Archive for the ‘New York’ Category

Last week we wrote about New York State's plan to issue new license plates, ostensibly to replace old ones whose reflective material may have worn off.

The new and clearly retro design was meant to evoke the bright yellow plates used from 1973 to 1986. But in reality, the sole purpose of the $25 new-plate fee (plus an additional $20 for owners to retain existing numbers) was purely to raise revenue.

Now, after more than 100,000 New Yorkers added their signatures to the NoNewPlates.com protest website, the state has backed down. Somewhat.

Last Sunday, Governor David Patterson said he would drop his support for the plan if legislators work...

Obviously you have to replace license plates now and then. Among other reasons, the reflective material wears off. And besides, that way cops can tell if a car hasn't been re-registered in, ohhh, several years.

Like many states, New York is grappling with major budget deficits. Now it has turned to a slew of new fees to fill the gap.

Following a $50 surcharge on vehicle registrations and a $16 fee on driver's license renewals, the state plans to charge car owners $25--up from $5.50 nine years ago--for a new license-plate design that will start arriving for car sales and renewals next April.

But many states charge nothing at all for...

Navigation systems using GPS seem to be behind a whole host of bad behavior. They lead BMW drivers to the brink of cliffs, and now they're causing truck drivers in New York State to drive into bridges.

The engineering magazine IEEE Spectrum reports that GPS devices are directing truckers, especially out-of-state drivers unfamiliar with the region, onto limited-access parkways that ban commercial traffic and have bridges too low for modern tractor-trailer rigs.

The New York State Department of Transportation cites more than 1,400 truck-into-bridge accidents over the past 15 years, with the vast majority of them on the Hutchinson River Parkway...