Traffic Cameras

I was watching a traffic camera go off on my friends and had a quick thought. Does anyone know the shutter speed of a traffic camera? I was thinking someone could easily put a flash set for optical slave into their rear window and blow out the camera. I was wondering if anyone would know if that was even possible. It was a neat idea we were dreaming up to see if it worked.

Any thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to break the law. I'm just wondering if it is technically possible.

Since the cameras have their own flash units, it would need be one awfully powerful one in the back of your car.

the flash would be probablly have to be at full power, but even if the other flash is stronger, the flash in the car would probablly still blow out some since it is pointed toward the camera.

Try it and find out hehe

ok, assignment time! someone needs to try this and get back to all of us with your results

im seriously thinking about calling up the local police department and asking if we can test this out. I don't wanna try it and get a ticket or anything.

It would be best if someone on here was a cop and had access to these cameras.

I don't know why, but I doubt the local police would let you do this

You should call Mythbusters, they may be up for it

you don't need to aim the flash at their camera. I would point a flash at my own plate; you only have to blow out about 1 square foot to keep from getting in trouble.

Different solution

ugly_a wrote in post #5623909
Different solution

I guess it's legal because it's useless...

I remember a newspaper done a test on a licence plate by painting the whole thing in clear nail varnish. It worked but apparently it wouldn't nowadays.

I've seen that spray when I was searching to see if anyone had tried this idea. It seems not to work, since it was tested on Mythbusters and several people have gotten tickets even with the spray.

computerguru3190 wrote in post #5623001
I was watching a traffic camera go off on my friends and had a quick thought. Does anyone know the shutter speed of a traffic camera? I was thinking someone could easily put a flash set for optical slave into their rear window and blow out the camera. I was wondering if anyone would know if that was even possible. It was a neat idea we were dreaming up to see if it worked.

Any thoughts?

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to break the law. I'm just wondering if it is technically possible.

Technically, it is possible. However, you don't want to blow out the camera, you just want to blow out your plate.

I've seen several products out there:

1) Paint. Makes the plate super glossy. I question the efficacy as time goes by and your plate get's dirty. Besides, modifying your plate is most likely a crime.

2) Clear covers that reflect light. Clear covers are ok while smoky or colored covers are against the law. If the cover reflects the light, well, that's a nice side-effect. Keep it clean.

3) Clear covers that obscure the plate when viewed at an angle. Again, most likely illegal in Louisiana. If you cannot view the plate from all angles, it is not "clearly displayed."

4) Plate covers which cover the plate when triggered. I've seen these on YouTube. Most likely one of the more illegal attempts out there. Your plate should be clearly visible at all times. Selectively hiding your plate from view is not a good idea.

5) Plate frames with infrared LEDs triggered by an optical slave. The CCD or CMOS in the camera can "see" into the infrared. When the flash fires, the LEDs surround the plate in infrared light and the plate is blown out. It's effect is invisible to the human eye. Just be sure that the plate fires when the flash goes off.

California recently passed a law which specifically addresses anti-red-light-camera products. Possession or use of any device or application is one offense. Selling the products is more serious offense. Given that conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is a felony, there could be more serious consequences. I imagine other states will soon follow with their own laws.

Remember, driving is not a right, it is a priveledge. One which can be taken away quite easily. They get to write and enforce the laws any way they want. I'm not sure of any constitutional violations when it comes to telling you how your license plate should be displayed.

Oh, and let me know when to come bail you out of jail when you ask the NOPD for permission to test your theories.

Well, it's been my experience that LEO doesn't really care if you have those license plate covers etc. If you're an average joe. however if you're that dude driving the ghetto ride that screams g-ride, or punk kid, well, you've left yourself open for it. Being a family car, etc. no ones really going to bother, and really, they can find something else to pull you for if they want to. Of course you do get the tackle berry's here and there who act as the catch-all, or are just having a real bad day.

I'd be curious to know if this works too

Because of my old job, I got to actually test this out. I had been wanting to for awhile, so my best friend's dad got us permission. We took one of the unmarked police units and set everything up.

We put the flash at full power on optical slave and drove through at 4 a.m. after checking no one was around. The traffic camera flash fired and ours did too. We then called the detective waiting at command center to find the live feed.

The flash in the car was strong enough to blow out the the license plate and most of the car. So it did work. Unfortunately since we were working with the company they saw our test results and such. They asked us to wait saying anything until they could fix it. So now if you try it, it will not work. The camera now fires two fast flash burst to avoid this. The first flash activates the in camera flash and avoids that.
The second flash works to capture an image.

The flash triggers fast enough so that u don't really see it too much but it does. We tried again last week and the image rendered clearly so this trick no longer works. Sorry guys, but it was possible at first.