> Which raises some questions: License plates—why do we have them? Are they a mark of a functioning society or a stamp of the police state?<p>This is a good example of the measured, thoughtful tone this article is presenting.
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<p>they couldn't, for example, make a list of everyone who was parked near a protest, and then search a database to see where they were parked over the next two weeks<p>modern computer vision has changed all that, giving rise to massive dragnet surveillance; we should figure out how to get back the privacy we've lost<p>i don't think taping dead leaves to your license plate is going to solve the problem<p>prohibiting police from using computer vision isn't it either; they'll just buy the data from a private vendor like ring
Many of the subjects of Streetsblog's "criminal mischief" (defaced or obscured plates) are vehicles displaying NYPD parking permits. This problem won't get solved until someone besides the police is tasked with fixing it, at least in NYC.
PA. Who has the most expensive turnpike. Closed all tolls.<p>They implemented a shit mail system that doesn't work.<p>Then they suddenly had 350 million in unpaid tolls.<p>Talk about putting a stick in your wheel<p>So the legislature changed the law - don't pay to play on the quasi private road, and your registration will get suspended<p>I see a lot more cars with bike racks on 476 now.
There have been plenty of times I did not have change for the tolls and was poor enough that the fine would come out of my grocery budget. I would pull over, cover my plate, run the toll, take the next exit, then uncover the plate.<p>Never got caught. YMMV.
As I understand New York state requires car inspections every 12 months. Do they not fail that due to unreadable license plates? Where I am in Europe if you even have a screw in a place that could potentially confuse a camera it will fail the inspection.
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".<p>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 like in my coffee these days.
I've been trying to think of a way to foil ALPR (to evade private tracking, not tolls and the like). I never thought of taping leaves to my plates. I might give that a try.
I’m not an old person, but I know I’m going to sound like a curmudgeon saying this.<p>I think it’s just moral decay. I can’t think of any other meaningful reason.<p>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.<p>It’s straight up ridiculous, and now I spend time actually checking both sides of the road before driving away from stoplights in an active intersection.<p>I wouldn’t have thought to do that before. People just obeyed the law here. Not consistently mind you: no soul drives the 55 speed limit on I-17, but it’s getting measurably worse.<p>What else do you attribute to that? I guess you could say less traffic enforcement, but I don’t think anything’s changed here in this part of the country.<p>People suck.
On the other hand it feels like there's been a huge money grab with automated systems mailing out tickets or maybe I'm just at sore at the $180 red light camera ticket I just paid.
I was hoping to see some discussion of policy proposals and their pros and cons. Nope. Just another rambling news-style article. I think my experience with ChatGPT has changed what I expect in terms of information consumption. I’ve never liked the traditional journalism format; I’m more drawn to a well organized table of contents. If I want a freewheeling unstructured narrative, I can watch drunk history. Do others feel this way (about wanting better structured information, not inebriated content providers).
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.