Drivers in New York who obscure their license plates to avoid paying tolls will face steep penalties — including the potential loss of their car registration — under legislation passed on Saturday as part of the state budget.
The measure comes as the MTA expects to launch congestion pricing in June, which will impose a $15 daytime toll on drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th Street. State lawmakers said the legislation aims to prevent people from skirting those fees, as well as all others in the city that are collected through E-ZPass and license plate readers.
The budget imposes new consequences on drivers who cover their plates with glass or other materials that prevent cameras from reading their numbers. It also takes aim at people who scratch off parts of their plates. According to the legislation, anyone caught violating the law will be forced to surrender their cover and be subject to fines ranging from $100 to $500.
If a driver has been convicted more than three times of covering their plate in a five-year period, the legislation empowers state officials to suspend their vehicle registration.
“We’ve seen a huge proliferation of license plate covers … all in an attempt to evade accountability,” said Bronx Assemblymember Kenny Burgos, who wrote the new enforcement language. “I wanted to make sure that people were not evading what everyone else is unfortunately having to pay, but I also wanted to make sure that we didn’t have a flawed system that continues to burden New Yorkers.”
The MTA estimates it loses roughly $50 million per year to toll evasion on its bridges and tunnels. And a report published last month by the Citizens Budget Commission found the city Department of Transportation lost more than $100 million last year to drivers who obscured their plates to avoid automated camera tickets.
Burgos said police will oversee the crackdown, but noted that many officers are themselves guilty of covering their plates to evade tolls or red light cameras. Entities outside of the NYPD will also be tasked with enforcing the new rules, according to Burgos, including the MTA Bridges and Tunnels police force.
Danny Pearlstein, the policy director of advocacy group Riders Alliance, said the new rules are a step in the right direction, but argued the budget language should have given stricter penalties for drivers.
“The problem with vehicle suspensions alone, without impoundment, is that it’s being used against folks who have already shown a very casual disregard for the law,” Pearlstein said, “And there’s reason to believe that people who drive with obstructed plates will also drive suspended registrations.”
Pearlstein said the state and city need “all the tools in the toolbox” to be able to prepare for the proper enforcement of congestion pricing.
“Toll evasion is a major obstacle to the fair implementation of congestion pricing,” he said. “In order to be fair to all drivers, and to riders and drivers alike, everyone has to pay their fair share.”