Back in September, TWC News first reported about a man who was concerned his New York state issued license plate was defective because the letters and paint were falling off. After contacting the DMV and being told the plates were just old, TWC News filed a Freedom of Information Law Request. As Katie Gibas found out, the viewer was far from alone.

Jason Torreano's license plates were almost unrecognizable, but still not as bad as some.

"I was very concerned about getting pulled over and getting a ticket," said Torreano.

In early summer, Torreano had to go to the DMV anyway to renew his license. He also asked what he should do about his plates.

"They had told me, just take it off of the car, bring it in and we can replace it for you. I couldn't get it off of the car at that time because the bolts were a bit rusty. So I didn't do it at that time. The second time, when I went back to actually do the trade, they said their policy had changed and that I would have to pay the $28," said Torreano

When Torreano contacted Time Warner Cable News, a reporter spoke with a DMV worker off-camera who validated his story. The DMV representative said he was seeing the issue only with license plates beginning with the letter "E." He said the policy of charging to replace the plates was new as of August

When a reporter contacted DMV spokesperson Jackie McGinnis in September, she said there wasn't a change in policy and the free replacements were a mistake.

"I felt as if the DMV had what I viewed to be a defective product and they were asking me to pay to replace something that was their fault to begin with, so I was very angry," said Torreano.

After the story aired and local lawmakers put pressure on the DMV, the office changed the policy and offered to exchange the plates for free or refund people who had already paid.
Torreano did get his money back.

"I think having the opportunity to have Time Warner Cable News to do this story I think did add some pressure. I think if it was just me at the counter, I think very little, nothing would have been done. And it's not just me. There's people around Central New York and around the state that have a fair shake when they turn in their plates," said Torreano.

TWC News continued to look into the story and filed a Freedom of Information Law request. Recently, reporter Katie Gibas received that appeal and has 40 pages of complaints about peeling plates and a lack of response to the issue.

"I felt a bit vindicated. I won't lie. I did get very, very annoyed at the DMV flip flopping when I was asking questions about the plates when I was in there. And when you had heard that it was being painted as disgruntled person who just didn't want to pay up for old plates, it felt kind of good seeing pressure put on them. It's not just me. There's hundreds, if not thousands of people around this area that are having a similar issue."

It's still unclear whether the DMV knew there was an issue. The request for what instructions staff was given in response to the peeling plates issue was denied; however, TWC News did file an appeal.

The FOIL request did confirm the manufacturers of the plate are investigating these complaints and have initially advised that delamination is not a natural result of aging.

DMV spokesperson Jackie McGinnis responded in an email to the documents we received.

"If you will look at your 40 pages, you will note that there is one complaint per page. That is 40 complaints over a 4 year period. You should also note that there are more than 11 million license plates currently on the road," McGinnis said.

All of the plates are manufactured by inmates at Auburn Correctional Facility. The blue and white plates were first issued in 2001.

 

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