OK, here's my story about photo monitoring at intersections, compliments of
New York City or how I fought the system and actually won (kinda)
When my younger daughter was a senior in high school, we bought her a new
car so that we did not have to drive her to all her activities and for her
to use in her college years. The car was a Nissan Sentra two-door (you
don't think I would give her the Tiger, do you?). For some reason, Katrina
named the car Sammy and he was, indeed, her buddy throughout her college
years and beyond. In recognition, she obtained a NY vanity plate SAM I M
(note the spacing). A couple of years after Sammy had left her ownership,
after some 160,000 miles and many adventures, including a round trip to
Colorado and her trailing John Denver around the country one summer on his
concert tour, I got a summons from NYC explaining that the vehicle with the
plate SAMIM (sic) had run a red light in Queens on such and such a date and
included a photo. By this time Sammy had been traded in on a new Sentra
and the plate returned to the NY MV bureau (Katrina had moved to
Massachusetts, so couldn't keep SAM I M) which cost me a dollar (go
figure!) The plate shown in the photo appeared to be mounted on some kind
of SUV (Ford Explorer, maybe) and was clearly not a plate issued by the
State of NY. I wrote to the authorities in NY explaining that neither I
nor anyone else driving a car registered to me had been in Queens on the
date specified so that they had the wrong time, wrong place, wrong vehicle,
wrong plate, wrong state and wrong person, just to mention a few of their
inconsistencies. I further explained that, although I had been born in
NYC, I consciously avoided the place except on special occasions (like when
the Red Sox were in town) and NEVER drove within the city limits. I asked
them to cancel the summons and refund the price of the stamp that I used to
send the letter of objection/explanation. They did the former but not the
latter. Technology is wonderful but the fundamental principle still
pertains - GIGO (Garbage in, garbage out).
Cheers,
Tod (why did I move to Maine?)
B382002384LRXFE
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