---
title: "Please Don’t Try Gordon Ramsay’s Very Illegal Trick to Avoiding Speeding Tickets"
description: "Listen, we understand. Speeding tickets are a major bummer. But we still have to rule against following the example of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who recently told Mirror that he often uses plastic cling wrap to cover the license plates on his Ferrari California T so speed cameras can't make out the numbers and track him down."
date: "2018-02-07"
modified: "2018-02-08"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/18255/please-dont-try-gordon-ramsays-very-illegal-trick-to-avoiding-speeding-tickets"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "California"
  - "License Plates"
  - "speed cameras"
  - "speeding"
  - "speeding tickets"
---

# Please Don’t Try Gordon Ramsay’s Very Illegal Trick to Avoiding Speeding Tickets

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/02/gordon-ramsay-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Listen, we understand. Speeding tickets are a major bummer. But we still have to rule against following the example of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, [who recently told *Mirror*](<https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/gordon-ramsay-admits-dodging-speed-11924255>) that he uses plastic cling wrap to cover the license plates on his [Ferrari California T](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/6240/the-2016-ferrari-california-t-is-the-rodney-dangerfield-of-ferraris>) so speed cameras can't make out the numbers and track him down.

The *Hell's Kitchen* host and global restaurateur is no stranger to speed, boasting a nine-car fleet of Ferraris that includes [a 1-of-150 LaFerrari Aperta.](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFheMvDYNIU>) Eight of them reside in London, while Ramsay keeps his aptly-named California T at his home in Los Angeles. And with a new restaurant opening in Las Vegas, he's been making the long and dusty trip between the two cities quite frequently and speedily—but not without his secret sauce.

"I’ll take it out at 2:30 in the morning on the freeway and I’ll blast on the motorway, and no police catch me and no cameras because I wrap my number plates with cling film," [Ramsay said.](<https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/gordon-ramsay-admits-dodging-speed-11924255>) "It’s a great thing for a chef when they get your own Ferrari, just wrap it with cling film. It won’t photograph, it reflects. Brilliant! It’s a great tip. I’m trying to help you."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNCSCT4gj8G

Brits and Americans use different words for different things, but we're pretty sure "help" isn't one of them. For one, speed cameras *can* see through plastic wrap, and the idea that they can't is something of a myth ([conveniently busted by *Mythbusters*](<https://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/way-to-beat-police-speed-cameras/>) a few years back). There are other ways of stealthily stopping a speed camera from reading his plate, and while some work better than others, they're all [illegal in California](<https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/vehicle-code/veh-sect-5201.html>) and most other states.

Not only does plastic wrap not block out a speed camera, it's also fairly obvious to anyone with eyes. Should a cop drive up behind him and notice his handiwork, he's definitely looking at a ticket for an obscured plate. We can sympathize with Ramsay's desire to put his foot down with a 552-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8 under the hood of that Ferrari California T, but he'd be better off [with a creative defense](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/17931/lotus-ceo-uses-the-old-test-drive-excuse-to-fight-102-mph-speeding-ticket>) than these sorts of extralegal measures.

There is one foolproof way to beat a speed camera [(aside from stealing it)](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/17785/thieves-steal-80000-speed-camera-system-in-broad-daylight>), though we can't officially recommend it either: *Mythbusters* also found many units weren't able to record a car moving faster than 200 mph. Maybe *that's* what [all those Texans were doing last year.](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/17282/181-in-a-75-here-are-the-20-fastest-speeding-tickets-in-texas-in-2017>)

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)