All about jamming Saher flashers

Saudis resort to several ploys to dodge Saher eyes
Last updated: Tuesday, December 24, 2013 10:17 PM
Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM — Hiding the license plate number from Saher cameras has become a habit of a number of Saudi drivers. Avoiding Saher camera flashes on expressways has become a real challenge for many Saudi drivers.

To challenge the system and defy Saher cameras, Saudis have come up with a number of tricks.

According to an Al-Hayat report, the latest of these tricks was shown by a young Saudi on a YouTube video. The unidentified young man showed his new invention, a transparent sticker to be placed on the car's front and back plates to conceal its numbers.

The young man expects his invention to make headways in the Kingdom and be an immediate success.

He said the transparent sticker is the newest in a series of inventions that have all so far failed to avoid Saher cameras and the resultant heavy fines. "The new sticker is a far cry from the old traditional sticker which drivers used to put on their license plates," the unnamed inventor said.

Since it first came to the Kingdom a few years back, the Saher system has immediately become a nightmare for drivers speeding on the streets and inter-city highways. Saudis first came up with the idea of reflecting back the light coming from the camera flash   to impede the cameras from taking clear pictures of the number plates. They then resorted to putting speed breakers before the locations of Saher cameras to force vehicles to slow down and avoid being photographed.

Many Saudi drivers, especially younger ones, would alert others that they were approaching Saher cameras and ask them to reduce their speed. Others destroyed the cameras and physically attacked Saher employees in their cars. This trick soon died down after secret traffic police arrested a number of attackers. Another trick played by drivers to beat Saher cameras was to erase a number out of the three digits so the cameras will only show two numbers. This would make it impossible for traffic police to identify the violating vehicle.

When a GPS system was introduced to show the exact locations of Saher cameras, many Saudis bought the expensive gadget so they were alert when approaching Saher cameras. Some drivers resorted to putting special radars on their cars to force them to slow down before coming close to the locations of Saher cameras.

An old trick was covering the license plates with mud, making it impossible for Saher cameras to take clear pictures. This trick was not practical as the driver had to pull over somewhere to clean the plates, putting him at risk of being spotted by traffic police.

The "electronic curtain" was another maneuver used by drivers to avoid Saher cameras. By pressing a button, curtains automatically come down to cover the license plates, making it impossible for the cameras to function properly. The drivers abandoned  this trick after discovering that it was full of faults and that the curtains had on many occasions failed to come down.

Saudis did not limit their efforts to avoid the Saher system in their own country, but they also did this in other countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, which is a favored tourist attraction for many of them. The UAE traffic police were able to nab a number of Saudis who tried to evade the Saher system and imposed heavy fines on them reaching up to 20,000 dirhams. The Saudi Embassy intervened to lower the fines to between 5,000 and 10,000 dirhams. It also paid the fines for those who were unable to pay themselves.

Ref: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cf … 1225190500