New Task Force To Crack Down On Certain Cars In New York

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new task force to crack down on certain cars that have been a big problem in New York State.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the launch of a multi-agency city-state task force that will target "ghost cars." These vehicles are virtually untraceable by traffic cameras and toll readers due to their fraudulent or altered license plates. The NYPD, the New York City Sheriff’s Office, MTA bridge and tunnel officers, the New York State Police, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, arrested 8 people, impounded 73 cars and gave out 282 summonses. Governor Hochul said,

"By launching this city-state task force, we are sending a clear message: if you attempt to alter your license plate to avoid traffic cameras and toll readers, you will be caught. The safety of New Yorkers is my top priority and in partnership with Mayor Adams and law enforcement, we will swiftly remove elusive vehicles from our roads. Now, I'm calling on the Legislature to join our efforts and work with us to pass additional protections for New Yorkers in the final budget."

Read More: Your License Plate Will Be Reported To New York State

The task force will work to remove vehicles with fraudulent, modified license plates, or no tags from New York City streets. Often times these ghost vehicles are unregistered, uninsured, or stolen. Drivers are using these types of vehicles to evade paying tolls and they can be used in crimes such as robberies, hit-and-runs, and shootings, as they are difficult to identify.

New York Drivers Cheat City Out Of $100 Million In Tolls

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander conducted an audit of the NYC Department of Transportation’s speed camera program. The audit found that drivers are using illegal tactics, such as obscured, temporary, or ghost license plates to avoid paying tolls and fines. Lander says that the drivers have cost the city more than $100 million.

Speed cameras reduce speeding, prevent crashes, and save lives. Unfortunately, a small but rapidly growing number of drivers are illegally obscuring their license plates in order to speed without getting caught. These scofflaws are putting their neighbors’ lives and safety at risk – and cheating the City out of $100 million a year.

According to the audit, the speed camera system in the city rejected 1,076,182 or 22 percent of all captured incidents due to ghost plates (748,468; 15.3 percent) or covered plates (327,714; 6.7 percent) between January and June 2023...READ MORE.

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