The squiggly lines separating the characters are to segment for the vision system so the software can capture, segment and process the plate.
The enhanced reflectivity of the plate allows them to read your plate up to 110 mph. That is, your auto traveling at a certain speed toward the officer's vehicle also traveling a certain speed. They can also read your plate in the dark of night with very little ambient light.
Officers now run through parking lots of shopping centers reading hundreds of plates looking for stolen autos, expired registration/vehicle inspection and lapsed insurance. Everything is tied to your plate. Even concealed handgun lic.
Here in Harris co., they've mounted multiple readers on patrol cars...looks retarded, but they can cruise down the road and read hundreds of plates in any direction...all at once and process in seconds. An alarm sounds when a plate with an issue is processed.
Soon in Texas, already deployed in yankee states, these readers along roadways, highway overpasses. They will track your comings and your goings. Leave town for the weekend, they'll know when you've left and when you arrive back in town as well as your destination.
Serious breach of public trust, serious breach of privacy...and no one saw it coming. No one voted for it, no one was informed. They just did all this for the sake of safety.
I didn’t respond until I had a chance to look at the plate. And the two squiggly lines are there. You state the plates will alert the cops if the “car” has an issue. I truly believe one “issue” the car might have if it’s owner posts on conservative websites. If the cop is alerted that the “car” has a problem, he starts looking for a reason to stop the car and question the inhabitant.
As computer plate reading got better and better, this was to be expected.
It’s been used for years at toll plazas.
The algorithms are not perfect. If a “texty” vehicle (like a U-haul with its advertising signage) gets into the sight of the cameras, they can be distracted from the actual plate.
Some states are still single plate. You can be caught going but not coming. Tennessee, for instance.