Driver Convicted Of Speeding Without Ever Receiving Ticket
The Beacon News in Illinois has another story of ticket camera bureaucracy causing problems for motorists. Here’s an excerpt:
Unsure why the Kane County Circuit Clerk would send him anything in the mail, Ernie Bolen assumed he’d been summoned for jury duty.
Needless to say, a letter stating he owed $375 for speeding in an Interstate 88 construction zone came as a surprise to 43-year-old Bolen, who says he never saw a ticket or anything notifying him of a court appearance.
“I haven’t seen it,” the Montgomery man said of a citation. “I was like, what the heck is this.”
Court records show the ticket was generated by a tollway construction zone speed camera on May 5. A June 19 court date was scheduled. Bolen, who says he never received any notice of a court date, received a judgement against him and the fines were assessed.
Essentially, Bolen was convicted of speeding without ever having any idea that he had even received a ticket. As is always the case when a city’s camera system makes a mistake, it was described as an “isolated incident.”
Bolen’s situation stems from what officials described as a glitch with an Illinois State Police vendor responsible for generating tickets through speed vans positioned on I-88 and other construction zones around the Chicago area. State Police District 15 Sgt. Jim Jenkner described Bolen’s situation as “isolated,” although he couldn’t say how many tickets could have been issued or how many motorists could have been affected in Kane County.
As the article continues, it becomes clear that this wasn’t an isolated incident at all:
Circuit Clerk Deborah Seyller said problems similar to Bolen’s occurred with tickets issued for hearings on May 15 and June 19, although she couldn’t specify how many cases were impacted.
“They do try to limit how many they file,” Seyller said, estimating the state police do about 100 tickets per court date. “We started getting them before we knew they were coming.”
Under the system the city has set up, this kind of mistake is apparently pretty common:
With the speed cameras, [Circuit Clerk Seyller] said, the ticket doesn’t go to court until after the driver is notified. That comes via a “packet” sent certified mail to the driver and a similar one that goes to the clerk, and with enough time to assure everyone has notice of the court date.
“Every violator gets a packet,” Jenkner said. But Bolen says he received nothing until the missed-court notice arrived. At that point, he called the clerk’s office, was told he had been cited for driving 63 in a 45 mph zone and that it was common for the citations to not make it to the driver.
This all leads to the obvious question, which is how many people have been convicted without their knowledge because of this “glitch” in the ticket camera system?
It’s also important to note that these kind of mistakes are not cheap:
Seyller was surprised to hear Bolen received only the minimum fine, especially without appearing before a judge. She said some drivers have walked away owing more than $600 for a conviction.
But don’t worry everybody, the cameras are for safety, not revenue.
You can read the full story here.
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Hey Randy, bend over and take it all from your master Osama!
Bin Laden? because he is dead.
Ugggh, necrophilia
George I was just wondering when you have time to post on this site with the dozens of flat tires you have each year.
Duh George, I was referring to Barack Hussein Osama!
FOLKS,
NOBODY SHOULD BE SURPRISED AT THIS. THE PERPIFICATION OF AMERICA CONTINUES.
I MEAN WE ALL MUST BE GUILTY OF SOMETHING, RIGHT ?? ESPECIALLY IF THERE’S REVENUE FOR THE STATE AT THE END OF THE PROCESS.
REGARDS ALL.
RICK GOLD
Maybe if he did not break the law they never would have even tried to send him a ticket. Its all about revenue you say but it is really about people breaking the law on purpose. If you break the law you must be willing to pay whatever penalty is set up. 99.99% of the people are smart enough to know if they are breaking a law there is a chance of prosecution. If you have to break the law to make it through your life then you need to change your life. Millions make it through their entire life without getting a ticket because they follow the law.
Another good reason not to leave home unless you have one of those blurry license plate covers.
You don’t think that corrupt politicians wouldn’t protect their partners in crime?
Blago signed a law making it ‘illegal’ to have any kind of cover over the plates.
Yes George, why even put plates on if you can not read them? Another idiiot statement and comment from you.
Hey moron, the ‘blurry’ license plate covers only obfuscate when viewing off-axis.
I saw an M5 going south on I-355 and noticed one of those ‘high tech’ covers. Neat.
There are plenty of ‘normal’ people who put perfectly clear covers, front and rear, because they want to protect the finish of the plate. Oh ones that are slightly tinted to match their vehicle’s color, I’ve seen plenty of light blue.
They were turned into criminal due to Blago.
George you idiot. License plates are made so that you can see them from a distance. They are not made so that you have to be directly behind them within a couple of feet. Why do you need covers on rear plates? Rear plates are not hit by bugs. If you want to make license plates not show then do not put them on your vehicle.
Putting a cover on the rear makes for more of a hassle if someone was to try and steal your license plates.
http://www.photoblocker.com/www/products.html
http://www.specterguard.com/
http://www.radarbusters.com/photo-radar/license-plate-shields/6524+6528+4293856170.cfm
http://www.ontrackcorp.com/toll-free-protector.cfm?id=02
I swear I’ve had more intelligent conversations with rocks.
George weld the plate on if you are afraid of it being stolen or use epoxy. You are an idiot.
Sorry officer but I was close enough to read that plate on the hit and run car or the get away car but they had a cover on their plate so I could not read it. George you are an idiot.
Interesting story. Of course the truck driver is probably lying. ;)
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=BBSdDUHUwMq5Cz7JvPww1PDvPCz5tpHio1cu5ZCz4H1GKPeVELE&bbParentWidgetId=B9AuQLt7Ivoo1hsFjmMPSCx
Dutch truck receives 45 speed camera tickets despite being parked
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
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The owner of the truck, one Martin Robben, who is a lumber merchant, has received over 45 speed tickets on August 25, even though his lonely truck was parked on the side of the road that day in the village of Oldeberkoop.
“Sometimes there were only three seconds between the tickets,” Robben told a Dutch paper. “That’s impossible… Nobody can be flashed dozens of times in an afternoon.”
No pictures were sent in the mail, just the fines and warning that he should pay thousands of euros if he doesn’t want his license to be suspended. He has now contacted his lawyers and is bent on taking this case to the supreme court, so that justice can be made.
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This article is completely made up by people on this site who want to get really drunk and drive 125 in school zones. Everyone knows the law is more infallible than the Pope and could not make a mistake and even if they did, the drunk driver who said so would be wrong. If the guy had been sober and driving the speed limit, he would not have gotten a ticket. I know because I’ve seen this many times that I myself have driven under the speed limit and not gotten a ticket. Driving 63 in a constructions zone is attempted murder of highway worker. Everyone who doesn’t agree with me is an idiot. He deserves to been drawn and quartered and I hope zombies who were killed by drunk drivers eat his whole family.
Sorry I was channeling Randy there for a moment. I’m OK now.
Hubcap.
I giggled.
lmao
Hubcap,
:-) What is wrong with 125 in a school zone?
Sad thing is that when gov’t (or their agents) makes an error, the common citizen usually has a difficult time trying to get the mistake corrected.
At best it is a waste of time. At worst it could be fines and/or other penalties.
I’ll keep an eye out for the zombies. Time to nut up. ;)
Finally you are making sense.
I just wonder why you guys need to speed if you have so much extra time to be on this site? You could drive 10 mph under the speed limit with all the time you spend here. You just like to waste gas and increase your chances of killing someone.
You all like to complain about when the government makes a mistake but could care less when someone does something illegal on purpose driving a vehicle and kills someone.
Is that 125mph or 125kph? Makes a big difference!
Bill if you have to ask that question you are new to this site. According to almost everyone here speed makes no difference so if that is the case mph or kph makes no difference.