SAN ANTONIO – Fraudulent paper license plates have long been a problem on Texas roads, but drivers will now leave the lot with a metal plate in hand.
The change, which went into effect July 1, means car buyers either get a new plate at the dealership or transfer their existing one, eliminating the wait for paper temporary tags.
“It should be a lot easier and more seamless for the customers,” Shawn Barry with the San Antonio Auto Dealers Association said.
We spoke with Barry about how the transition is going so far. He says dealers had some early challenges, but most were prepared.
“Obviously, change comes with a lot of issues that we’re dealing with, but overall it’s a positive change,” Barry said. “We’re deputies of the state now as far as license plates. We’re responsible for all this. And it is concerning to make sure we’re doing it right.”
Barry said the biggest obstacle has been on the technology side.
“The state of Texas wasn’t ready for it, in my opinion. We had crashes, I still believe there are dealers still waiting on license plates,” he said.
“How long do you think it’ll take before, statewide, everyone is pretty comfortable with this?” Reporter Jordan Elder asked.
“I would probably say another 90 days, 120 days. Before the end of the year, just to be knowledgeable, have the systems working right,” Barry said.
He added that specialty plates and entering the weight of heavy trucks have been particularly challenging in the software system, but expects those issues to be resolved soon, too.
“Once we get past this learning curve, it’ll be great not just for the customer, but for the dealer, and for the state of Texas,” Barry said.
The shift to metal plates is meant to crack down on fraudulent paper tags that have been sold illegally across the state and beyond.
“The criminal dealers, they just started printing out tags and selling tags. They had no car lot, they had no cars, they had no inventory,” said David Kohler, a deputy sheriff in Central Texas.
In July, Emmanuel Padilla Reyes and three co-conspirators were sentenced to prison after selling more than half a million Texas tags online and through messaging apps.
One of those tags was linked to a truck that hit and killed a New Braunfels teenager.
Terrin Solbrig’s parents were among the strongest advocates for the switch to metal plates.
“The hurt that we carry is never gonna go away,” Tawny Solbrig told us last year. “This is the little bit of justice that he deserved.”
Law enforcement agencies say metal plates still come with the risk of criminal exploitation, but the risk is much lower than with the temporary paper tags.
“The criminal element is always going to adapt whatever positive changes this organization or that organization tries to implement, and you just have to keep up with the times,” Kohler said.
And it’s already happening.
A constable’s office near Houston reported a fraudulent metal plate in mid-August, saying the driver appears to have put a sticker on top of a blank metal plate.
We’re told this isn’t a widespread trend, but it shows how quickly criminals can adapt.