Do you know anyone who has regretted their vanity license plates? Probably NO ONE does more than this lady . . .
A 76-year-old retired woman in New York named Beda Koorey once had personalized license plates that paid tribute to “Star Trek”. They were: “NCC-1701,” which was the name of the USS Enterprise starship.
That was a while ago though, she stopped driving four years ago, when she surrendered her license, and sold her car.
But she’s been getting TONS of traffic tickets in the mail, from all over the country, for all kinds of stuff: Running red lights, speeding, parking violations, and E-Z Pass tolls.
The problem is that there are fake, novelty “Star Trek” plates being sold online with her old plate number, NCC-1701. People are putting them on their vehicles, and it’s tricking the traffic cameras and parking enforcement.
Of course, using those fake plates is illegal. They should be easy to detect for the police, so we assume the tickets aren’t from people being pulled over.
But that’s only HALF the problem. Why is Beda getting the tickets?
The New York DMV says it’s not their problem, because nothing in their system connects Beda to her former plate.
The DMV adds that it’s up to each state and billing company to make sure it is using the most up-to-date data, not the old records. And they say people using fake novelty plates is a matter for law enforcement.
All these tickets have been stressing Beda out, because they total tens of thousands of dollars. She’s tried responding to the organizations in the various states, but they keep coming in the mail.
Beda is concerned that these fines could go to collections or cause other problems, especially since she’s on a fixed income. Fortunately, now that the story is going viral, several lawmakers and a pro-bono lawyer have pledged to help her out.
(CBS News)
