Georgia man Conner Cato was going 90 mph in a 55 mph zone, so he was expecting a steep fine, but imagine his surprise when he opened his summons to see he'd been charged $1.4 million.
He called to find out if the fine was a typo, but the Savannah clerk told him that he would either have to pay the fine or appear in court.
But Cato probably won't have to pay $1.4 million in the end.
It turns out that the number is a placeholder generated by the citation software that the Savannah city government uses.
If a driver gets cited for going more than 35 mph over the speed limit, they are automatically required to appear in court, where the judge will determine their actual fine, and the summons includes a placeholder number until that fine is determined.
A city official said,
"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."
And the court "is currently working on adjusting the placeholder language to avoid any confusion."
I don't know though. Scaring people into showing up for court with a placeholder fine seems like a pretty good idea.
Maybe the immigration courts could adapt a similar strategy for the illegal immigrants skipping their court dates!
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