Detailed extensively on a current Indiegogo project, inventor Jonathan Dandrow has developed a smart license plate frame that has the ability to blanket the numbers and letters on your license plate in white light when being captured by a traffic camera. When a red light or speeding camera uses a high-powered flash to illuminate your vehicle, the sensor at the top of the noPhoto frame detects that flash. After quickly analyzing the incoming flash, the sensor triggers two flashes from the xenon lights on the left and right side of the frame. When the lights are active, it’s impossible to see any letters or numbers on the license plate and the driver of the car won’t receive a ticket in the mail based of the photo taken by the traffic camera.
The noPhoto frame is basically designed to overexpose the area around the license plate with too much white light without breaking any current laws about license plates.
According to Dandrow, the noPhoto frame is legal because it doesn’t cover the state name on the plate or the actual identification number. In addition, Dandrow claims there are no laws specifically indicating how much light can cover a license plate at any given time.
If the noPhoto frame is used to successfully thwart a camera, a driver would avoid paying a fine for the ticket in addition to increased car insurance costs over the year. Beyond the obvious financial incentive to using the NoPhoto frame, Dandrow also indicates that there are privacy concerns to red light and speeding cameras. According to Dandrow, a company called Redflex located in Arizona makes the majority of the traffic cameras used in the United States. Each time a photo is taken by a Redflex camera, Dandrow claims a driver’s personal information is being stored in a database. Dandrow fears that information could be sold for marketing purposes at some point.
Beyond specifically using the noPhoto frame to drive recklessly, Dandrow also stresses that red light and speeding cameras can be prone to failure. Faulty equipment can send out tickets to people that didn’t actually break any traffic laws, thus the noPhoto frame would be useful for the law-abiding citizen.
Dandrow is also attempting to market the noPhoto frame to celebrities looking to avoid paparazzi, owners of exotic cars or basically anyone that prefers anonymity.
In order to fully fund the Indiegogo project, Dandrow is seeking $80,000 to get UL certification as well as kick off manufacturing of the noPhotos frames. Dandrow is currently offering the first one hundred noPhoto frames at a price of $199, but the standard price of the frame appears to be $350 according to the main site. The frame is designed to work in all types of weather since the circuity is sealed in plastic within the frame. Dandrow has included a test button on the noPhoto frame to see if the lights are still active. In addition, the firmware of the noPhoto frame can be updated assuming manufacturers of red light and speeding cameras attempt to modify photo timing in the future.
Don’t be a dbag and stop at a red light. Its simple people.
God forbid people be fined for running red lights and ignoring basic traffic laws.
Creative, but in my state they ruled the cameras unconstitutional, since they can’t discern if the owner is the one driving the vehicle.
For those of you who want to go fast….go on a race-track.
For those of you who want to live a bit more dangerously then do it somewhere where you do not endanger those who want to live a non-dangerous life.
I love driving fast but I go where I’m allowed. When I’m not then I abide by the laws.
By the way….even on a race-track there are rules!
License plate frames don’t prevent tickets, if you run the light you’re getting a ticket.
This is awesome, goes right along with my lead-lined wallet to keep people from scanning my RFID cards
Why don’t we all just throw the rule-book out of the window and let anarchy rule?
This is definitely breaking the ‘spirit of the law’ and should be banned or do we wait for a couple of people to be killed by drivers jumping red-lights before something is done?
However Mr Dandrow tries to dress this up as ‘protecting privacy concerns’ my response is in the plural and they bounce!
Thank you.
The complete disregard we have given towards the rules of the road over the last few decades is just mind boggling.
This is bad.
shouldnt they have these everywhere?!?
I can see the new laws being enacted very quickly to make such measures illegal… well as quickly as a State Congress can get.
Perhaps next we can develop the technology to blur our faces any time a photo is taken of us without our permission. It’s just as much about privacy be it from the media or the 7-11 camera.
First of all the government is the one overstepping its boundaries by having these stupid speed cameras in the first place! It clearly states in the constitution that you have a right to face your accusers! Now who is to say that these cameras do not malfunction? Is there a licensed technician right there at that time the picture is taken that can verify the camera was accurate at that given day and time? Further more these cameras are an invasion of privacy! Has no one read the book 1984? BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!!! Ring a bell anyone? I think this is a great invention and am glad to see there are still some entrepreneurs out there thinking outside the box. Sadly to say this invention won’t work (or at least not in every state). The reason it won’t work is because in DC the cameras are on consistent surveillance! IN OTHER WORDS THEY ARE RECORDING THE INTERSECTIONS AND STREETS 24/7, NON-STOP FEED OF EVERY PERSON THAT GOES THROUGH THE INTERSECTION! I saw this when I went down to DC to contest a speed camera ticket. The individual in front of me went before the judge and she heard his testimony. She then put on the screen provided in the room a continues recorded feed of other cars going through the intersection before his car was even in the picture. It showed him turning right on red without stopping! Now interestingly enough I was found innocent on a speed camera because the camera malfunctioned! BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!!! The big problem is that most people on this site that have commented have far too much faith in government!
For all those people reacting negatively to this device, consider that not all red light cameras work as envisioned. Some people receive tickets for failing to come to a complete stop before a right hand turn on red, stopping slightly past the white line at a traffic stop.
Buying this device doesn’t mean the owner will just suddenly start blasting through red lights or shooting down the road at 100mph.
Besides, if you’ve ever accidentally ran through an “orange light,” you’ve got no room to talk. Being the last car through a light as it turns red isn’t endangering anyone… I see this as a good CYA measure, not a “do whatever you want” enabler.
Finally, with this sticker price – the streets will not be full of them. We’re talking about a fraction of drivers, at best. You can have this same argument about people with radar detectors, but I don’t see huge news stories about radar detector owners causing any problems.
This may get your loved one killed one day….dont support crap like this, if its not illegal, it should be.
Don’t worry people. The $350 cost will keep them off the road. I would expect to pay $50 and no more.
Hi All, sorry but this will never get off the ground we at ProDB already have a Patented version on the market already and the patent covers copies using this technology so it will never get off the ground http://www.prodbuk.com or http://www.prodbusa.com is the only place to get them
Theirs is different because it is only triggered on a flash and yours is always on. There is no way in hell I would drive around with my plates shining like that; it is just begging to be pulled over by a cop.
We need this in Barbados & Trinidad.
We need this in Barbados & Trinidad.
I need the motorcycle version for the new bike.
By the time the sensor recognizes the flash of the red-light camera, the photo will have already been taken. Too little to late.
You don’t know how photography works.
Photo studios will have multiple flashing lights and may or may not be connected to the camera. They fire from sensing the flash from the single flash that is wired. It is most certainly possible to sense and react fast enough.