example, make a list of everyone who was parked near a protest, and then search a database to…

I believe we need to move to e ink (or similar tech) based licence plates. The numbers would change every few minutes but still would be cryptographically tied to an owner if you both have a time stamp and a proper decryption key. The idea would be that if you had the proper authorization (police, DMV, etc) and a time stamp you could see the owner of a vehicle, but it would hinder 3rd party private alpr dragnet syste…

Like the idea, but the failure rate and cost would be too high. Also, police would end up having blanket authorization just like they do now.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#126

Post by notsound »

perryizgr8 wrote: post #116

You can wreak far greater havoc on a larger scale with a computer and an internet connection, than with a car. It's time to do away with the draconian and authoritarian practice of requiring to register your vehicle with the state.

Some psycho with a generic SUV and no license can easily kill a couple people. It's so easy people do it accidentally all the time.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#127

Post by dmm »

kragen wrote: post #71

until about 20 years ago license plates were a reasonable compromise between privacy and accountability: they didn't have your name on them, and looking you up from the number could only be done by the police, who would only do it when it seemed important, and then only if someone made a note of the plate they couldn't, for example, make a list of everyone who was parked near a protest, and then search a database to…

New cars don't even need license plates to be tracked. They transmit telemetry over 5G. The car companies sell this data to whoever they want, including law enforcement.

Right now you can probably disable the cell radio by disconnecting the antenna but if that becomes popular I have no doubts that cars will be changed to refuse to operate without regular connections.

The recent infrastructure bill (H.R. 3684) includes a requirement for cars to have anti-drunk driving tech included, which includes driver-facing cameras.

All of this data will be sold to the highest bidder.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#128

Post by unstatusthequo »

bob1029 wrote: post #106

I'm not using fake, but I've got temp tags on my new car that I've not bothered to fix yet. They've been expired for about a year now. Real plates are sitting at the dealership. Urgency level is one of "maybe when I go to get my oil changed". Not sure how exactly I wound up feeling this way about administrative matters, but here we are. Tempting authorities with punitive options over pedantic crap is the extra spice…

Maybe that clerk also grabs a couple and sells them on the corner to some getaway driver. Seems like having your plate floating out there is a bad idea. At best nothing happens. At worst, you get your door knocked in and a mid night beating from the local swat team. Lawyering up, proving it wasn’t you, etc.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#129

Post by LinuxBender »

bob1029 wrote: post #106

I'm not using fake, but I've got temp tags on my new car that I've not bothered to fix yet. They've been expired for about a year now. Real plates are sitting at the dealership. Urgency level is one of "maybe when I go to get my oil changed". Not sure how exactly I wound up feeling this way about administrative matters, but here we are. Tempting authorities with punitive options over pedantic crap is the extra spice…

I did this for a while too. I'd suggest actually keeping the plates in the vehicle with you. Some grumpy highway patrol can decide to tow the vehicle unless you fix it then and there. Some may do it anyway. Each state has different time limits for ticket vs tow/impound.

Re: More Americans are using fake license plates

#130

Post by trgn »

irq wrote: post #101
watwut wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are tinted windows sign of sociopaths?

I’m not OP but I assume they’re talking about fully blacked out windows, not the kind that just blocks heat from the sun.

Yes, dark windows prevent eye contact and communication. People aren't walking with baclavas on, it's the same for blacked out windows.
Post reply on HN