Risky Rides | KXAN Austin

In late 2021, KXAN re-launched an investigation into a problem our team knows well, a topic we already tackled for two years with ongoing reports, a criminal operation Texas promised to shut down… with no success. We discovered crooks still have the ability to access the Department of Motor Vehicles’ dealership database with relative ease. The result is a $200 million enterprise where real temporary tags, with fake information, are printed and sold to all 50 states, giving violent criminals the ability to hide from law enforcement in plain sight. Our new investigation explores how effective the TxDMV’s oversight measures are and what it can do in the future.

Part 1: Crooks Covering Up Crimes

Sgt. Jose Escribano glances down at his laptop, then back at the road. He’s scanning Austin’s streets looking for what some in law enforcement call “ghost cars.”

Part 2: Fixing the Paper Plate Problem

The man with hundreds of real but fraudulently created temporary Texas tags thinks he is about to sell one more. The buyer, however, is an undercover cop.

Part 3: Tougher Background Checks

Some in law enforcement want dealer applicants fingerprinted and non-franchised car lots physically inspected to ensure they don’t exist solely on paper.

Part 4: Death Hits Close to Home

Tawny Solbrig wept after telling the TxDMV it not only failed the state but also her son, who was killed in a crash with a driver with temporary tags.

Part 5: TxDMV Executive Director Resigns

TxDMV head Whitney Brewster steps down amid KXAN’s investigation and turmoil over the state’s ongoing paper license plate problems.

Part 6: DMV Search Warrant Served

Body camera video obtained exclusively by KXAN, along with emails and interviews, show a strained relationship between the TxDMV and law enforcement for several years.

Part 7: DMV Panel Pushes System Change

A TxDMV committee said it would consider “any and all measures” to crack down on paper plate fraud – at an estimated cost as high as $2 million a year.

Part 8: Second Top DMV Official Resigns

The TxDMV general counsel steps down – the second executive to depart in four days amid a KXAN investigation into the statewide agency’s paper plate problem.

Part 9: Progress with Paper Plate Fix

Some changes by the DMV board are already working, according to law enforcement. But concerns over VIN verification still exist, as officials mull additional safety features.

Part 10: New DMV Acting Head Appointed

Daniel Avitia was appointed to the top DMV spot following a closed-door session and sudden departures of two agency executives the same week.

Part 11: Tag Abuse “Our Highest Priority”

KXAN obtained the former DMV head’s resignation letter, claiming she took “necessary reforms based upon the latitude given to the TxDMV.”

Part 12: “Priority” for Texas Lawmakers

The Texas House will take up the state’s paper license plate problem before the next session, a spokesperson for the chamber’s leader confirmed to KXAN.

Part 13: 30-day Permit Fraud Crackdown

The TxDMV now requires drivers to show items like proof of insurance and a passing vehicle inspection to get a short-term permit, following KXAN reports.

Part 14: Fraud Hits ‘Screeching Halt’

The mass-producing of fraudulent paper license plates has largely halted in Texas amid tighter restrictions, local law enforcement tells the TxDMV.

Part 15: Training Law Enforcement

KXAN’s ongoing investigations are used to educate Texas law enforcement officers as to the scope and magnitude of the state’s paper plate problem.

Part 16: House Panel Tackles Tags

The Texas House Transportation Committee weighs the effectiveness of a 2021 law meant to curb temporary tag abuse – part of its interim charges.

Part 17: DMV Appoints New Head

Daniel Avitia has been praised by fellow board members and law enforcement for his handling of Texas’ temporary tag fraud problem, following a KXAN investigation.

Part 18: Fingerprints Fight Fraud

All Texas car dealers, or those hoping to become one, will have to be fingerprinted, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles decided following a KXAN investigation.

Part 19: Crooks Shift to Metal Plates

An unexpected and unintended consequence of Texas’ crackdown on its paper tag problem is an increase in the theft of “hard” aluminum license plates, some police say.

Part 20: Major Tag Design Overhaul

The TxDMV unveils a redesigned temporary tag, working with law enforcement to make paper plates “more complex and secure.” But some critics still have concerns.

Part 21: New Temp Tags Launched

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rolls out major design changes to its temporary tags to help prevent fraudulent paper license plates from circulating.

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