Motorists would be banned from installing tinted license plate covers on their cars that distort or block key information under a bill that secured initial approval in the House this week.
Rep. Bruce Ayers of Quincy said his proposal (H 4029) aims to crack down on drivers who attempt to evade electronic tolls with tinted or “smoked” license plate covers that obscure the visibility of features, including plate numbers, registration decals and state identifiers.
“This creates risk and uncertainty for toll enforcement, accident investigations, and law enforcement operations,” Ayers said in written testimony to Transportation Committee co-chair Rep. James Arciero.
“States like New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have already banned tinted license plate covers, leading to measurable results,” the Quincy Democrat continued. “Notably, New York recovered over $19 million in lost toll revenue in just one year following stricter enforcement.”
The legislation blocks colored glass, colored plastic, brackets, holders, mountings, frames or any other type of covering that “alters or obscures” license plate features. The measure needs another favorable House vote before it can advance to the Senate.
AAA Northeast has not taken a formal stance on the bill, said spokesperson Mark Schieldrop, who said that the automobile organization “generally support[s] prohibiting the covering or coating of license plates with any materials that conceal, obscure or distort the plates.”
In written testimony, Robert Kearns of Quincy provided lawmakers a link to a Google Photos album, filled with pictures of obscured license plate covers he had encountered throughout the state. In some photos, the license plate numbers are unreadable.
Kearns works at the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration, according to the personal website included in his testimony.
“It’s frustrating to know that while I pay my tolls and parking fees as required, others are using these covers to avoid doing the same,” Kearns wrote. “It’s not just unfair—it’s costly. It shifts the burden onto compliant drivers and undermines the systems we all depend on.”
MassDOT officials did not answer a News Service question about the scope of lost toll revenue due to tinted licensed plate covers.
Kearns pointed out that license plate readers are “critical for toll collection on the Mass Pike, the Tobin Bridge, and the Sumner, Callahan, and Ted Williams tunnels.”
“They’re also used by the MBTA and UMass to collect parking fees, and by law enforcement to monitor traffic and investigate crimes,” he wrote. “Obscured license plates compromise all of these functions.”
New York’s law banning the sale or distribution of concealed license plates and increasing penalties for drivers who evade toll collection took effect in September 2024.
The New York Department of Motor Vehicles said the law is part of ongoing efforts to tackle “ghost” plates and “ghost” cars, which involve fake or altered plates. Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams last year also launched a task force aimed at eliminating ghost cars from city streets.
“These changes to the law are meant to make sure that everyone who makes use of public infrastructure is paying their fair share to use them,” DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder had said in a statement. “Toughening the law will also help authorities crack down on criminals who try to avoid detection when committing crimes by making use of ghost plates or license plate coverings.”
In Massachusetts, state law says license plates “shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and shall not be obscured or the appearance obstructed in any manner by the installation of any device obscuring said numbers.”
In 2011, a state trooper pulled over a driver on Route 495 due to a plastic cover that was obscuring the rear license plate, triggering a court case revolving around how to interpret legibility of plate numbers.
The defendant won the case in District Court and the appeal by the state, according to CommonWealth Beacon. The District Court had found the license plate was not obscured while the driver was stopped, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reported.
Then-Appeals Court Judge Gabrielle Wolohojian, who’s now on the Supreme Judicial Court, sought to clarify state law: “The regulation likewise does not impose a universal prohibition against license plate covers. Instead, it prohibits only those covers that reduce the legibility or substantially diminish the reflective quality of the license plate.”
With the rise of electronic tolling, Ayers emphasized the importance of ensuring that “license plates remain fully legible at all times” and said his bill “will align Massachusetts with best practices nationwide.”
