Nearly blind grandmother receives hundreds of tickets for old Star Trek license plate
- Beda Koorey, a 76-year-old woman from Huntington, NY, has been receiving numerous tickets despite not driving for years due to her declining eyesight.
- She initially gave up her vanity license plate, NCC 1701, at the start of 2020, but fake plates mimicking hers have led to her being associated with driving infractions.
- A lawyer has volunteered to help her resolve the issue, and the DMV may fix the errors related to the mistaken identity associated with her old plate.
In New York, Beda Koorey, a 76-year-old resident of Huntington, has found herself in a distressing situation after giving up her Star Trek-themed vanity plate, NCC 1701, at the beginning of 2020 due to her failing eyesight. Despite no longer having the plate, Koorey has been inundated with parking and driving tickets from across the country, including over $16,500 worth of fines from New York City alone. This issue arose when motorists began to purchase fake novelty plates mimicking her old one, leading to incorrect tickets being sent to Koorey, who has not driven in four years and was unaware of the infractions linked to her former license plate. The tickets began to arrive in her mailbox alongside phone calls from various states, leaving her bewildered and stressed. The sheer volume of fines and citations has taken a toll on her mental health, with Koorey expressing helplessness and frustration as she dreams of the tickets. Her situation has drawn wider attention, highlighting the complications that can arise from DMV issues and the hurdles faced when trying to resolve them. Koorey believes that the DMV mistakenly links these infractions back to her due to the incorrect input of the fake plate numbers by other motorists. This has further complicated her life, particularly as she is not allowed to drive anymore. An attorney, Kenneth Mollins, has stepped in to assist Koorey after hearing about her ordeal. He has reached out to officials at the New York State DMV to rectify the situation and clarify that her name and address should no longer be associated with the vanity plate. Furthermore, New York City's Department of Finance has committed to work with her to dismiss the significant fines incurred from tickets. Mollins is also working on getting the hundreds of tickets issued in 23 different states dismissed on her behalf. Koorey expressed a desire to finally rid herself of the accumulating paperwork tied to these unjust tickets, remarking that her next step would be to bury the documents in her yard. Her story underscores not only the challenges faced by individuals when dealing with bureaucratic errors but also raises questions about how the DMV manages records related to vanity plates and the repercussions that can stem from unauthorized use of such plates by others. The community has expressed sympathy towards her plight, with many finding her situation both shocking and sad, calling into question the effectiveness of the processes in place within the DMV.