By Tim Binnall
An old vanity plate that paid homage to Star Trek haunts a New York woman who stopped driving years ago, yet has repeatedly received erroneous traffic tickets brought about by people cruising around with novelty versions of the identifier. According to a local media report, Beda Koorey's car once sported a vanity plate that read 'NCC-1701,' famous in science fiction circles for being the registration emblazoned upon the U.S.S. Enterprise. While the identifier was originally a source of pride for the Star Trek fan, it has since become a nightmare that has led to her mailbox being flooded with traffic tickets.
Thanks to the widespread availability of novelty versions of the license plate that other people use on their vehicles, Koorey laments that she has been issued a staggering $16,000 in fines from across the country. "Red light, speeding, parking, school zone," she recalled, "I got a phone call from Ohio, a police chief looking for plates because they were involved in a robbery." Koorey's attempts at responding to all the tickets have proven to be exhausting as more and more summons have been sent to her home. "I've run out of ink. I've run out of stamps," she declared, "It all comes back to me, so the whole country has my name and address for tickets I don't even owe."
Making the matter all the more maddening for Koorey is that she actually surrendered the vanity plate back in 2020 when she opted to stop driving due to eyesight issues. Be that as it may, the tickets keep coming, leaving the retiree fearful that she will ultimately wind up in some kind of legal trouble due to mischief caused by someone else using the identifier. Fortunately, news coverage of Koorey's dispiriting dilemma has led to offers of help from state officials and a local attorney. While it will likely provide little relief to the retiree, she can take some solace in knowing that she is not alone as a similar fate befell a Nevada man with an 'Area 51' vanity plate that caused him to receive around 350 erroneous traffic tickets.