NYS must step up actions against license-plate trickery

New York’s well-publicized crackdown on altered and obstructed license plates seems to have made no immediate dent in toll dodging at MTA bridges and tunnels. In the first four months of 2024, toll evasion increased more than 12% from the first third of 2023. Newsday reports that the number of trips by vehicles with license plates blocked from being read by cameras and recorded at the crossings rose from about 138,000 to about 155,000 per month, year-over-year.

There may be hope — but there's no guarantee — that those numbers will show improvement once updated. The joint task force of Metropolitan Transportation Authority and law enforcement officials, formed last March, has made 630 arrests, issued 28,000 summonses and seized 2,400 vehicles for suspensions due to infractions such as unpaid tolls, the MTA reported. Gordon Tepper, a spokesman for Gov. Kathy Hochul, says "the expectation is that the numbers will improve" because the crackdown has gained momentum since the spring. Will more arrests and summonses lead to less evasion?

The effort to illegally shield license plates from recording and billing devices — a scam that also shorts the public on revenue from red-light camera and speeding fines — comes at an unfortunate moment. Hochul announced after Election Day a renewed push to introduce tolls on vehicles entering Manhattan's business district; perhaps the upswing is due partly to evaders doing advance planning. In addition, toll rates on MTA crossings are due to rise next year regardless. Successful cheating by even a minority of motorists makes most of us who follow the rules feel like suckers and losers. In principle, this widespread scamming is no different from jumping subway turnstiles, shoplifting, or avoiding taxes.

In addition to more frequent enforcement, including more fines and vehicle confiscations, officials should follow up on the sale and installation of equipment that allows chiselers to chisel. They have legal backing for getting tougher: On Sept. 1, a new law took effect that as described by the Department of Motor Vehicles "bans the sale of license plate covers and increases penalties for those convicted of obscuring a license plate to avoid detection or toll collection ... It is also now illegal to sell or distribute those materials and covers, or any material designed to look like a lawful license plate but has not been legally issued by the NYS DMV or similar agencies in other states."

In 2022, New York City reached an agreement with Amazon to stem its internet sales of such products to New Yorkers. But Wednesday, on the commercial website for "Bonanza," this ad appeared: "Anti Speed Camera & Red Light Camera Photo Blocker License Plate Covers $39.95." The ad boasts it is "Ultra-Thin and inconspicuous." Two days earlier, the ad explicitly mentioned "tolls."

The state needs to keep chipping away at the problem. Otherwise, miscreants keep their privileges, the MTA keeps losing money, and other motorists know they're getting hosed.