BEATING THE SPEED TRAP

The South African government is taking grave exception to an imported product that helps drivers beat speed cameras by obscuring car number-plates. The spray, invisible when applied to registration

Importer Dave Elsworth of Cape Town, who has been importing the product from the US and selling it through the internet, says "it's like taking a flash picture of a mirror".

But the government is not amused and has branded the spray "totally illegal", saying traffic officers will fine anyone found using it for obstruction of justice.

Elsworth doesn't agree. "The law doesn't say your car has to be photogenic," he maintains, and applies a cheeky legal loophole. The law states that no physical obstruction should be placed on registration plates and that the numbers should not be altered, Elsworth points out, but not that you must ensure that speed cameras can take pictures of your plates.

Not so, says Wendy Watson, general manager of Land Transport Regulations at the South African Transport Department. The very fact that the spray makes car registrations unreadable means it is illegal, she insists. Elsworth says if the spray is made unlawful, he'll stop selling it.