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Q. I just received a speeding ticket,
and need protection fast. How long will it take to get my cover ?
A. We usually ship your cover within 48 hours.
Q. Do your products come with a warranty?
A. Yes. SpecterGuard plate covers come with a standard written
1-year
warranty.
Q. How easy are your products to install?
A. Easy. It takes less than 5 minutes to install a cover.RADAR EXPLAINED
Q. What is the difference between
photo-radar, laser, and regular radar? Are they different?
A. Yes, very different. Photo-radar uses regular radar to measure your
speed, and the special camera automatically takes a photo of your vehicle.
The photo is then mailed to you with a speeding ticket. You do not get
stopped by police at that time.
"Laser" refers to being targeted by a laser gun operated by a police
officer. It sends out a laser beam to measure the speed of your car,
instead of using radar. If you are speeding, you are stopped immediately
and issued a ticket.
Regular radar works by emitting a radio frequency. It was the first type
of radar used years ago, and is now used in various frequency bands like
X, K, and Ka. Newer radar detectors detect all these frequencies (see
paragraph about why radar detectors do not work for Ka photo radar).
Q. Is there a difference between "Laser" and "Laser Radar"?
A. No. "Laser" and "Laser Radar" are commonly used to describe police
laser or LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging).
Q. How is photo-laser different from photo-radar? Does
SpecterGuard work against the new photo-laser?
A. Photo-laser differs from photo-radar by the way in which your speed is
measured. The first uses a laser beam, the other uses conventional radar.
The photographs taken by both systems are the same. Photo-laser is more
accurate, and is therefore starting to be used world-wide. Yes, our photo
radar products will also protect you from photo-laser.
Q. What is "Overhead photo radar" and how does it differ from the
regular "side photo radar"?
A. "Overhead photo radar" refers to photo radar taken from above the
vehicle, instead from the "side" of the road. In some areas, photo radar
is taken from bridges, overpasses, or light poles. "Side photo radar" is
always taken from the side of the road.
PHOTO RADAR PLATE
COVERS
Q. Will your cover fit my car or
motorcycle license plate, if it is a special size?
A. Yes. We have many stock sizes. We have sizes for all countries. If we
do not have your size in stock, we can make it at no extra cost 7-10 days.
Q. Does the SpecterGuard (anti-photo
license plate cover) also work for Laser?
A. No. Use our SpecterGuard Laser instead.
Q. How well does the
SpecterGuard (anti-photo license plate cover) work?
A. Over 100,000 of these covers are now used world-wide by satisfied
customers. Automotive magazine reviewers love our products.
Q. How do I protect myself from "overhead photo radar"?
A. Tell us you need the "Overhead Version" of our SpecterGuard. The
light-bending lens in this cover is rotated by 90 degrees, to offer more
protection from above than from the sides. These are available in all
sizes.
Q. Is it legal to put the cover over my license plate?
A. Rules and regulations vary from country to country, and locally between
states, cities, and jurisdictions. If you are concerned about this, you
need to check with your local authorities.
Q. What about license plate covers
that block only 1 or 2 numbers? Do they work?
A. NO. They do not work, no matter what they say! The answer is simple. By
covering only 1 or 2 numbers, your chances of the photo radar cameras
being able to digitally enhance the photo so that your numbers are
readable increases.
This type of cover is also more visible, as the lens is separated into
sections. They are usually made of plastic that yellows, and/or inferior
adhesives that fail over time. For maximum protection, you need the
genuine SpecterGuard cover.
Q. I see that other companies sell plastic covers that are gray
or-brown in color, and claim to work like a polarizer? What about these?
A. WARNING: This type of cover is illegal to have on your car in most
states/provinces in North America and other countries because they
obstruct view of the license plate from any angle. These covers are highly
visible and can get you an expensive ticket for "Obstruction of license
plate numbers". We strongly recommend that you do NOT use them.
Q. Why don't you recommend using a "flash buster" or other
flash-back device for beating photo radar (a device which sits over the
license plate and has a small flash built in, which flashes to overexpose
the photo when hit with photo radar flash)?
A. We do NOT recommend these products for very good reasons, including:
a) Photo radar does not need to use flash on bright sunny days and the
product will not work.
b) They have to be hard-wired into your car, which is a problem.
c) They are very expensive!
Q. Why should I feel good about putting an anti-photo radar cover
over my license plate?
A. There are many reasons, including:
- You are charged with an offense without
your knowledge and your presence. You only find out about it when you
receive a ticket in the mail some weeks later. Is this right? We don't
believe so.
- The person charged may not be the
driver. The ticket is sent to the vehicle owner. Did the owner do
anything wrong? No, but he received the ticket. This is not fair.
- Photo radar is not designed to slow down
speeders. It is a revenue generator for tax-hungry politicians. A driver
can keep speeding for weeks after they were photo-radar ticketed,
without being aware of a ticket. (This way they can get more tickets).
Did this immediately slow them down? No. Is this OK? No.
- Tickets mailed with pictures can be
opened by spouses, and sometimes present an unpleasant surprise. Who is
the other person in the car with the driver? This is a privacy issue.
SpecterGuard Laser
Q. What kind of radar protection is
the SpecterGuard Laser designed for?
A. SpecterGuard Laser is
designed only for Laser (LIDAR) protection. In simplified terms, laser
sends out an infrared beam at a wavelength of 904 nm. It is not visible to
the naked eye, but is deadly to your car.
Laser beams requires a reflective surface on your car to bounce back to
the laser gun, for the gun to get a good reading.
SpecterGuard Laser diffuses the
laser beam over the license plate, which is usually the most reflective,
perpendicular, and best metallic surface to bounce the laser beam off.
SpecterGuard Laser saves you
some time and distance on the road. As you approach a laser (LIDAR) gun,
other parts of your vehicle will start to provide a bigger area and enough
reflection for the radar, to eventually allow a speed reading of your car.
So, be vigilant and slow down as soon as you see a laser trap.
Q. Where is Laser used?
A. About 40 US States, most Canadian provinces, and many other countries
use Laser. SpecterGuard Laser
has proven highly successful in all places.
Q. Do I need a SpecterGuard Laser on the front and back plate?
A. No. 90% of laser guns out there only target the front of your vehicle.
We recommend covering the front plate. If you live in an area where front
plates are not used, you do not need a
SpecterGuard Laser.
If you happen to live in a rare location where laser is shot from the
rear, place a SpecterGuard Laser
over the back plate also.
Q. Does the SpecterGuard Laser obstruct the license plate numbers
from view?
A. No. SpecterGuard Laser does
not obscure view of the license plate in any way.
Q. Exactly how effective is the SpecterGuard Laser at blocking
laser beams?
A. Independent tests conducted by a laser-testing laboratory confirm that
the SpecterGuard Laser are
extremely effective. This is measured by how much laser light (at the
police laser wavelength of 904 nm) gets absorbed or diffused by a plate
cover. Our SpecterGuard Laser
diffuses 98.3% of the laser beam!
PROBLEMS WITH RADAR/LASER
DETECTORS & JAMMERS
Q. Why don't even the best radar
detectors work on photo radar, when they say that they do? Why do you
recommend that I use an SpecterGuard product instead?
A. Even the best radar detectors do not work well on photo radar. It is
true that some detect the Ka band which photo radar commonly uses.
However, photo-radar uses a very narrow (5 degree) beam across the road
near the camera, so you do not have time to slow down when the detector
alarms within this zone. Your photo is taken less than 1 second later, and
you are caught! The same is true for photo-laser.
Q. I have heard that laser detectors do not work. Is this true?
A. Laser detectors have 2 major problems associated with them, and can
sometimes fail to warn you in time to prevent a ticket:
1. The laser beam is only 4-6 feet in diameter when it targets a vehicle
in front of you. Your laser detector must see this beam in order to alarm.
If this narrow beam is not hitting your laser detector, no warning of
laser trap down the road is given off.
2. Because it only takes less than 1 second for the laser gun to get a
reading of your car, once your detector alarms you have no time to slow
down.
Q. I already have a laser detector or jammer. Do I still need a
SpecterGuard Laser?
A. We recommend using a SpecterGuard Laser even if you are using a
detector or jammer. This will give you the best chance of avoiding a
ticket, for very little extra cost.
Q. Do radar and laser jammers work?
A. No comment.
Q. Are laser jammers legal everywhere, as some manufacturers
claim?
A. No. Recently in Canadian (BC) news was an incident where police
impounded a speeding vehicle when they could not easily remove the
installed remote laser jammer. Contrary to what you hear, laser jammers
are not legal everywhere. They are also not legal in some other countries. |
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