What's happening
This bill requires vehicle inspections in New York to include checking license plates for damage or illegibility.
Why it matters
Could impact drivers who have damaged, faded, or delaminated license plates. , as these will now cause a vehicle to fail inspection—potentially requiring plate replacement before passing.
Clarifies exactly what makes a plate “illegible”. by setting a specific standard (e.g., if more than one-third of a number or letter is missing color or missing a piece), which may reduce disputes or confusion during inspections.
Aims to support law enforcement and automated tolling/camera systems. by ensuring that all vehicles have clearly readable plates, potentially improving public safety and toll revenue collection.
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Who cares
Vehicle owners
Plates with unreadable letters or numbers due to delamination, fading, damage or missing pieces would fail the inspection standard.
Vehicle inspection stations and inspectors
They would have to visually inspect license plates and apply the bill’s specific thresholds for illegibility.
Department of Motor Vehicles
The bill would add license plate legibility to vehicle inspection requirements, defining illegibility by damage affecting more than one-third of a letter or number.
Headline styles
Check Damaged License Plates
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to transportation
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7008
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 3, 2018
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the visual inspection of license plates
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision (c) of section 301 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new paragraph 4 to read as follows:
(4) Such inspection shall also include a visual inspection of the license plates. Whenever a license plate shall have become so delaminated, or otherwise damaged or worn as to become illegible, such license plate shall not meet the proper and safe condition requirements of subdivision (a) of section three hundred four of this article. A license plate will be deemed to be illegible when at least one of the license plate's numbers or letters cannot be read because (a) more than one-third of a number or letter lacks color due to delamination or other damage, including fading, or (b) the license plate is missing one or more pieces and such piece or pieces include more than one-third of a number or letter.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13590-03-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the visual inspection of license plates
Purpose or general idea of bill
To require that motor vehicles with delaminated or severely worn license plate fail the annual motor vehicle inspection.
Summary of provisions
Section one of this bill provides for the addition of new paragraph 4 to subsection c of Vehicle and Traffic Law section 301 making a damaged and illegible license plate grounds for failure of a vehicle inspection. A license plate will be deemed to be illegible when at least one of the license plate's numbers or letters cannot be read because (a) more than one-third of a number or letter lacks color due to delamination or other damage, including fading, or (b) the license plate is missing one or more pieces and such piece or pieces include more than one-third of a number or letter.
Section two of this bill provides that this act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Existing law
Currently, Vehicle and Traffic Law section 301 requires that motor vehi- cle safety inspections include the inspection of, among other things, brakes, steering, wheel alignment, lights, including any light that illuminates a license plate, and seatbelts. If any of these items are not in proper and safe condition, an inspection certificate cannot be issued.
Justification
Delaminated license plates are difficult to read because the license plate's colors have peeled away. To determine a license plate number, a person may be required to read one of more raised characters on the silver license plate. When there are merely seconds to read the license plate number, it is extremely important that all of the characters are legible and easy to read. It is equally difficult to read a severely damaged license plate. These delaminated and damaged license plates are a public safety hazard.
Every day, there are many instances where license plate numbers need to be read quickly. When a motorist encounters and wants to report a dangerous driver, he or she needs to be able to quickly and accurately read the driver's vehicle's license plate. Police cannot easily identify vehicles whose license plates are delaminated or severely damaged, which is becoming increasingly important due to the expanding use of license plate readers by local police forces. Red light Cameras cannot read badly worn license plates, thus decreasing their effectiveness. Worn license plate are harder to see at night or in inclement weather condi- tions.
Registrants of motor vehicles with delaminated license plates have no reason not to replace them because license plates suffering from delami- nation will be replaced for free when a registrant turns in his or her old delaminated license plates at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Willful neglect of the condition of one's license plates, when replace- ments are easy to obtain ought to, for these reasons, constitute failure of a vehicle inspection.
Prior legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None to the state
Effective date
This act will become effective on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.