The marketing of a spray that obscures car licence plates from the prying lenses of speed cameras has provoked an intriguing legal debate, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday.
It said Graaff-Reinet resident George Harmse claims to have obtained the sole rights to sell and distribute a United States-made spray that blocks speed cameras, dubbed PhotoBlocker.
The spray is applied to the car licence plate. After multiple coats, it leaves a clear but reflective coating over the plate.
Such a coating distorts or obscures a plate number when the camera flash bounces back, in much the same way as a picture taken by a person looking into a mirror.
Harmse claims there is nothing illegal about the product.
”The law specifically states that any licence plate is required to be completely visible to the naked eye, which is the exact case with this product,” he said. ”Its finish is completely clear, and people on the street can see the plate quite easily.”
Anne Swanepoel, an attorney who specialises in traffic-related matters, said the law requires licence plates to be unobscured at all times.
Swanepoel said prosecution against a user of the PhotoBlocker would depend almost entirely on the senior prosecutor involved in the case.
”If the state brings in ‘obstruction of justice’, they might have something, but they would also be tasked with proving that the person was in fact using the spray at the time of the traffic violation.”
Gideon Botha, of the Nelson Mandela Bay traffic department, was adamant the use of the spray is illegal.
All licence plates have to be approved by the South African Bureau of Standards and any coating applied to a number plate after its purchase will render the plate illegal, Botha said.
”It’s defeating the ends of justice. So it’s illegal. The law says the licence-plate number must be visible, period.” — Sapa