Indiana BMV numbering problem leads to wrongly-issued tickets - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Sandra Chapman/13 Investigates

Indianapolis - More than 100,000 Indiana drivers could be getting bills they don't deserve - ticketed because of a problem with duplicate license plates. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is now launching a fix.

Business owner Alan Whitaker knows the value of a good haul, but he can't believe what's being dumped in his lap, due in part to a numbering problem at the BMV.

"I almost thought it was a joke or almost a funny mistake. But I just...I couldn't get over seeing the same license plate number on a different vehicle," he told 13 Investigates.

Whitaker didn't know it, but it happens all the time here in Indiana.

"A semi trailer and a pick up truck could have the same number," confirmed BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough.

For years, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles didn't see a problem with having the same plate numbers for each of the different classes of vehicles.

"Duplicating numbers on license plates is, that's just kind of silly, asking for trouble," said Whitaker, the owner of a Whiteland hauling business.

Sure enough, trouble showed up in Whitaker's mailbox three weeks ago in the form of a bill from the Illinois Toll authority.

Inside Whitaker found 34 fines totaling $725.

From May 2009 through February 2010, the same driver skipped out on $45 worth of tolls. That's minimal compared to the $680 fine tacked on.

Whitaker is among 116,000 Hoosiers getting the notices.

The Illinois Toll Authority is trying to recoup more than $7.4 million from Hoosiers their cameras caught driving through tolls without paying. The only problem: some bills are going to the wrong drivers.

"Sometimes they'll just take the top number and decide that's the vehicle," said Rosebrough speaking of the toll-workers assigning the fines. "They do not know that in Indiana you have to look at the plate type as well as the number. They could just type in the number and in effect it would identify the wrong vehicle," he explained.

"I've never had this vehicle in Illinois or across any of their toll roads," said Whitaker, still in disbelief.

The license plate captured in Whitaker's case bears the state name at the top of the license. While the "Indiana" on his truck is on the bottom. And the vehicles are entirely different kinds of trucks.

"I noticed on the photo that it was a picture of a rollback recovery wrecker," Whitaker added.

As if pictures weren't enough, a look at the back of Alan Whitaker's dump truck shows rust. A license plate hasn't been displayed there since 2008 when the laws changed.

For two years now, license plates on dump trucks have been required for the front of the vehicle.

As Whitaker appeals his case to the toll authority, the BMV is changing its numbering ways.

"Rather than hassle, and put Indiana motorists through some sort of hassle because of this failure of the agency to correctly read an Indiana license plate, why don't we go back, let's resequence all of license plates, so that no longer will there be the possibility of any duplicate numbers," he told 13 Investigates.

In response to our investigation, the Toll Authority tonight apologizes, and confirms it has found the right driver and removed the charges from Whitaker's name, calling its billing system imperfect.

Rosebrough says Hoosiers have also suffered billing errors from Texas and Pennsylvania.

Indiana's re-numbering process starts this year with trailers and motorcycles. The plan is to have all vehicle plates done by January 2013.

If you feel you've received a wrongly issued ticket from the Illinois Toll Authority, call them at 1-800-824-7277.