Drivers scooping up license-plate covers
By Frank Cho
Advertiser Staff Writer
As the state revs up its new traffic camera program to catch speeders, hundreds of Honolulu motorists think they have found a way to beat the system.
Photos by Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
In the past week, drivers have been snapping up specially crafted plastic covers, called the Eliminator, that mask license plate numbers.
Letters and numbers can be seen clearly, top, when looking directly at a license plate with an anti-photo-laser cover, like this "Super Protector" from ON TRACK Corp. When looking at it from an angle, above, part of the license plate is obscured.
The covers, manufactured in Canada where traffic enforcement cameras have been used for years, diffuse light in a way that retailers say makes it difficult to read and photograph license plate numbers except when directly in front of the vehicle.
"It's the hottest thing selling right now," said John Pinero, president of Performance Auto Care Center in Waipahu and chief supplier of license plate covers to several retail outlets in the state.
Pinero said retailers do not normally carry the covers but began selling them when demand skyrocketed following the state's announcement that it would introduce the photo-enforcement system to Hawai'i roadways.
State law prohibits drivers from putting anything on license plates that would obstruct a clear view of the plates and the new cover appears to be illegal, according to police. Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Jean Motoyama said police will ticket drivers who use anything that makes their license plates unreadable.
But that has not stopped O'ahu drivers from buying up hundreds of the $35 covers. Of 1,000 covers shipped into the state last week, all but a handful were sold within days, retailers said. Another shipment of 500 covers is expected to arrive today.
"We tell people to check if they are legal before they install them on their cars and there is also a warning on the package," said David Oyama, owner of Pacific Motoring Accessories on Sand Island Road, which has sold dozens of the license covers since last week.
Oyama said he does not advertise and keeps the covers out of sight behind the sales counter. Only when a customer specifically asks for the cover does he sell it.
The state's new photo-enforcement system, which takes effect next month, uses cameras at intersections and in unmarked vans parked along highways to nab speeders and drivers who run red lights by taking photos of their license plates and mailing tickets to the registered owners of the cars. A private company, ACS State and Local Solutions, will install and monitor the cameras.
Marilyn Kali, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said ACS has assured the state that the plastic covers do not prevent the cameras from taking pictures of license plates.
"They told us (the covers) actually make it easier to take the picture, especially at night, because it diffuses the light," Kali said.
Kali said that the state is only trying to save lives by deterring speeders with the cameras, and that people would be wasting their money on the covers.
But Pinero said he has sold hundreds of covers in the past few days, including to police officers and attorneys.
"One attorney came in and bought 50 for his office. Police officers are buying them for their wives and their girlfriends as well as themselves," Pinero said.
Motoyama said police officers will be ticketed if they are caught speeding, running red lights or illegally covering up their license plates. If they are ticketed while responding to a call, they will have to contest the ticket like everyone else, Motoyama said.
"Police officers are not exempt from the law," Motoyama said. "We are reminding our officers of the law and that they are subject to the same penalties as everyone else."
Police union officials say officers are concerned about receiving speeding tickets while on the job and many expect the system will slow their response to emergencies. Officers routinely drive faster than the speed limit when responding to calls and will now be hit with speeding tickets if photographed by the traffic camera system.
"That is a concern that has come up with our membership because there is no policy in place about how the department is going to deal with this," said Alex Garcia, the police union's O'ahu chapter president. Garcia said he is aware of officers buying the illegal license-plate covers, but the union has not decided whether to take a position on the matter.
Reach Frank Cho at 525-8088, or at fcho@honoluluadvertiser.com.
