A regular day at the Volo Museum in Chicago, Illinois, took an amusing turn after the management received a speeding ticket for a car that had been on display for years.
Curiously, the ticket also has an image of the car captured by the speed cameras, speeding around 843 miles away, in New York.
Now, it is nearly impossible for someone to break the speed limit in New York, head back to Chicago overnight, park the car, and unveil it for public viewing.
A post by the Volo Museum on social media suggests that the car never left the museum and highlights what could have gone wrong.
Will David Hasselhoff Pay a $50 Fine?
The car in question is a Knight Rider KITT replica, a 1981 Pontiac Firebird from the popular TV series produced in the 1980s, featuring David Hasselhoff. The car was also showcased in several movies, including Knight Rider 2000, featuring Hasselhoff himself.
According to a report by Autoevolution, five KITT cars survived the filming of the Knight Rider series from 1982 to 1986.
However, the one at the Volo Museum is a replica, built by Mark Scricani of Mark’s Custom Kits in 1991, inspired by original production designs to promote his business of building KITT accessories for fans of the series.
Now, though, plates on the same car attracted a $50 fine for violating the speed limit, a point the museum claims is false. A Volo Museum post on Facebook states that the car photographed by the speed cameras was fitted with a novelty plate. The post read:
“Well, this is a new one… we got this in the mail today. This is 100% legit. A traffic camera captured Knight Rider’s KITT speeding down the streets of New York City. The camera captured the novelty license plate (not a real plate…and also a California plate). Their official system ties the novelty plate to Volo Museum and we got a bill for $50!! 😂 You can’t make this up! Our KITT hasn’t moved from our museum in years! Does anyone have Hasselhoffs number? He owes us $50!!!!”
With both plates on the car, the speed camera picked up the novelty plate and automatically linked it to the Volo Museum. Otherwise, there is no other way the KITT replica could have left the museum and returned from New York on the same day.
However, the museum may have to prove its innocence to the authorities by presenting concrete evidence, highlighting that the KITT replica was indeed on display on the day the speed cameras recorded the speeding incident.
The Volo Museum is firm on its stance that the KITT car has not moved out of the museum, which hints at the theory that the owner of a similar car used novelty plates to avoid speeding tickets, an act that is deemed illegal.
Reactions Leave Users With Ideas to Avoid Toll Fees
Users of Facebook have reacted to the post by Volo Museum, with many jokingly revealing that it gives them ideas to avoid tolls. Some reactions are below:
One user wrote:
“Damn now I need to get a novelty plate that says that to avoid all tolls” [sic]
Another user explained that this could be a serious matter:
“There have been a lot of fake tickets /invoices going around from scammers. Otherwise, it looks like someone has taken a novelty plate and put it on a car that may be stolen (not from the museum). In the real world, folks get real plates stolen and thieves use them to evade tolls or break other laws. As funny as this seems, this could actually be quite serious if this is real.”
One user might have figured it out:
“So the way to beat traffic cams is just a novelty plate? Lmao.”
A user revealed that something similar happened to him:
“@Volo Museum … theres a guy in southern Indiana that drives his kitt on a novelty plate while going through a toll bridge into Kentucky. Since I have a legit indiana KNIGHT plate. They charge his tolls, to my ez-pass.” [sic]
Another user joked:
“Not only are the ghosts flooding the Titanic exhibit now they are out joyriding in the museum cars!”