Boon: [Niedermyer is abusing Flounder in ROTC] Vicious mother, isn’t he?
Otter: He can’t do that to our pledges!
Boon: Only we can do that to our pledges.
Indiana can suspend its motorist’s licenses because the BMV has a dysfunctional system, but it’s really beyond the pale for Indiana motorists to suffer abuse at the hands of the State of Illinois.
Justin Mack, writing for the Lafayette Journal & Courier, reports on the Illinois Tollway Authority wrongfully sending out bills for back tolls and fines for travel on Illinois toll roads. To complicate matters, the Illinois Tollway Authority is not set up to efficiently correct its mistakes, just to take payments or set court dates. The problem seems to be a system that was taken off line for a period of time coupled with a system that is not equipped to deal with Indiana’s plating system which can issue the same number for different kinds of plates. So, Indiana truck plate “123” might get a bill really meant for Indiana “In God We Trust” plate “123.”
Could be time for a little border war.
Or it could be time for a sensible plate numbering system.
Nah. Just kiddin’.
Well, sure. I don’t exactly have high praise for Indiana’s “personal license plate design for all” model. We’re not really all that far from NAMBLA heritage plates. But that doesn’t give Illinois the right to jack us around. So to speak.
Technically, the places are unique, it just sounds like their camera can’t make out the small two-letter prefix before the 123.
There’s a perception in Chicago that driving in Indiana is always a mess.The trouble is that anywhere eastward bound by car is through the worst congested roads just about anywhere,certainly nothing can compare til we get all the way to New York City ,after leaving Chicago. And in Winter there’s either heavy snow or the threat of heavy snow.Then there’s the trucks.Every semi in the country goes through NW Indiana. On my recent trip ,it wasn’t even clear if there were any other autos somwhere hidden among the rows and rows of traffic-stalled semis.
I’ve driven NW Indiana countless times and its the same as always. except worse and worse over the years..
The most recent time I drove it last week I came to the Portage toll plaza westbound at about 8 am on a week day where everyone has to pay the toll and found no agent at the head of the cash/charge lane I had chosen my lane from a distance, and couldnt do a left or right turn to another lane, so I had to scrambled to pull out a $5 bill and 3 singles to slip into a slot and some coins were returned in a trough that I couldn’t fish out with my left hand so I just left the coins.. Well, this is Indiana,why is Indiana always different?Now we learn Indiana motorists cheat the Ilinois tollway system..Indiana has an imcompatible tagging system? And people in Illinois think Indiana is so idyllic.It’s a Wisconsin-EAST if get to The Dunes or South Bend.
I grew up in Central Illinois where Turkey Run State park was a wonderful 45 minutes away.Indiana was wonderland compared to the flat open, treeless Prairie in Illinois.Indiana was hilly and had trees! I still think Turkey Run is magic when I go there.And even to go over the Wabash River Bridge was exciting as a kid.I didnt think Illinois had any rivers.
I guess the lesson is its NOT Indiana so much as where one starts to get to and from.
Teach our kids the fables.This is the lesson of the 3 blind men and the elephant.
I think this story may be trumped up a bit.
I had been doing a lot of travel for work, and I usually got a rental car. I used my IPass for the tolls, just holding it up to the windshield.
I don’t know if there were some tolls that I forgot to hold the IPass up, or else the IPass didn’t work occasionally, but I started to get violation notices. They were over 2 years old!
Anyway, I called the Tollway, and they just charged them to my IPass account, and they waived the violations. They did charge me the full toll, not the discounted one, but I honestly didn’t care. I think I probably expensed the full toll anyway.
The Tollway seems to be treating everyone this way, waiving the violation but charging the full toll. People seem to be bent out of shape that they’re not getting the discount, but that’s their policy. I don’t see what the big deal is.
I recently had an experience similar to Lou’s. We waited in line to pay with cash for what seemed to be about 15 minutes. I don’t have an IPass, because I rarely travel on that road. Rarely…ummm, make the NEVER!