Hum Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Washington, D.C. driver Danny White thought he had a really good idea for a joke. But the joke's on him--to the tune of $20,000, reports local affiliate NBC4. White's prank started 25 years ago when he got a vanity license plate reading, "NO TAGS." He told NBC4 that he was "Just having fun!" and that "D.C. don't get the joke. They don't get it." The issue? Each time a car without proper identification is cited for a violation, a DMV employee enters "NO TAGS" into their paperwork. Because White's vanity plate is registered with the District of Columbia's DMV, his name and vehicle appear in the computer's system whenever a "NO TAGS" violation is entered. Notices for the fines are then mailed to White's residence. Vanity tags have a long history of causing trouble for the DMV and other motorists; White is hardly alone in becoming a target for bad ticket karma. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported on California driver Nick Vautier, who got into trouble over his personalized license plate, which simply contained his initials, "NV." Unfortunately for Vautier, "NV" is also the California DMV's code for when a vehicle's plates are "Not Visible." "I started to get random parking tickets from Los Angeles, where my car has never been," Vautier told the LAT. "For every type of car. Except a Mazda. Which is what I drive." Vautier eventually gave up his vanity plate, which White refuses to do. White himself drives a Chevrolet Avalanche truck. So, when a ticket arrives at his home citing a non-Chevy vehicle, he doesn't have much trouble getting those dismissed. But White isn't always so lucky when he does get a copy of a ticket meant for someone else's Chevy. "I've got enough tickets here to plaster my whole car," he told NBC4. "It had to be $20,000 in tickets. Over $20,000." White says he has to take time off from work every few months to have the tickets dismissed. And yet he still refuses to give up the vanity plate, even though the backlog of other people's tickets prevent him from renewing his license or registration. After hearing about White's story, NBC4 launched an investigation with the Washington, D.C. DMV. And while the DMV has yet to "fix" the problem, DMV Director Lucinda Babers told the station that she's considering simply revoking White's vanity tags, along with other "confusing" plates, to avoid any future mishaps. In the meantime, Babers said ticket writers must collect the last six digits of a vehicle's VIN instead of "NO TAGS." source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dot Matrix Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I fail to see the joke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pack34 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Sounds like the DMV seriously needs to upgrade their computers. Charisma 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted February 17, 2012 Veteran Share Posted February 17, 2012 lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Pretty dumb joke when he's the one that gets burned by it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethec Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 That's what happens when you use "magic values" instead of a "No tags / not visible / whatever" checkbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexcyn Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Guy gets vanity plate, gets tons of tickets, complains about taking time off work, won't give up his plates. Sounds like this guy just wants the attention. :p Personally I never saw the point in vanity plates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILikeTobacco Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Guy gets vanity plate, gets tons of tickets, complains about taking time off work, won't give up his plates. Sounds like this guy just wants the attention. :p Personally I never saw the point in vanity plates. The point is to get attention. :p That's what happens when you use "magic values" instead of a "No tags / not visible / whatever" checkbox. Pretty much. Sounds like they need to fix their system to either not allow vanity tags that cause issues like this or change the system to not be so simplistic that it makes retarded mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_K Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 That's what happens when you use "magic values" instead of a "No tags / not visible / whatever" checkbox. Exactly! And this is paperwork, fair enough on a computer you'd have to modify a server and the clients and redeply them, but for paperwork all you need to do is add a SINGLE CHECKBOX and reprint them. Sounds like the police are a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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