A stationary Pontiac Firebird replica of KITT from the series "Knight Rider" received a New York City speeding ticket while on display in Illinois [1].
The incident highlights potential inaccuracies in automated traffic enforcement systems and the unusual occurrence of a vehicle being cited in a city hundreds of miles away from its physical location.
The car is part of the collection at the Volo Auto Museum, located near Chicago, Illinois [1], [2]. Despite being parked in a museum, the vehicle was flagged by a New York City speed camera [1], [3]. The ticket, which arrived by mail this week, carries a fine of $50 [1], [4].
Museum officials expressed confusion over how the system recorded the vehicle as moving. "Well, this is a new one… we got this in the muaill," the Volo Auto Museum said in an Instagram caption [3]. The vehicle has not left the premises in years [2].
A museum spokesperson said the organization is scratching its head over the $50 traffic bill tied to one of the most famous cars in pop culture [4]. The citation suggests that the speed camera mistakenly identified the stationary replica as a speeding vehicle in New York [1], [3].
Because the car is physically located in Illinois, the ticket represents a significant administrative error by the New York City traffic enforcement system. The museum has not yet detailed the specific steps it will take to contest the fine, though the evidence of the car's location is documented by the museum's own records [1], [2].
“The car hasn't moved in years, yet it received a speeding ticket from a New York City speed camera.”
This error underscores the limitations of Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) and speed-camera technology, which can suffer from 'ghost' readings or data entry errors. When a stationary vehicle in one state is cited by a system in another, it suggests a failure in the verification process that typically precedes the mailing of automated citations.
