Cars without license plates are becoming a common fixture on the streets of Las Vegas.
Channel 13 saw the issue firsthand. In just 30 minutes, our crews spotted more than a dozen cars without plates in a neighborhood near the Strip.
“I don’t know how they’re getting away with it,” said Charles Sanford, a Las Vegas resident who noticed the no-plate problem, too. “There’s a reason they’re riding around with no plates.”
Officials with Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles say it became a big problem a few years ago, and now they’re trying to get it under control.
“There is no reason currently not to drive without a valid registration, insurance and license. It’s a public safety issue,” said Joseph Decker, chief of the compliance enforcement division with the Nevada DMV.
Decker says the problem grew in 2020 when DMVs shut down because of COVID-19 and the governor at the time relaxed the rules around vehicle registration.
“We do know that there are a lot of people that are not complying with the registration laws and we think that probably originated during the grace period during the shutdown,” Decker said.