It's a European trend. The blur makes the license plate appear to be going faster, even while parked.
And? Security,avoiding the law,not wanting the IRS to know? What's it matter-do you need to see the plates?
I've noticed it in magazine features and event coverage too. I think it's for security. With the internet possibilities now, people could probably track down an owner and harass them about the car.
it just don't make sense.... the man can see your plates when it is sitting at a red light, at the mall, etc, why hide it in a pic...... ????????? just a question, if ya got a REAL answer, post it.....
yep its a security thing, with as much identity theft going on now days the average joe that is hacker inclined can find out what you ate for breakfast in the second grade....bottom line, you could do the same thing sitting at a light collecting the info, but the majorit of the folks on the road are looking at one thing....getting where they are going, a good percentage of the internet junkies are looking to score information, with the tag # you can find otu the SSN of the individual which means you can hack into credit info which means you can steal identity...
now we are getting somewhere, are there car serial killers that prey on people not smart enough to blur their pics???????????? there has to be reason....... can you google a lic plate and show up at the house where the car is stored???? if this is so, then why give the persons name and town in a mag story?????
No, but it doesn't much to get some info out of the DMV...social engineering is a nasty thing. You're right, if a person gives a name then maybe it doesn't help to blurr the plate. But if they don't, it makes it tougher for someone to track the car down to F with it or steal it. At a light, that's a few people. On the internet, it's a few more than that. Bryan
In some states a lien and/or title can be created from just the tag number. I do it on the pics that I post, I don't need some nigerian filling some bogus paperwork... s.
Don't know 'bout all that security stuff, but I have take pictures of my junk before where the glare from the sun or the camera flash, or whatever blured out the plate. Don't think I have to worry about me steeling my car...... Gene
if you don't understand why people blur their license plates in this day and age, then you might as well just hand out your SS# to everyone you meet...out of the hundreds of people that potentially see your car on the road one day, or the millions of people with internet access...which is the more likely possiblity that someone can get ahold of your personal info? and the lazy fucker doesn't even have to leave home...that is, until he's got your address and he's off to steal your vehicle or file phony paperwork claiming it as his...
Well, actually, it's an American thing! Car plates are always "blurred" out to protect the innocent ... or should we say guilty... on TV. We don't blur out anything, including nudity in Europe! Klaus
Ha ha... yes Klaus, we KNOW you unfortunately don't blur your homemade movies, but.... The reason for me to blur the plates in an ad with my car would simply be that I have chosen how much info I want to leave out. If someone have your plates they have your name and address and also they can start calling you. And maybe I DON'T want any calls or people showing up at my address, just e-mail or other. Otherwise I don't know so many reasons, more than it's noones business what cars i own...
I've never understood this either. 95% of the time the person's general location is given away (when posting, or in a magazine article, etc.), and it's not like there's a lot of people anywhere who would have some really old car that's customized a certain way. I mean if someone sees your car posted on the internet and thinks "I'm going to steal that", the only way you can be REALLY sure it won't get stolen is to lock it up in a secure garage and never take it out.
I've blurred the plates on my cars in a photo or two, but none of them have vintage plates right now and the new ones here in Washington look like crap, like they are printed on photo paper, they're not even stamped anymore. And if they change the state motto here to "Metro-Natural" I'm moving.
Some states you can get the registered owner's info from DMV for a small price. So, I see your restored vintage Whizzbang Speedmobile, I think that it'd be nice to steal that, I go to DMV, tell them someone hit my car in the parking lot, a witness left me the plate on a note under my wiper, here's my $5, can I get the owners information for my insurance please. So dirtbag is looking at a car magazine, sees the plate on your 'I built it for under $5,000' bucket, and it's a step towards stealing it, or bugging the shit outa you to sell it to him. Many states don't let DMV do this anymore, due to stalkers. Yeah you can drive around and get any plate off any car going by, but the ones in the magazines aren't the usual soccer mom cars.
2016 is when the Euro will replace the dollar as a world currency, but then I think that's also the year the asteroid is supposed to knock the moon out of orbit. Yea, 2016, the madness will end...
yeah or steal it. If they have an address of an owner all they would need to do is watch the house for an hour and find the way to get in the garage and take it. Guess the guy who asked isnt from a big city huh...
it started a long time ago, its so some car thief can't track your car down by your info at the DMV and come steal it. The way around that is not to drive anything that someone else would want to steal i guess. you won't get much magazine coverage or win too many car shows that way but such is life.
you do it so someone like me that has repo'ed cars for a living and can track you down with your plate # or less for making a goofy thread like this one.car thieves also can do the same.say they see a post here for a model A.in the pic they see your tag #.they also have one thats a junker.stop by in the middle of the night and yours is gone!swap a few parts or just the VIN they are done with a nice new hot rod and it only took a skip trace to track your model A down.don't say it couldn't happen to you.I snatch 2 to 5 cars a night working for collection companies and banks and only ran into a problem with the owner 1 or 2 times every few months.BLACK OUT YOUR TAG.
I would do it for a whole different reason... COPS!! When A*hole cop #1 tells A*hole cop #2 to keep an eye out for "that car with plate number x" it's much easier to identify it than looking for a car that looks like such and such. Heck, I've seen cops taking plate numbers at car runs on private grounds and at the dragstrip. I've seen bikers at a rally to protest harrassment towards bike riders carefully place their helmets on their plates when they parked their bikes so cops wouldn't know their numbers. Of course, they'll end up knowing your plate number (by heart sometimes), but I don't want to help them. Hide that number! By the way, I don't want to offend any cop on the HAMB. I know most of them are great guys, it's just that the dorks on a power trip stand out and have great powers.
I first noticed this back in the 80's in photo ads, usually the Auto Trader and throw-away weeklies. I think the blur was used to make it more difficult to find out who owned the car. For a long time here in Calif. the DMV would give out ownership info. A person could find out where you (and your car) lived if they had your license #. later, some crazy used the DMV info to stalk and kill an actress so now,they aren't so cooperative. But the blur continues!
At import shows, it's common to see a "hanger" or cover over the plates on cars in the show. They'll have their club name or something on the cover. A buddy of mine (been a street rodder since before they were called street rods) asked one of the guys about it. "Someone comes to the show and likes your Honda, he writes down the tag and goes home. He gets on the computer that night, and the next morning, you got no more Honda." -Brad
The Jalopy Journal
