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License Plate Stickers

Putting stickers on license plates to disguise them
  (+1, -4)
(+1, -4)
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Criminals who are involved in crimes with cars could put stickers on their license plates to change the letters or numbers (not to encourage crime or anything). Then, if anyone saw their license plate, they could take off their stickers soon after. This is better than covering it up, for example, because the police won't see anything wrong. You could change PIE 3 to BTF 8.
gamecraziness, Mar 11 2008

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       do you really think this has never been tried, it has certainly been in movies so many times over the years.
jhomrighaus, Mar 11 2008
  

       Why not use the stickers to change "PIE 3" to "PIE 3"? That way, the police will be looking for the wrong car from the start.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 12 2008
  

       wow, i really dont know where you were going with that [MaxwellBuchanan]...   

       so, you're saying that by covering the REAL license plate with the real license plate's alphanumerics, the fuzz would notice that it's covered and would assume the alphanumerics below it are different?   

       i was lead to believe that these stickers would be undectectable...
crazyrog17, Mar 12 2008
  

       How to turn this into a proper hb idea: The stickers are the same colour as the background or figures, as the case may be, but the background- and figure-coloured stickers are reversed as regards their reflective properties. That way, the plate appears as normal in ordinary light but displays a different number under camera flash or car headlights. There are lots of reasons why one might want to do this, but you'll have to think of them yourself.   

       But [+] for trying and for general subversiveness.
Ned_Ludd, Mar 12 2008
  

       I prefer [Maxwell]'s idea - if you cover your license plate with an obvious sticker of your real license plate number then, as you flee the scene of a crime, police will assume your license plate is different. However, if you're stopped on the way to the supermarket by police who are suspicious about your covered-up license plate, they'll discover you've done nothing wrong.
hippo, Mar 12 2008
  

       "Honest citizens have nothing to fear from the police" (allegedly).   

       The idea of concealing your real license plate behind a badly made facsimilie of the same license plate has a sort of Zen beauty about it that is hard to ignore. The next logical step is probably the licence plate haiku.....however this level of double bluff is probably a bit much for most police forces, who would probably prefer to shoot first and dodge questions later.....
8th of 7, Mar 12 2008
  

       //however this level of double bluff is probably a bit much for most police forces//   

       The next logical step is actually to dress up as yourself and then not commit a particularly audacious crime. I have tried this, and it gives one a feeling of unassailable invincibility.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 12 2008
  

       and invisibility - magic!
po, Mar 12 2008
  

       The trick is to use one's visibility as a form of concealment. As long as people can see you, they needn't look for you. And if they aren't looking for you, they're very unlikely to find you.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 12 2008
  

       This gives me an idea... If I could only make a rubber mask of my face, I'd be free to rob banks with immunity...
jtp, Mar 12 2008
  

       I think you mean impunity.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 12 2008
  

       yep
jtp, Mar 12 2008
  

       Having said that, isn't immunity the ability to commit a crime and be immune from prosecution?
jtp, Mar 12 2008
  

       I think "immune" in that sense is possibly a word that's crept erroneously into common language. "Impunity" means not being subject to punishment, whereas "immunity" means not vulnerable to the effects of disease, injury etc. I suspect that phrases such as "immune from prosecution" arose from some confounding of the two meanings.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2008
  

       I think you mean compounding.
jtp, Mar 13 2008
  

       To "compound" is to add to, combine or exacerbate (as in "compounding a felony" or "a compound verb").   

       To "confound" is to confuse (in either sense; to befuddle [someone] or to mistake one for another).
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2008
  

       Sorry [StephenFry], you're right.
jtp, Mar 13 2008
  

       That's a quite interesting thought.   

       Having satisfied 100% of my daily requirement of alcohol, I'm retiring. Don't forget to switch the lights out when you leave.
MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 13 2008
  
      
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