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Division Street is in Gresham. (Brian Burke)

Now that the toll is coming, should I put a colored lid on my license plate, or put them on the dashboard and hide them when I pass the camera? Or should I see if James Bond's Aston Martin and its rotating plate are for sale so that I can save on tolls? -Camera Dodge

In case you missed it, the Oregon State Legislature passed a law that will impose variable tolls on sections of Interstates 5 and 205. The law was passed in 2017, so I can understand if you always want everyone to forget. However, fees are indeed coming-most of their collection and enforcement will depend on the camera to capture license plates.

Dodge, you are not the first Oregonian to hear this news and start dreaming about a foolproof way to avoid tolls. People in existing toll road states have been doing this for years! Fortunately, there is no shortage of rough Internet providers who are eager to sell you all kinds of dubious nonsense to satisfy this illusion.

Where to start? A license plate shield with a Fresnel lens (supposedly) blurs the numbers when viewed from a certain angle. There are protective shields that are transparent to the eyes and are (possibly) opaque in the infrared range used by (some) traffic cameras. There are license plate frames with infrared LEDs that are invisible to you and me, but are (allegedly) too bright for traffic cameras to take clear pictures.

Today, you can even buy an electric license plate flipper. This is your favorite James Bond technique. You can switch from one set of license plates to another with the push of a button while you are driving. Unlike Bond's version, this version does not require a hole in your suitcase. (Suck it, Q!)

At the obvious risk, all these things are illegal. (I'm still racking my brains to find the legal use of license plate fins.) Making your label unreadable by any means is a $265 fine-unless your name is Bond, it will show a label that does not match your car It will cost more or more, depending on how you get them.

You can try all of these things (in fact, Amazon must claim that those infrared LED license plate frames only provide lighting for people with night vision backup cameras, which shows that they may have potential), but you may just make yourself pay more fines Save more than you might. I’m not an accountant, Dodger, but wouldn’t it be easier and more cost-effective to pay the damn toll?

problem? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.

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