The number of vehicles with unreadable license plates evading tolls and traffic fines has increased by 30% since April, costing the city up to $200 million annually, according to a new report.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who issued the report on Monday, published a chart indicating that most of what he termed an “explosive rise” in unreadable plates was found on motorcycles. Levine estimated that 5% of all vehicles in the city have unreadable plates.
The rise comes despite several efforts by authorities to crack down on so-called “ghost plates,” which obscure the plate to block automatic license plate-reading technologies used to collect tolls and enforce traffic laws.
In March, the state formed a task force to more aggressively ticket fake or altered plates. On a single day in May, the task force reported arresting 19 people and issuing more than 100 tickets. The problem has so angered New Yorkers that some have taken the law into their own hands to hold scofflaws accountable.
Levine’s estimate of $200 million in annual lost revenue is almost double a January report from city Comptroller Brad Lander.
“Clearly there’s got to be greater penalties and more consistently applied to what are scofflaws,” Levine said in a phone interview. “The fines are minimal. It’s only $65 for a properly registered vehicle that’s parked in the street. That should be doubled, and furthermore, it needs to be enforced in action, including putting a boot on the car or towing it.”
Levine, who recently announced plans to run for city comptroller, also proposed switching tolls away from camera technology, better training for traffic agents and adding points to a driver’s license that could accumulate and result in suspension.
“You can date the moment this became a serious problem,” he said. “The transition to electronic enforcement and electronic tolls, that was really when people started to try and evade accountability by obscuring their plates.”