New York State Police Cracking Down On These Ghost Cars

Over the last 12 months a multi-agency task force, the New York State Police and partner agencies have continued to crack down on motorists who break the law by hiding or defacing their license plates to avoid detection at toll plazas. They call these vehicles "ghost cars".

A 'ghost car' is a vehicle that is virtually untraceable by traffic cameras and toll readers because of their forged or altered license plates. These automobiles are able to pass through New York State toll plazas without paying until now.

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An inter-agency operation involving the NYPD, the New York City Sheriff’s Office, MTA bridge and tunnel officers, the New York State Police and other authorities have been impounding vehicles, issuing summonses, and making arrests.

You know you have people that you know can afford it. They're just breaking the law. So we are here to say law enforcement is out in force. - Governor Kathy Hochul

Did you now that New York State has generated more than $2 Billion in toll revenue in 2023? Most New Yorkers don't like to pay the tolls, especially when you start getting those orange penalty envelopes in the mail, but the money does pay to keep the roads in good condition.

troopers.ny.gov

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 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. - Governor Hochul

These 25 Rejected New York License Plates Sure Are Classy

The New York Department of Motor Vehicles rejected over 3,000 vanity plate applications in 2023. Reasons included obscenity, references to sexual or intimate body parts, or because they could be confused as an official plate.

Some of these plates are NSFW.

Gallery Credit: Megan

This Is How Many Driver's License Points Speeding Costs In New York

Here's how many points speeding and other tickets will add to your driver's license.

Gallery Credit: Yasmin Young

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli