New State Law Aims To Make Acquiring License Plate 'Flippers' Much Harder

A new law went into effect in California on January 1, 2026. It attempts to clamp down on a practice depriving the state of toll revenue while it aids and abets other types of vehicle-based crime such as robberies and car theft. We are talking about California Assembly Bill 1085, which will criminalize the manufacture of, and increase the fine for sales of, license plate 'flippers' — devices that can obscure or hide a car's license plate from both toll readers and California cities' controversial AI license plate readers. Assembly member Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law on October 1, 2025 — with its effective date being the first day of the new year.

A flipper is a device that can be controlled manually, mechanically, or electrically to either physically hide a vehicle's license plate or to switch between two different license plates remotely, at the driver's command. The penalty for selling these devices is a fine of $1,000, "...per item sold or manufactured for a violation of these provisions." It should be noted that the original version of Bill 1085 called for a $10,000 fine, including penalties. Existing California law already prohibited drivers from using license plate flippers, and the $250 penalty for that offense remains unchanged.

The California sales ban on flippers may be difficult to enforce. While it's unlikely that you'll be able to find one on the shelves of retail outlets in California, a great deal of the commerce in these devices takes place in online marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Etsy, which are much more difficult to police. 

The loss of toll revenue to the state of California is significant. According to figures provided by California's Bay Area Toll Authority, the state lost $1.4 million during its recent fiscal year. Vehicles with unreadable or obscured plates made 185,000 bridge crossings that went unbilled, including those with 'ghost plates.' This does not include those evading tolls on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge or not paying for the use of express lanes throughout California. License plates that can't be seen are also a big headache for law enforcement agencies across the state, making it difficult to identify vehicles involved in vehicle-based crime or violations of traffic laws.