A Georgia man was left reeling after receiving a $1.4 million speeding ticket, but city officials say the figure was just a placeholder, not the actual fine
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A Georgia man was left reeling after receiving a $1.4 million speeding ticket, but city officials say the figure was just a placeholder, not the actual fine.
Connor Cato tells WSAV-TV in Savannah that he received the citation after getting pulled over in September for driving 90 mph (145 kph) in a 55 mph (89 kph) zone.
He called the court thinking the figure was a typo but says he was told he either had to pay it or appear in court in December.
Savannah officials say anyone caught driving more than 35 mph (56 kph) above the speed limit has to appear in court, where a judge will determine the actual fine.
The figure Cato received reflected a “placeholder” that was automatically generated by e-citation software used by the local Recorder's Court, said Joshua Peacock, a spokesman for Savannah's city government. The actual fine cannot exceed $1,000 in addition to state-mandated costs.
“We do not issue that placeholder as a threat to scare anybody into court, even if this person heard differently from somebody in our organization,” Peacock told The Associated Press.
He added that the court “is currently working on adjusting the placeholder language to avoid any confusion.”
personman on October 16th, 2023 at 13:05 UTC »
sounds like this means, "of course we put this there to try to get people who would just pay the $1k to come to court, but it would be illegal to admit that in the newspaper, so we're going to blame it on software."
onedarkhorsee on October 16th, 2023 at 04:30 UTC »
There are places in the world where this ticket would not be out of place depending on your income and the speed.
wubbbalubbadubdub on October 16th, 2023 at 00:45 UTC »
I guess the problem is that the maximum fine is $1000 and some people would just pay it without appearing in court. For the purposes of public safety it makes sense to pull anyone speeding so excessively into court for a judge to have a chat with them and find out if there was any reason for their driving.
I reckon a better solution would be in place of the dollar amount of the fine it should just say something like "Judge's discretion" or "Court".