State and local officials in Tennessee and Pennsylvania are taking aggressive steps against the exploit of “license plate flippers,” devices that allow drivers to cover or hide their license plates at the push of a button.
License plate flippers are commonly used for aesthetic purposes at car shows, where they allow drivers to change their license plates to custom or decorative ones. However, thousands of drivers across the country also flip or cover their license plates to avoid detection — whether by law enforcement, toll collection systems or automatic speed cameras.
Texas AND Washington explicitly banned the exploit of these devices in 2013. However, in the United States it is generally illegal to alter or unknown license plates, regardless of the method.
In Tennessee, law which went into effect in July, bans the purchase, sale, possession and manufacture of pinball machines. Lawmakers said they were concerned about drivers trying to avoid prosecution.
“We don’t have any toll roads today, but we do have criminals today,” Tennessee Republican state Rep. Greg Martin, who sponsored the legislation in the House, said in an interview. “This [measure] “It’s about getting everyone playing on the same field.”
Under the novel law, anyone who buys a license plate changer could face up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $500. Those caught manufacturing or selling the devices could face up to 11 months and 29 days in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed, with bipartisan support, legislation which would ban license plate flippers and impose a $2,000 fine on those caught using or selling them. The bill now goes to the Senate.
“As speed cameras and traffic cameras become more popular, there are technologies that allow people to avoid hazards on the roads,” Pat Gallagher, a Pennsylvania Democratic state representative and the bill’s lead sponsor in the House, said in an interview.
Cities are taking action
Some cities also plan to introduce restrictions on these devices.
In April, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, signed the bill into law. law prohibiting the purchase, installation, possession and sale of “manual, electrical or mechanical” license plate changing devices; such violations will be punishable by a $2,000 fine.
“Tag flipping belongs in a James Bond movie, not on the streets of our city,” Philadelphia Councilman Mike Driscoll, a Democrat, told Stateline. “This isn’t just a Philadelphia problem; this sense of entitlement and lawlessness is happening all over the country.
“Every municipality needs to take these issues seriously,” Driscoll said.
In March, New York State and City officials shot a multidisciplinary task force tasked with identifying and removing so-called “ghost cars”—vehicles that cannot be tracked by traffic cameras or toll booths because they have imitation or altered license plates—from New York City streets.
In 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, reached an agreement agreement with Amazon to assist track down and curtail the sale of smoke screens and tinted license plates to customers with a New York state address. The partnership follows the passage of a city law earlier this year banning the sale of products designed to conceal or unknown vehicle license plates to New York City residents.
Criminal Activity and Toll Revenue
Recent discussions about license plate changers have focused mainly on their role in criminal activity and the loss of revenue from tolls and fines.
Covering license plates is a common offense, with some drivers using pinball machines, duct tape, or imitation paper labels to avoid detection. In some cases, the covering may be unintentional, such as when bike racks partially block the plate.
Changing tags is something like a James Bond movie, not on the streets of our city
– Philadelphia City Council Member Mike Driscoll
Chad Bruckner, a retired detective who is now president of the private investigation firm Intercounty Investigations & Solutions, said that while he supports legislation prohibiting the “catching” of suspects, it is critical to strike a balance between protecting the rights of citizens and providing law enforcement with the tools necessary to promote public safety.
“If you can’t identify a vehicle, you have no authority or power to make a stop or anything like that,” Bruckner said in an interview. “There’s just no law and order. It’s not safe for people.”
License plate changers are widely available online. They can be purchased for as little as $50 or as much as a few hundred dollars, although they typically cost around $200.
Other devices, such as license plate covers that unknown letters and numbers from certain angles, are already illegal in most states. These covers, whether clear or tinted, can affect the visibility of traffic and toll cameras.
Most toll agencies are not significantly affected financially by these violations because most drivers obey the law. However, New York City’s MTA Bridges and Tunnels, one of the busiest toll agencies in the United States, saw a loss of more than $21 million in 2023 due to blocked license plates, an enhance of more than 140% from 2020, according to Aaron Donovan, the agency’s deputy director of communications.
The agency is forecasting a slightly lower revenue loss of nearly $19 million in 2024 thanks to a novel task force dedicated to combating untraceable vehicles. Task force took over more than 2,100 vehicles and more than 450 arrests have been made since mid-March. Those arrests often reveal that traffic evaders are engaged in other criminal activities, such as possessing illegal firearms or driving stolen vehicles, according to MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Catherine Sheridan.
“It’s a larger regional problem where the same people who are evading tolls are also evading parking tickets. They’re violating school camera laws and speed cameras,” Sheridan said in an interview. “We’re also finding that these people are committing other crimes in our area.”
Those losses represent less than 1% of the agency’s total fare revenue, but they are still significant, she said, because they reduce the agency’s ability to subsidize mass transit in New York City, which in turn impacts residents who rely on public transit.
“Every dollar we don’t collect is $1 less than that subsidy,” Sheridan said. “The idea is that everyone pays their fair share.”
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages several bridges and tunnels connecting the two states and is part of a multidisciplinary task force that cracks down on untraceable vehicles, lost about $40 million in tolls in 2022 because of hidden and missing license plates, according to Lenis Valens, the agency’s public information officer.
In the same year the agency released over 2,300 summonses for blocked, missing and fictitious license plates, and extractive more than $21 million in delinquent fees and charges. In 2023, the agency recovered more than $25 million from fee evaders. In the first six months of 2024, released 4,836 summonses for toll violations, the majority — 3,940 or 81% — were for obscured, missing or fictitious license plates.
On the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a major toll highway connecting western and eastern Pennsylvania, at least 3 in 10,000 people intentionally covered their license plates between April 2023 and March 2024, spokeswoman Marissa Orbanek wrote in an email.
“Although the percentage of intentional blocking of license plates on the highway is very, very small, we are grateful for any additional support and regulations that will help us solve the problem of toll evasion,” Orbanek said. “The priority is really to ensure a fair and equal toll system.”
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