A 2004 view of I-95 in Philadelphia (Getty Images).
Motorists caught using devices to conceal or switch their license plates could face stiff fines under a new law Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Monday.
Act 150 makes it illegal to own, purchase, install, manufacture or sell license plate reversal devices. Those who violate the law could face a $2,000 fine under the law, which passed unanimously in the House of Representatives and the Senate, with final approval in the Senate on November 13.
State Reps. Pat Gallagher (D-Philadelphia) and Greg Scott (D-Montgomery), who co-sponsored the legislation, said it resolves ambiguities in existing law about whether the devices are legal.
With the passage of the law, Pennsylvania joins a growing number of states to explicitly ban license plate flippers, which Gallagher and Scott say could prevent vehicles from being identified to avoid tolls and tickets or for more nefarious reasons.
“House Bill 2426 represents an important step toward accountability on our roadways,” Scott said. “By banning these devices statewide, we are closing a loophole and strengthening public safety across Pennsylvania.”
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, signed similar legislation in April. Philadelphia recently stepped up enforcement of traffic laws on major thoroughfares through the use of red light cameras and speed cameras, after an investigation by the city’s transportation department found a dramatic reduction in fatalities and pedestrian accidents on Roosevelt Boulevard, one of the city’s most dangerous thoroughfares. state, demonstrated.
Shapiro signed legislation last year allowing the expansion of automatic enforcement in Philadelphia, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and through cameras mounted on school buses to catch drivers who ignore bus-mounted stop signs.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has also struggled with it toll evasion after switching to automatic tolling systemwide in 2020. A commission spokesperson told Capital-Star on Tuesday that intentionally obscured license plates are a minor factor in uncollected tolls. They accounted for 3 in 10,000 vehicles using the toll road between September 2023 and August 2024, press secretary Marissa Orbanek said.
“This means that a person has deliberately covered a license plate in some way and may contain a license plate flipper,” Orbanek said.
