Misuse of Spray-on Mud Designed for SUVs

Spray-on mud is being sold to give urban 4x4s a rural look. Targeting self-conscious SUV owners whose vehicles rarely see obstacles bigger than a speed bump, the enterprising British e-tailer behind Sprayonmud sells the countryside in a bottle. But, while the site promises SUV owners a route around social stigma flung by a growing anti-4x4 lobby, other motorists are thought to use the same technique to freely flout speed limits.

For £8, buyers get 0.75 litres of genuine filthy mud from Shropshire that dries before it runs of the paintwork. The aim, says the website, is "to give your neighbours the impression you've just come back from a day's shooting or fishing - anything but driving around town all day or visiting the retail park."

However, other motorists are thought to use the same technique to ignore speed limits. Some motorists are spraying the mud over their number plate to avoid fines from police speed cameras.

The U.K. government's Department for Transport said such use of mud carries a hefty fine.

"It is an offense to treat a number plate in a way that obscures the characters of the registration mark and I would imagine that this would include obscuring a plate with mud," said Scot Marchbank, a spokesman.

"We are aware that a number of products designed to obscure number plates are being marketed on the internet and through mail order and (we) have warned the small minority of motorists who might be tempted to purchase these sprays that they are illegal and could result in a fine of 1,000 pounds.

"However, many cameras used by the police do not rely on flash photography but on Automatic Number Plate Recognition equipment using infrared radiation. The use of such an aerosol spray would not, therefore, have any effect."

Read More

Related Aricles
Canned Mud for 4x4 City Slickers