A man's license plate ends up on a thief's car, leading to dozens of tickets.
Imagine being fined for traffic violations, all while your car is sitting in a junkyard. How could that happen?
One man learned the hard way, and found out it is a risk, and it's what can happen if you don't save your license plates, or if they are ever stolen. Lee Oursler now dreads opening his mailbox, because every few days he receives a toll booth bill in the mail.Oursler's son-in-law Ken Keim showed a stack of EZ PASS toll bills from New York and New Jersey totaling over $1,000.It all started after he totaled his minivan, and it was towed away with license plates still intact.
Now, months later, that plate is popping up on toll booth cameras all around New York City, and the Ourslers can't stop it.It turns out that a license plate where the little tag has not yet expired is very valuable to a thief. That's because a toll booth plate reader will take a picture of it, and send the bill directly to your home.License plate rules vary from state to state.
One last tip: If your plates are ever lost or stolen, report the loss to the DMV and State Police to make sure tickets aren't going onto your driving record.But Oursler says"if I would have taken the license plate off, that would have been the end of it right there."Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. .Follow John on Twitter