MAJOR changes are happening as a new ‘license law’ goes into effect to fight fraudulent license plates.
Under the new law, dealerships must use temporary metal license plates rather than paper tags.
GettyDrivers will now need temporary metal tags as opposed to paper ones[/caption] GettyTexas will ban the use of paper tags starting July 1[/caption]The change will require all licensed car dealerships to issue metal license plates starting July 1.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott first signed House Bill 718 into effect on June 12, 2023, as bootleg paper license plates began to raise concerns in the state.
The bootleg plates allow drivers to skip toll payments and other road requirements.
Over 16 million vehicles on the road weren’t charged toll payments, according to the North Texas Tollway Authority.
Those missed payments totaled to $69 million in unpaid fees.
The paper license plates can easily be bought online through Facebook Marketplace.
“Usually between $70 and $100 you can get you a paper tag,” Grand Prarie police officer James Jones previously told CBS News.
“And that’s a lot of money for printing off a piece of paper, so these guys are making a killing.”
“We prohibit the sale of fraudulent temporary vehicle tags and encourage people to report suspicious listings to us,” Meta told the outlet in 2023.
“We’ve been collaborating with the Texas DMV to understand the scope and scale of the problem; we continuously work to improve our detection efforts and remove listings that violate our policies.”
Not only are those driving with fraudulent plates committing civil crimes, but some are also committing criminal crimes.
On November 14, 2022, police officer Brandon Paul Tsai, 32, was killed while chasing a driver using a fictitious paper license plate.
Tsai spun out during the chase and crashed into a light pole.
The identical tag used by the car he was chasing was also used on 200 other vehicles.
“Somebody gets out here and gets in a wreck and hits somebody and drives off, we have no way to track that vehicle,” said Officer Jones.
Officer Thomas Berrettini told CBS News about a time when four people in a car with fake plates crashed into a car and escaped by foot.
Paper tags bannes
What you need to know about license plates under HB 718:
Metal license plates will be issued for $10 instead of the current paper one-trip and 30-day temporary permits Car dealers are required to provide metal license plates issued by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles at the time of vehicle sale The new law guarantees that dealers can secure an adequate supply of license plates in advance All licensed dealers must use webDEALER to process title and registration applications for vehicle sales“The car was unregistered, fake license plate, there was nothing that led us to the house,” he said.
The new bill has received support from both sides and from the Texas Auto Dealers Association.
“Texas Franchised Dealers are united with state officials with the goal to reduce fraudulent tags,” Jennifer Stevens, a spokesperson for the Texas Auto Dealers Association, told CBS News in 2023.
“The TxDMV recently made a number of changes and added protections that have already helped reduce the prevalence of fraudulent tags and we hope that these efforts will be given the opportunity to be fully implemented.”
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