Establishes the crime of unlawful purchase, sale or possession of a license plate hiding device

BILL NUMBER:S5918

Title of bill

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of unlawful purchase, sale or possession of a license plate hiding device

Summary of specific provisions

This legislation amends the penal law by adding a new section 165.75.

Section 165.75 will make it illegal to purchase, sell or possess a license plate hiding device when a person knowingly purchases, sells, or possesses the device with the intent to use such device or apparatus to hide the appearance of a license plate from E-ZPass or any other toll booth camera.

Section 165.75 will make the unlawful purchase, possession, or sale of such a device a class A misdemeanor.

Existing law

None.

Justification

Toll booth cameras are used in conjunction with motor vehicle records to track down drivers whom attempt to avoid paying tolls. Once motor vehicle records have connected the vehicle to its owner a fee and often a fine are sent to the owner to be paid in full. If a fee and or fine is unpaid, a driver may be subject to charges in civil court.

To avoid being detected by E-ZPass and other toll booth cameras and the fees associated with detection, an increasing amount of drivers have begun installing different mechanisms that flip or hide their license plate from toll booth cameras, which comes at a great cost to the state authority receiving tolls. It also gives certain drivers an unfair exemption from fees that all other law abiding drivers must incur.

Making it a class A misdemeanor to sell, purchase, or possess a mechanism capable of hiding ones license plate from a toll booth camera deters drivers from exempting themselves from the same fees, fines, and regulations lawful drivers must incur by using such a mechanism.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.