Illinois museum's stationary Knight Rider car gets $50 NYC speeding ticket — and no one knows why
The Volo Museum got a traffic ticket for one of its vehicles in the mail but the thing is, the museum says the car hasn't moved in years.
The museum shared a ticket they got in the mail from the New York City Department of Finance for $50. According to the ticket, KITT, the famed talking car from "Knight Rider," was going 11 miles per hour above the speed limit in a school zone.
But KITT had been in the Volo Museum the whole time; in fact, it's been stationary and on display for years. The museum said they think New York City's official system must have connected the novelty plates in the picture to the car in the museum.
The museum shared a picture of their security footage with CBS News Chicago dated at the time of the speeding ticket and shows the car parked. The museum said they requested a hearing about the ticket.
A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Finance said in a statement that they are looking into the matter.
How New York City's system linked that plate to the Volo Museum was not immediately clear. City officials did not immediately respond to messages on Wednesday, though a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Finance said in a statement that they are looking into the matter.
Jim Wojdyla, the museum's marketing director, said the museum has requested a hearing to challenge the ticket and is still trying to understand how the connection was made.
"The fact that we're legally tied to a movie prop is interesting," Wojdyla said. "We're known for having our Hollywood cars from TV and movies, but I have no idea how we got registered from a ticket in New York to the plates in California to the Volo Museum in Illinois. We're still trying to figure it out."
"Knight Rider," starring David Hasselhoff as a crime fighter, aired on NBC from 1982 to 1986. The show featured KITT — short for Knight Industries Two Thousand — a black Trans Am with a talking onboard computer. Around 20 KITTs were built for the production, but only five originals remain, according to Road & Track magazine. The Volo Museum's car is among the many replicas that exist, and a Facebook group for replica owners has nearly 19,000 members.
New York City is authorized under state law to operate up to 750 speed-detecting cameras. When a camera captures a vehicle traveling more than 10 mph over the limit, city staff review the photos and mail a ticket to the registered owner, according to the city's website.
The museum has been posting about the ticket on social media, updating its Facebook header to read: "Home of the Knight Rider KITT that famously got a speeding ticket in New York City without ever leaving its exhibit in Illinois!" Another post reads: "Does anyone have Hasselhoff's number? He owes us $50!!!!"
