E Toll

[Mefiante]

BTW, I think SANRAL and the transport ministry’s talking heads are quite deliberately overstating how many people have already bought e-tags as a ploy to get more people to follow suit.

It seems that OUTA’s Wayne Duvenage agrees with my assessment (or at least the first part of it), as suggested by the dodgy stats that those same talking heads have published.

But even if the figure of 600,000 that’s currently on the table is reasonably accurate, it’s still a far cry from the 90%+ buy-in they will need from Gauteng motorists to make the thing work as planned.  By my reckoning, they’ll need to sell at least another 2.5 million e-tags before year’s end to make their go-live projections.  Somehow, I don’t see that happening, especially with the great furore that still surrounds the matter.

'Luthon64

[BoogieMonster]

Sanral CEO outlines the non-payment process

Still sounds completely unimplementable to me, given mass non-compliance.

[Mefiante]

With this outrage scheduled to go live on 3 December, here’s a suggestion:  Remount your rear number plate upside-down (and leave your e-tag at home if you’ve bought one).  The OCR system won’t know what to do with the number plate and you’ll still look legitimate from a distance.

'Luthon64

[Tweefo]

You sure it's going to be the back plate? It would be a simple matter to hinge the plate, to fold down when pulled by a string, and then a spring can pull it back up after. To work both plates would be a bit more difficult unless one can put an electrical motor on. Problem is to remember to do it at every gantry gate. I will put my, not engineering but scheming, mind to work on this very important matter. The nation, or more precisely, my wallet depends on it.

[st0nes]

You sure it's going to be the back plate? It would be a simple matter to hinge the plate, to fold down when pulled by a string, and then a spring can pull it back up after. To work both plates would be a bit more difficult unless one can put an electrical motor on. Problem is to remember to do it at every gantry gate. I will put my, not engineering but scheming, mind to work on this very important matter. The nation, or more precisely, my wallet depends on it.

In one of the older movies (Goldfinger?) James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 had triangular cross_section plates that could be rotated at the press of a button, thus offering three different choices of number.  It also had .50 machine guns and missile launchers fitted for the cases where the number plate ruse didn't work.

[Rigil Kent]

It would be a simple matter to hinge the plate

I've seen one or two of these hinged plates on superbikes. Once the rider exceeds  a certain speed, the plate flips up due to aerodynamics.

James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 had triangular cross_section plates

Nowadays Mr Bond could dispense with the Toblerone number plates in favour of a flat screen liquid crystal plate. But still, a mechanical solution to the problem somehow remains visually more effective and memorable.

Rigil

[Tweefo]

You sure it's going to be the back plate? It would be a simple matter to hinge the plate, to fold down when pulled by a string, and then a spring can pull it back up after. To work both plates would be a bit more difficult unless one can put an electrical motor on. Problem is to remember to do it at every gantry gate. I will put my, not engineering but scheming, mind to work on this very important matter. The nation, or more precisely, my wallet depends on it.

In one of the older movies (Goldfinger?) James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 had triangular cross_section plates that could be rotated at the press of a button, thus offering three different choices of number.  It also had .50 machine guns and missile launchers fitted for the cases where the number plate ruse didn't work.

I like the missile launchers, take the whole gantry down.

[Rigil Kent]

With this outrage scheduled to go live on 3 December, here’s a suggestion:  Remount your rear number plate upside-down (and leave your e-tag at home if you’ve bought one).  The OCR system won’t know what to do with the number plate and you’ll still look legitimate from a distance.

I can picture a government bean counter trying to figure out at which point upside down cameras will become economically feasible!

[Mefiante]

I can picture a government bean counter trying to figure out at which point upside down cameras will become economically feasible!

LOL!

An upside-down number plate is a dead simple thing for which to cater without requiring major changes to the hardware or software of the system.  The point is that it’s something they are very unlikely to have anticipated.

'Luthon64

[BoogieMonster]

Of course, when all else fails. Next we'll be hearing all about how they're doing it for the children.

[BoogieMonster]

Then again, we also have an "if all else fails".

[st0nes]

I can picture a government bean counter trying to figure out at which point upside down cameras will become economically feasible!

LOL!

An upside-down number plate is a dead simple thing for which to cater without requiring major changes to the hardware or software of the system.  The point is that it’s something they are very unlikely to have anticipated.

'Luthon64

Yes, dead simple.  But you don't work for them.  I hope!

[Mefiante]

But you don't work for them.

Nope, against them.  Gleefully. 

'Luthon64

[Mefiante]

Law firm offers pro bono defence to first e-toll offender (subject to certain provisos).  Maybe these lawyers have a novel insight into e-toll legislation and want to test it in the Courts.

A more cynical view (and perhaps a more realistic one, given that lawyers are involved) is that they’re trying to attract clientele by milking the hotly contentious issue of e-tolls as a publicity stunt to boost their public profile.

'Luthon64

[Tweefo]

Law firm offers pro bono defence to first e-toll offender (subject to certain provisos).  Maybe these lawyers have a novel insight into e-toll legislation and want to test it in the Courts.

A more cynical view (and perhaps a more realistic one, given that lawyers are involved) is that they’re trying to attract clientele by milking the hotly contentious issue of e-tolls as a publicity stunt to boost their public profile.

'Luthon64

Lawers would never do such an underhand, self serving thing, would they?