Salik Tricks

[root]

There was an interesting article in todays Gulf News on how people are avoiding the Salik tolls by using a coin pressed against the Salik tag.
Sounds strange to me, as either the toll-gate reads it and the computer at the back-end deducts the money or the toll-gate does not read it...in which case the camera takes your plate number.

Anyhow...here's the article. Anyone else has any other tricks?

Salik teething troubles continue

By Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
Published: October 06, 2007, 00:42

Dubai: Motorists who go through the Salik toll gates without a Salik tag are not being fined, Gulf News has learnt.

"I passed through the Salik gate last month and I did not have a Salik tag. I made a traffic fine inquiry, but there was no fine," said a motorist.

Another motorist said she passed under the Salik toll gates several times without affixing the tag on the windscreen, but was not fined.

An Indian salesman said he bought the tag and kept it on his car dashboard for several days, but did not get any fines. The salesmen had passed through the toll gates several times.

But a Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) spokesperson said, "All violations have been 'captured' since mid-July, after the decision of RTA to cancel any violation for the first 15 days of Salik.
Click Here!

"These fines go through several processes of review and then get posted to the traffic file of the car owner."

He however, did not explain how long it would take to post the fines, if any. A source at RTA said the system has been facing some technical glitches and some people are also facing problem in receiving information about their accounts, but he refused to explain further.

Coin trick

Meanwhile, Gulf News has also learnt that a Dh1 coin can beat the Salik system. If you hold the coin behind the chip of the Salik tag, you are not charged the toll fees.

"The Salik system does not read the chip on your Salik tag if you take a coin and press it behind the chip of the Salik tag on the windshield while passing through a Salik gate," said a motorist, who did it several times and saved money on toll charges since Salik was launched last July 1.

This reporter tested the claims of motorists and passed through the Salik gate several times holding a Dh1 coin behind the chip of the Salik tag and found out later that the system did not read the chip and did not deduct the Dh4 Salik fee. No fine was imposed for the violation.

This reporter passed through both the Al Barsha and Al Garhoud Salik gates on Shaikh Zayed and Shaikh Rashid Roads respectively, several times using the same technique and the result was same -no charge and no fine as the tag was not read.

No deduction

The Salik account of the reporter on the website showed no money was deducted from the Salik account or any fine imposed. The Salik website only showed the record of those trips without using the coin behind the Salik tag.

When asked about this problem, the RTA spokesperson said: "The Salik system is not cheatable through any technique. If the tag is not read for any reason, a vehicle's registration plate number will be captured when it passes through the toll gate. This is the technique that is also used for tolling motorbikes."

But he did not explain why it did not show on the Website Salik account and why the toll fee was not deducted from the Salik account. According to the Salik website, a motorist has to buy a Salik tag and fix it on the windscreen of the car to pass through a toll gate.

He or she has to pay Dh4 every time the car passes through the gate and the amount is deducted automatically through a Radio Frequency Identification System which is used to read the Salik tags.

"A vehicle is identified by the system through communication with the small, thin Salik sticker tag affixed on the windscreen," the website reads.

Warning: Readers should not try cheating the Salik system as it is a violation of the law and they may get fines at later stages.

Gulf News is not responsible for any liabilities incurred by those who try this.

[Brembo]

wow we gotta try out this 1dh coin trick. wonder how that works??

well the only theoretical tricks i can think of is
1. drive thru the gates at about 180+mph (top gear proved that british cameras dont click at that speed)
2. in canada you can drive thru the toll gates for free if you have an old nissan pathfinder and the camera is placed in a weird angle and cannot capture the plates which are under the spare wheel in the rear. the salik might have been designed differently as everyone drives a landcruiser or prado with the wheel mounted on the rear.

thats all i can think of.
p.s you dont need to stick the tag on your windsheild, just leave it on your dash and it will be read.

[T.N.T]

Wow! I am gonna try that 1 dh trick for sure!

Warning: Readers should not try cheating the Salik system as it is a violation of the law and they may get fines at later stages.

Sounds strange to me, as either the toll-gate reads it and the computer at the back-end deducts the money or the toll-gate does not read it...in which case the camera takes your plate number.

My answer to that is, even though the card may not be read, the photos of the vehicle suggest otherwise (as the tag is present), and thus they dismiss the fine?

I thought motorbikes were exempt from the whole Salik system

[root]

I've a friend who's not been charged once on Salik although he drives through 4 tolls a day. He called Salik up and they said that his tag seems to be linked to someone elses account, and he does not need to worry as they will 'sort it out'. Lucky guy!!

and I guess unlucky for the guy who's actually paying for his tolls

[Brembo]

My answer to that is, even though the card may not be read, the photos of the vehicle suggest otherwise (as the tag is present), and thus they dismiss the fine?

I thought motorbikes were exempt from the whole Salik system

the cameras take a picture of the rear of the vehicle.

bikes are not exempt, i read on the salik website. how its enforced i dunno.

[root]

I wonder if one can buy Safe-plate spray over here:





btw...motorbike plates are at the back, so I guess Salik works for them. For other speeding cameras one can just zoom by....in Dubai, not Abu Dhabi (where cameras photograph from behind).

[T.N.T]

A friend imported that and it cost him $26. Works, but its risky.
For motorbikes, just zoom past the camera at 250km/h+ and you are safe

[root]

For motorbikes, just zoom past the camera at 250km/h+ and you are safe

'Safe' is an over-statement here

[WSF]

Cops r aware of these sprays theyll give u a hard time if they spot it on ur plate...

[root]

but how do they really figure out you've got spray on?
Its supposedly invisible unless extreme light comes on it.

[Brembo]

guys trust me the spray does not work. only in rare cases when there is a lot of flash or sunlight really reflecting right off your plates it will work partially.
i have tried it, so have mythbusters and its been proved false.

[WSF]

There have been a time about 2years ago where i started noticing several cars on the road with their plates unclear @ nite when light is reflected on them.. they nolonger exsist i guess the cops caught 'em?..

[navadv]

^^thats quite an assumption WSF

But heres what i know.... Salik tags are basically RFID - Radio Freq. Identifaction. So inside the tag is a small chip...

In simple terms, theres a number thats stored on the chip ... Ex: 123456
Everytime u pass through the gate, the number is linked to your account and money gets deducted... This is how it works in supermarkets, and even clothing shops, so im guessing the same here.

There is supposedly a guy that produced a program called RFDump ( i think) that allows you to read this number and *possibly* change it as well!
So from 123456 you change it to 654321 and its immediately linked to someone elses account! - TADA! ... free Salik!

About number plates - in Abu Dhabi, the technology used by the system allows it to automatically recognize numbers on a photograph.
So ur speeding, FLASH - it takes a pic... the pic goes into a system where it looks for numbers ... finds the numbers on ur plate and it sends the fine to that plate!
Now ive been thinking.... if it recognizes numbers, what if u buy a large number "8" and stick it on ur car (not No. Plate!) right next to the number plate. So assume u have a number 7478.... and u stick another 8 right after the number plate.... will the system e able to recognize that number ? and maybe fine 74788 !??? ... hehe

[root]

Navadvs been thinking hard!!

The day 74788 gets tired of all his fines and asks for a photograph evidence and your plate shows up is the day you should be worried about.

We need a james bond-ish number plate that emits different numbers when flashed upon...or makes 2-3 digits dissappear so you get only 7 or 74.

Either RTA will not send the fine to 7 or 74 due to who the owner is, or the owner of those numbers probably just pays all the fines without ever seeing.

On the RFID copy, you need to make sure you copy someones tag that is always topped up (maybe a taxi company), as again you dont want to be photographed for an empty/largely-in-debt account there.

DISCLAIMER: These discussions are just hypothetical and we urge everyone to follow the law and not try to break it!

[Brembo]

yes we are a nice honest bunch on autodealer.
so guys no cheating salik or speeding cameras. no racing down uae roads either!!

hmm so james bond style plates eh? nice idea