Plate covering can't fool parking cam: police
Some motorists think that if they partly obstruct their car plates during illegal parking that they won't be tracked down by police, but officers warn that's not the case.
On Monday, traffic police in Yangpu District revealed some cases that happened this month, and warn those who try to trick cameras in the future that they will face much more severe punishment than just illegal parking.
While illegal parkers are fined 200 yuan (US$29) and may lose three demerit points, those who cover their car plates may have the full 12 points deducted and thus have their driver's license suspended until they take and pass another written driving test.
Liu Fan, a traffic police officer of the district, said every month that district police discover at least one or two such cases.
He explained how the parking cameras work, which might not be expected by some offenders.
"As long as a car is parked in a banned street for over three minutes, the camera will report the case with the entire process of the car being parked there and eventually leaving recorded on footage and used as evidence," Liu said.
"If we spot the illegal act of covering a plate, we will retrieve more footage from the same camera or use other high-resolution cameras around the street to determine the plate number and then punish the offender," he said.
In four cases discovered so far this month, offenders were found to have covered their plates with cloth and paper. In one case that took place on November 19, a taxi driver covered his plate with a roll of taxi receipt.