New York City, Amazon Collaborate on Crackdown on ‘Ghost Vehicles’

As part of a collaboration with New York City, giant retailer Amazon said it will proactively restrict the sale of smokescreen license plate covers and tinted license plate covers to customers with a New York state address. Amazon said it will also automatically display notices that these products cannot be shipped to New York locations.

The arrangement is part of a crackdown by Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) on “ghost vehicles” that use “camera blockers” to conceal or obscure their license plates.

In January 2022, the city enacted a law prohibiting the sale of “camera blocker” products, building upon a state law that also prohibits the concealing or obscuring of license plates. According to the city, despite the law, companies have continued to sell these products to New York City residents who use them to hide illegal and counterfeit license plates.

According to officials, ghost vehicles are fueling an epidemic of virtually untraceable cars that harm and kill pedestrians, bicyclists and others. Officials say obstructed license plates are often used to avoid speed and red-light cameras, resulting in upticks in dangerous traffic violations and convincing drivers they can evade accountability.

In the first seven months of 2022, the NYPD reported it had arrested more than 2,700 vehicle operators driving with forged license plates. The NYPD said it has also towed nearly 2,000 vehicles parked in violation while displaying a covered, obstructed, or illegal paper plate.

Police said vehicles with fraudulent or obstructed licenses plates towed by the police and the sheriff’s office are often not redeemed and sent to auction. Approximately 25% of the 5,500 vehicles with paper plates found to be in violation and towed by the city’s traffic enforcement division last year were abandoned by their owners, NYPD said.

Officials hope Amazon’s commitment to restricting the sale of these products will set an example for other retailers.

“Ghost cars are by design unsafe and untraceable, so in addition to finding and towing them, we’re going to stop them from appearing in the first place. Amazon has been a willing partner in the battle for street safety and we thank them for working with us to keep New York City streets safe. We expect all e-commerce platforms and other sellers to follow their lead, comply with the law, and keep these products out of New York,” Adams said.

Topics New York