The harm and hurt caused by illegal 'temp license tags'

It’s an issue that rarely if ever crosses the minds of most drivers in New York City or elsewhere: the fraudulent sale of temporary license plate tags — “temp tags” — and the subsequent illegal use of them in hit-and-run accidents, shootings and robberies. One such finding examines a hit-and-run in Queens, New York last year, in which a five-year-old boy died when he was struck by a driver with a suspended license and a counterfeit New Jersey temp tag. “Temps from New Jersey are among the most common on the streets of New York City, as are tags from Georgia and Texas,” the report says.

In one particularly stunning example, the report cities one F&J Auto Mall in Bridgeton, New Jersey, “although the primary owner listed an apartment in upper Manhattan as his address when forming the company, business records show. F&J issued 36,000 temporary license plates in 2021—more than any other dealership in the state, including the used-car juggernauts Carvana and CarMax combined.” Although potential profits for F&J were in the millions, the agency, which was shut down by the motor vehicles department, was fined $500.

In New York, for example, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority alone loses around $11 million annually in unbillable tolls at its bridges and tunnels due to bad paper tags, according to the story. “Traffic tickets, sales taxes, registration fees and other tolls that go unpaid because of sham paper tags likely bring the total cost in New York into the tens of millions, if not higher,” the report says.

[link:https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/the-harm-and-hurt-caused-by-illegal-temp-license-tags/ar-AA19E1hc?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=46da5e63ca3349569ed471556560c1d4&ei=24|

'Window into history': Tapes detail LBJ's stolen election