License to Be Dumb

Critics of red light cameras, take note. A woman was given a $50 ticket after the camera didn't catch her license. Yes, didn't! Lisa Sims of Ohio who has never been to New York City was issued the ticket when, somehow, her license plate which starts with DQN was mistaken for a car with DON that ran a red light on West Houston in June. Sims offered pitch perfect quotes to the Daily News,

"I didn't want to go there to begin with and now I really don't want to go... If I'm going to get tickets like this when I've never been there, then what's going to happen if I do go.. They're pretty much slackers if you ask me. It makes me wonder how many people who don't want to go through the hassle end up just paying the ticket."

Sing it, sister! The city threw out the ticket, but only after Sims had to spend a lot of time and effort proving the car wasn't hers. This is pretty damn embarrassing - now our only question is did they find the true person who ran the red light, because Houston Street is a damn mess and no one should be running red lights or turning right on red there.

Triborough had a funny post on what license plates are available from the NY State Department of Motor Vehicles. And the city announced it was doubling the number of cameras earlier this summer.

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By Jen Chung in News on August 25, 2006 12:28 PM

Comments [rss]

glennQ

Toby wrote: "New Jersey only uses the letter Q on Historic Vehicle and vanity plates."

Although NJ's historic plates feature "QQ" you can in fact use the letter Q in a vanity plate... Just not two Qs together.

whatever

For those people who didn't get the joke:

Rent boy = male prostitute [British usage]

Toby

I think they need walls that pop up from the street when the light turns red, since that would really stop drivers from running red lights, however it could be dangerous.

Now if you take a look at this Ohio license plate page you can see that Ohio's Qs could easily be mistaken for Os. However given the fact there is photgraphic evidence, I think someone should have noticed, unless the photo was of poor quality.

Fun fact: New Jersey only uses the letter Q on Historic Vehicle and vanity plates.

I just want to say that looking up all those weird vanity plates was a a good way to kill a half hour and the nice thing is you could see what it looked like as a plate. Feel free to add your own weird, wacky, and offensive plate combos.

just saying

The NYPD strikes again. Even people who have never been to NYC can't escape the long arm of the NYPD.

MT

I came with an inch of getting "Rent Boy" as my license plates but was talked out of it at the last minute. It hilarious what you can get through the DMV.

a

"sing it sister"? Jesus what's next Jen? Baggy clothing?

interlard

I didn't know NYC had cameras to catch red light jumpers. Once they get them working correctly, they should be at every intersection. I'm tired of taking my life in my hands just to cross the street.

BTW, many countries don't use Q's on their license plates--they look just like O's.

Most other countries also use a much more readable front that the US. You know you're in trouble when not even a camera and a computer can figure it out.

amanda

This happened to my dad a few years ago. While he was parked at a Park-n-Fly at Albany Airport and was away on a business trip, the NJ State Police thought he was out on the Turnpike cruisin' through the EZ Pass gates without paying the toll. When he got a ticket in the mail, he thought maybe the Park-n-Fly guys were taking his Saab for a little joyride, but it turns out the license plate was one number off. Took him months to clear it up, though.

mihow

Well, that's one way to keep the tourists from coming! ;]

grifty mcgrift

Anon,

If I were so inclined I could make a good living getting hit by livery cabs in the Wall Street area.

Anon E. Mouse

big hurry:

That seems to be the way all New Yorkers drive (city or state).

Livery cabbies just plain suck. I hate them. They obey only a couple laws of the road, and get away with some crazy shit.

BigJ

They should put up pedestrian borders with gates that open and close for crossing the street. That way traffic can actually move and eliminate some annoying jaywalkers.

And redlight cameras are just revenue generators. All they accomplish are to make drivers stop short.