What are “ghost cars”, and are they in Seattle?

What are ghost cars? I mean, it sounds cool, but what is the definition of a ghost car and why should we care? 

A ghost car is any vehicle with an altered or missing license plate, this includes motorcycles. So why call it a ghost car? Well, because that makes it untraceable from traffic cameras and license plate scanners. This means they can slip by tollbooths and speed cameras but more serious crimes as well. Shootings and robberies often involve ghost cars. 

New York City seems to have the biggest problem with ghost cars and the most interesting solution. They find them and they just destroy them. 

According to msn.com,
‘New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that the city has taken over 100,000 illegal ‘ghost vehicles’ off the streets since he took office — a numberthat includes more than 38,000 cars. As a celebration of this milestone, the city crushed hundreds of seized illegal two-wheeled vehicles with a bulldozer at a New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) facility.’ 

The problem was so serious in New York City that Mayor Eric Adams created a special task force to work on the problem. 

Our ghost cars in Seattle? 

Washington state has specific laws about license plates, and something called a license plate flipper. License plate flippers are mechanical devices that will flip and change license plates. (Just like a James Bond movie) And they are specifically illegal in Washington state. 

Some classic car and hot rod owners use license plate flippers when they go to car shows to easily change their regular license plate to some sort of vanity plate for display purposes. They're not trying to get away with anything, they just think it's cool.    

But other people in Washington state have license plate flippers for the purpose of avoiding tolls and speed cameras, and the Washington State Patrol is not amused. 

I guess the thing is, we here in Washington state are not cool enough to call them ghost cars, but they are in fact, by definition ghost cars. Do we have the same kind of problem that New York City has? Of course not. Will it be a growing problem here in the Northwest? Of course it will. That's just how things are going.

New York City Has Seized More Than 38,000 'Ghost Cars' in Less Than 4 Years 
Mayor Adams Announces Removal of Over 100,000 Illegal Vehicles From City Streets Since Start of Admi | City of New York 
‘License plate flippers’ help drivers evade police, tickets and tolls • Washington State Standard