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License Plate "0" May Be #1 In Parking Tickets

By John Mesirow

Perhaps you might feel otherwise, but despite receiving 77 parking tickets this year - all "unearned" - Illinois resident Tom Feddor would not dream of giving up his "0" license plate. His grandfather got it in 1971, and it's been in the family ever since. So why has Mr. Feddor been receiving so many tickets that he has to go to court about once every three weeks? Here's why, as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

It turned out that some city parking-enforcement aides punched in 0 when testing their electronic ticket-issuing devices, Revenue Department spokesman Ed Walsh said. Officials weren't aware there was a 0 plate or that Feddor was receiving tickets, Walsh said in response to the Tribune inquiry.

Doh! But that's not all ...

Adding to Feddor's headaches, the letter "O" Illinois license plates registered to convicted felon Lawrence Warner, a co-defendant in the corruption trial of former Gov. George Ryan, sometimes resulted in Feddor receiving ticket notices from the city that belonged to Warner, he said.

Turns out the "0" is much more trouble than the "O" ever was:

"Mr. Warner was always very nice about helping to straighten out the problem," Feddor said.

Warner is serving a prison sentence for his role in sweetheart deals when Ryan was secretary of state.

You can read more (a lot) here.

Full post as published by Legal Juice on June 16, 2009 (boomark / email).