Six years ago, a woman from Lackawanna, New York received a speeding ticket fine for going 46 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. Despite the fact that she had a clean driving record and was barely driving over the speed limit, she did not contest the ticket.
Instead, she promptly paid it. This decision was largely made due to the fact that she received the ticket in Herkimer County, and, in order to fight the speeding fine, she would have needed to drive all the way to Little Falls, which was hours away. The ticket was only $155. Paying it, she thought, would be the easiest way to be done with the whole ordeal.
However, she almost lost her license because the Department of Motor Vehicles failed to credit her for making the payment. Her husband was in the thick of it all until this past week. He was faxing paperwork, making phone calls, and mailing documentation proving that his wife paid the ticket six years ago.
All of this headache due to a New York speeding ticket fine, which was already paid six years ago, for going one mile over the limit.
The trouble all started when the woman received a letter from the DMV explaining that as of April 6, her license was going to be suspended due to the non-payment of a New York speeding ticket.
After going through administrative hoops, the judge in Little Falls eventually told the woman that the court never received her money order, and that must have been the reason her New York speeding ticket remained outstanding.
Consequently, she immediately canceled the old money order and replaced it with a new one that she sent directly to Little Falls. Afterward, Judge Charles Oldick sent the form to the DMV acknowledging that the ticket was officially paid.
However, the woman’s driving record remained unchanged, and the DMV told her that the suspension was still pending.
Finally, just this past week, the DMV officially corrected the error in their system, but not before worrying the woman and her entire family for quite some time.
Ultimately, this story illustrates precisely how vital it is for correspondence with the court and fine payments to be confirmed in writing after they are initiated. The easiest way for you to do this is by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope and a letter requesting the court clerk to mail you a receipt.