Yesterday I received a tollway violation ticket from the State of Illinois, for $105. I thought this strange, since I’ve been living in central america for more than half a year, and the ticket was dated October 27, 2008. So, I made an international call to straighten it out. It was then that I learned, to my horror, how IPass works.

If you’re travelling on the Illinois tolllway and get cut off in traffic and accidentally drive through the high-speed detectors instead of stopping at the tollbooth [or buying an IPass (TM) transmitter], a camera takes your license plate number. You collect a $20 fee in their computer. If you get two or less in a year, they ignore it. That seems sporting of them. BUT, if you get a third one, their computer tallys all the tickets you ever had, whether you knew about them or not, and generates a bill for the whole mess. Then, the computer waits a space of 12-24 months (god knows why) and mails it out. I am sure you an see where this is leading: I had one in 2006, one in 2007, two in 2008…. and one a week before we left the country, making my magic third offense in 2008 and invoking THE PENALTY. Now, I have to pay a ticket that costs more than a MONTH of groceries, nearly a third of my salary.

Of course, I explained to the lady on the phone that this was all news to me, and she replied cheerfully that I can read all about it on their website. Sigh. I guess I should spend more time browsing obscure government websites during my spare time. Ignorance is no defense in the eyes of the law.

I hereby vow that I will never live in Illinois again. Ever. Being required to pay a special fee to have a pilot’s license and having to ship newly-purchased ammunition to my work address in Indiana were both annoying, but this is the last straw.