A BIZARRE mix-up saw a driver slapped with a parking ticket for a car they don’t own at a location they haven’t been to.
Melissa Crowe of Broadwater County, Montana, was left stunned when she received a letter in the mail regarding an unpaid parking ticket from Olympia, Washington.
A man was hit with a parking ticket for a car he doesn’t own[/caption]
It appears the mix-up happened due to a quirk with the license plates in Montana[/caption]
The ticket had been issued to her son Jadon Schwartz for a red Honda Pilot, while Schwartz drives a grey Toyota Rav4.
Curiously, the licence plate number on the ticket matched the one owned by Jadon.
Jadon said: “I haven’t been to Washington in years, and I’ve never owned a red vehicle.”
When his mother asked him to check if his licence plates were missing, they weren’t.
But according to a report by KTVH, the issue is relatively common occurence that has plagued drivers for years – all thanks to Montana’s numbered county licence plates.
Michael Walker, the Montana Department of Motor Vehicles vehicle services bureau chief, said: “We have 56 counties, and the bullhead traditionally separates the county from the plate number.”
This quirk means that some licence plate readers don’t pick up on the bullhead separating the county number from the rest of the plate number, which results in what appears to be a duplicate plate number.
For Jadon, the plate reader in Olympia read a four-county plate out of Missoula as the same as his 43-county plate from Broadwater County.
Melissa added: “Clearly she has a different plate, but they’re the exact same numbers.”
The issue stems from the fact that licence plate readers are illegal in Montana, but not in other states – meaning mix-ups like this are not uncommon.
Walker added: “Frequently they’re not calibrated to Montana, and that’s where we get an issue.
“Eight years ago, we had maybe one every few months.
“I think currently, we get maybe one a month, maybe two a month.”
Thankfully, the state has a form letter that explains the situation and has since been used by Jadon to clarify the mix-up to officials in Olympia, Washington.
But he’s still left with the fallout, as during the process he was sent to collections for the unpaid ticket.
Melissa said: “He has great credit, and so, unfortunately, something like this could affect him.”
Walker also revealed that there’s a permanent solution to the problem coming this year.
He said: “Starting March 17, the plates that will be produced for counties will be the county number, the bullhead, followed by an alpha character, so that issue will be resolved.”
This will see new plates sent out as plates are replaced every five years.
This comes as Uber are set to issue refunds to New Yorkers who were mistakenly charged congestion pricing fees after a tech glitch.
The ridesharing giants are now urging customers who’ve used the service since the congestion pricing began to check for incorrect charges.
The city’s controversial congestion charge came into effect earlier this month and means drivers now have to fork out $9 to access the busiest parts of the city during peak hours.
Passengers using rideshare apps, such as Uber and Lyft, don’t escape the tolls either, with an extra $1.50 surcharge added per ride, while New York yellow taxis will add on a $0.75 per ride fee.
But while Lyft has revealed a new scheme that will credit users $1.50 every time they pay the new congestion fee in January for use on a future trip, Uber has seemingly suffered a glitch that charges riders that haven’t even entered the designated zone.
