Oklahoma Highway Patrol Warns Of Illegal License Plate Covers

Law enforcement agencies said more people are using illegal license plate covers to try to avoid paying tolls and hide from crimes they are involved in.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol recently shared dash cam video of a trooper pulling over a driver on the Creek Turnpike in Broken Arrow because the car had a remote-controlled license plate cover.

"In this particular case, it was the driver didn't want to pay a toll, but there are other nefarious reasons that this could be a problem for us,” explained Lt. Mark Southall with OHP. “We see these in the street racing community. They could be used in the commission of a crime to cover their getaway vehicle."

OHP said the toll would have cost 88 cents, but instead, the 17-year-old driver got $498 in tickets, one for failure to pay the toll and another for the plate cover.

Southall said he has seen many drivers cover their plates, and for most, their excuse is they say they did not know it is against the law.

"The way the law is written is anything that covers a license plate, whether it's clear, opaque, translucent or tinted, it's all illegal,” said Southall.

A quick search shows illegal plate covers cost as little as $10, and there are videos everywhere online on how to install them.

"We've seen them incredibly dark,” said Southall. “We see some that are reflective, so if a camera were to take a picture of your tag, it would send a reflection back, where the tag is no longer readable.”

Southall says it might not seem like a big deal, but it is, and agencies will be watching.

"If a crime's committed and we have a license plate, that gives us a lot of information to go off of,” said Southall. “If we don't have that information, we really have to start in a whole different place."

OHP also reminds everyone to make sure the annual stickers on the corner of your plate can be seen, or it could mean a $250 ticket.