A Georgia Man Got A $1.4 Million Speeding Ticket

Highlights

• A Georgia man received a $1.4 million speeding ticket, making national news and raising questions about the exorbitant fine amount.
• The ticket was labeled as a "super speeder" ticket, which incurs additional penalties for driving at high speeds far above the speed limit.
• The $1.4 million amount was revealed to be a placeholder and not an actual fine, with the maximum fine being $1,000 plus court costs.

Speeding tickets are among the most expensive moving violations in the United States, but a $1.4 million speeding ticket issued in Georgia was so eye-wateringly expensive that it made national news.

Georgia man Connor Cato was pulled over by police in Savannah, Georgia on September 2nd. Georgia-based news outlet WJBF reported that Cato was certain "he was going to get a super speeder ticket" for allegedly going 90 miles per hour (MPH) in a 55 mile per hour zone when the traffic stop occurred.

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WJBF mentioned a "super speeder ticket" in relation to the $1.4 million speeding fine in question. According to a Georgia.gov page about "super speeder" tickets, the label describes additional penalties for speeds far in excess of the speed limit in a given zone:

"Super Speeders are drivers ticketed for traveling 75 mph or faster on a 2-lane road or 85 mph or faster on other roads or highways. Any Georgia residents or out-of-state drivers convicted of the speeding offense will receive a notification in the mail ... If drivers do not pay the Super Speeder fee within 120 days, the driver’s license will be suspended."

Text at the top of the page indicated that a "Super Speeder fine is an extra $200 added to speeding tickets." No mention of fines in excess of $200 appeared on the page, nor did it mention any six figure versions of speeding tickets.

According to WJBF, Cato called the city of Savannah to verify the fine. Cato said of the call:

"'$1.4 million,' the lady told me on the phone. I said, ‘This might be a typo’ and she said, ‘No sir, you either pay the amount on the ticket or you come to court on Dec. 21 [2023] at 1:30 p.m.'”

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Savannah, Georgia's WSAV covered the $1.4 million speeding ticket on October 12th, bringing the unusual incident to a wider audience. Sneh Patel (Cato's attorney) indicated that fines for misdemeanors have a $1,000 cap, and Patel said of the ticket:

"At first when I was asked about this, I thought it was a clerical error [...] apparently it’s not a clerical error. But again, I have never seen something like this, ever.”

Patel continued, describing a slightly higher cap of $5,000 for misdemeanors of a "high and aggravated nature." Cato's attorney said misdemeanors of a particularly severe nature might warrant higher bond, but Patel was unable to explain how any elements of Georgia law could add up to a $1.4 million fine for speeding:

“ ... the bond amount should be relevant to [the severity of the alleged infraction,] so for [a] misdemeanor, you wouldn’t see bond amounts over $5,000[,] maybe $10,000[,] just to ensure if it’s a crime that involves violence or if you’re anticipating they will commit more crimes, [the court] would set a higher amount or if you think they won’t show for court, you set a higher amount ... But not $1.4 million — that’s something that [typically involves] cases that are [related to] drug trafficking, murders or aggravated assaults, something of that nature.”

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WSAV asked the city of Savannah to explain Cato's six figure speeding ticket. In an update to the article, the outlet quoted the city as saying that a "placeholder" fine of just under $1 million is applied to ensure anyone ticketed as a "super speeder" prioritizes their court date to resolve the ticket:

"The balance reflected in the e-citation is a placeholder. Super speeders are required to go to court. The system automatically puts in $999,999.99 as the base amount plus other costs since the only way [for Connor Cato] to resolve the ticket is to appear in court."

In another section, the city affirmed that the $1.4 million fine is not "enforced," and noted that the "placeholder" sum has been in use since 2017:

"The balance reflected in the e-citation is a placeholder, not a fine. The amount is not enforced. This has been in practice since 2017 when a new system was put into place."

Finally, the Associated Press covered Connor Cato's $1.4 million speeding ticket in an October 15th article. In that reporting, Savannah city spokesperson Joshua Peacock asserted the city doesn't "issue that placeholder as a threat to scare anybody into court, even if this person heard differently from somebody in our organization," and that the fine itself could not exceed $1,000 (plus court costs).

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