When you think of "ghost cars" in Texas, you probably think of cars that drive on their own or ghosts that you see but quickly disappear. If you guessed the 2nd one, you'd be correct...sort of. Because ghost cars really ARE a thing in Texas but perhaps not what you'd expect.

What are these ghost cars in Texas?

Well they're cars that vanish. Not literally as in the whole car, but literally regarding their license plates. When you purchase a new car, you're given a temporary paper license plate until a physical metal plate is designed to be placed on your car.

In Texas, some people would actually create "fake" paper plates, commit serious crimes (like drive-bys, robberies, etc.), and the cars...would never be traceable. These cars became to be known as, "ghost cars".

One notable case of someone who was the victim of these ghost cars was a police officer in Grand Prairie, Texas. Officer Brandon Paul Tsai was killed on November 14, 2022 after Tsai spotted a car with a fake license plate. During a high speed police pursuit, Officer Tsai lost control & hit a light pole. He would be taken to a hospital where he would succumb to his injuries.

This story blew up in early 2023 when CBS Texas did a report about these "ghost cars" to raise awareness of drivers everywhere.

Are there still ghost cars in Texas?

After that news story went out, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill banning the use of paper license plates after the purchase of a new vehicle. The bill, HB718, will be enforced on July 1, 2025. So once July 2025 rolls around, there WON'T be any more ghosts cars on the road...hopefully. Because of right now, there still might be some on the road & we don't even know it.

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