Police seize 41 cars for having illegally modified licence plates

Some of the vehicles had blurred plates and all were changed to evade getting captured by speed cameras, the Traffic and Patrols Directorate said on Monday.

ABU DHABI // Police have seized 41 cars so far this year for having illegally modified licence plates.

Some of the vehicles had blurred plates and all were changed to avoid being identified on speed cameras, the traffic and patrols directorate said on Monday.

Lt Col Ahmed Al Zayoudi, head of the major incident investigation department at the directorate, said vehicles with blurred plates included those from neighbouring countries.

Lt Col Al Zayoudi said the force used laser surveillance technologies that allowed it to identify modified plates.

He said police were monitoring all roads and motorists who covered licence plates with chemicals, folded them, or attached them to wires that made them easy to remove would be caught.

Anyone found in breach of the law faces jail and a fine of up to Dh20,000.

Offences under the federal traffic law include forging or faking a car’s licence plate, using a forged or faked licence plate, distorting, blurring or changing information on the plate, and exchanging plates between cars without prior consent.