PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia could crack down on devices that flip vehicle license plates to make them unreadable, under a bill that was introduced in City Council Thursday.
License plate flippers can be purchased online for about $200 and, once installed, can hide a car’s tag with the push of a button, thwarting police investigations and toll booths. Retailers compare them to James Bond-like devices, which Councilmember Mike Driscoll finds ludicrous.
“007 devices belong in James Bond movies, not on the streets of Philadelphia,” he said. “People are getting away with speeding, reckless driving, toll evasion, potentially hit-and-run.”
So, his bill proposes to outlaw them. Violators would pay a $2,000 fine. Driscoll said enforcement would probably rely on the vehicle being stopped for some other reason, but he’d leave it up to police to decide how to go about it.
“I just want to give them one more tool in their toolbox,” he said.
Also in session on Thursday, Councilmember Rue Landau introduced a bill to make sure that low-income taxpayers know free tax prep is available to them. Among other things, the bill would require the Revenue Department and for-profit tax prep companies to have clients sign a disclosure statement informing them that they can get the service elsewhere for no charge. She said it could save taxpayers $7 million a year in fees.