Gersh, as anyone should know by now, is the leader of the license plate vigilantes, a self-appointed squad of do-gooders who react to license plate obfuscation with remedies of their own.
These vigilantes have no power of legal enforcement, just the ability to piss off the offenders who will probably go back to doing what they do as soon as the vigilante goes away.
In a prior posting I made mention that I would like to get Gersh's self-penned and sung song, "Criminal Mischief" from iTunes. "Criminal Mischief is what a predecessor vigilante was charged with when he was served with a ticket by the police as he re-altered a license plate back to its intended appearance. His case was dismissed.
Gersh has adopted the phrase as his theme song, and plays it on his short Twitter tweets as he reveals another license plate alteration. He is quite entertaining. He's embraced his new-found celebrity status by adding a QR code to his Tweets that lets you download his ditty. (I don't know how to do this.)
This shows you how Gersh is not out to monetize his fame. Years ago the young woman who was identified with then Governor Eliot Spitzer in a cash only transaction involving sex, Ashley Dupree, had a song she had recorded prior to her call girl activities which you could download for a small fee. The downloads starting going viral, and I guess she made a few shekels.
I remember when this happened in 2008. I worked in the area where she was identified as living by the paparazzi press. There was a squad of photographers camped out hoping to get a shot of the young lady as she went in and out of the building. I don't think they ever did. Ashley is very much a footnote, as is the former Governor who resigned over the scandal.
Gersh has no sex appeal, so he will likely remain fairly anonymous. Since I follow Mr. Kilgannon on Twitter, the NYT reporter (@coreykilgannon) who wrote of Gersh and his efforts and Gersh himself (@gershkuntzman), I have taken to categorizing the methods the license plate obscurers have taken to evade speed cameras, toll readers, and traffic enforcement agents.
Mr. Kuntzman is resolute in his endeavors. I don't know if he's been invited to be on morning talk shows. Goodness knows they love to interview people like Gersh, but he stands to make a bundle if New York City ever rewards those who report the scofflaws and cuts them in for a piece of collected fines, somewhat like the reimbursement whistleblowers can get for bringing down fraud under the Qui Tam statutes. Reporting scofflaws might replace bottle returns as a form of income.
Here are the categories as I see then, so far:
The Environmentalists
This form of plate recognition evasion is simple. Pick up a few fallen leaves from the gutter and wedge them between the frame of the plate holder and the plate. Do this front and back if you have to have front and back plates. Use enough leaf cover to obscure one or more characters of the plate's identification numbers and letters.
This is the probably the best one, since if you are confronted by an enforcement agent you can claim you were driving through Vermont during leaf-peeper season and didn't realize that leaves had gotten stuck in such a position. It might work.
Gersh's remedy is simple, but not very permanent. He simply removes the leaf camouflage and sticks it on the windshield. It's his way of letting the perp know he's been identified, like someone who leaves a pebble on top of a tombstone after a visit to someone's grave.
The Banskys
This one involves scraping off the paint on the lettering, leaving an unpainted finish that is likely not readable by toll readers and speed cameras.
Gersh's remedy for his is to pull out his Sharpie and retrace the lettering, darkening the characters and making them more visible.
If caught by traffic enforcement a defense might be that either acid rain or poor workmanship at the penitentiary is the cause of naked characters. Good luck with that one.
Stealth
The most intentful deception. Buy what it takes to have your license plate flip back into the grill work, leaving no plate to be read by a speed camera or toll reader. Flip the plate to a more visible position when not driving or going toward a toll.
Gersh can only point these out. He doesn't damage the vehicle in an attempt to thwart the stealth flip.
The Translucents
Available on all kinds of websites are coverings for sale that render an opaqueness over the plate, making it hard to read, but not impossible.
Gersh can only point these out. He is able (and you can too) through a Twitter bot, How's My Driving, to bring up the history of the plate and its infractions. The list is often extensive, and if there were a 10 Most Wanted List there are those that would qualify. Apparently, infractions are public record. There are some serious desperados out there.
The Strongman
This involves bending the edge of the plate back over the plate and obscuring one or more of the characters. A defense might be you park in front of a middle or high school and those damn kids are always messing with your plate. Another defense might be shopping carts keep crashing into your plate and bending the edges.
Gersh of course bends the plate edges back.
Gersh and his merry band of vigilantes are only a few people who are combating plate unrecognition. They're pissing in the ocean, since in Mr. Kilgannon's piece he quotes the loss in toll and fine revenue to be near $100 million annually. Which shows you how high the fines and tolls are, when the few who engage in obfuscation can aggregate that much in evaded money
And of course all non-payment of tolls and fines is not due to plate evasion. I'm sure there are plenty of drivers who drive through the toll readers with fully readable plates who either never get a bill in the mail, or have found a way to ignore the bills and still register a vehicle.
We always live in interesting times.
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