Thousands of I-490 speeding ticket recipients to get their day in court after 25,000 tickets issued in 24 days

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Tens of thousands of drivers who received a state speeding ticket on I-490 downtown should have their day in court. They were caught by the state DOT’s automated radar next to a work zone, resulting in 25,000 tickets issued in just 24 days.

City Hall confirmed that the city’s Traffic Violation Court is setting up days in as early as January or February to hear cases from ticketed drivers. News10NBC will share the dates once they are available and provide information on how to get on the docket.

News10NBC’s Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean has new information on his investigation into an altered check used to pay one of those DOT speeding fines.

“On my check the numbers were added on the ‘pay to’ line in the same field where my text still remained,” said Martha Gdowski, who had printed numbers on her check to pay the DOT speeding fine. “But it’s obvious that there were numbers that had been added to the check.”

Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “At least in your case they didn’t remove what you wrote on that payable line like they did with the other person.”

Martha Gdowski: “That’s correct. They did not.”

The 25,000 tickets issued in 24 days on I-490 downtown amount to at least $1.2 million in fines. Barbara Madison received her ticket there, but when her check was cashed, the words she wrote on the payable line were erased and replaced with numbers.

“When I looked at it thought wait a minute, that’s not what I wrote,” Madison said. “You can’t alter a check.”

Gdowski’s husband got his ticket in the spring where I-390 and I-590 meet in Brighton. They paid the fine by check and believe the stamped numbers are part of an automated tracking system.

“And that’s why these numbers are being added to the checks,” Gdowski said. “But it is surprising to alter checks in such a way. You’d think they’d have a different system for that.”

The state DOT says it’s looking into the altered check with the vendor in Philadelphia it hired to handle the process. The fines are used to pay for the radar system, and any extra money is used by the DOT for additional work zone safety programs.

It remains to be seen if individuals who have already paid their fine will still get a day in court. Court dates for automated tickets are rare, and so are dismissals. Of the 132,000 tickets issued statewide this year, only 235 were thrown out.

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