A $1.4 million ticket for speeding? Georgia man shocked by hefty fine, told it's no typo

A Georgia man got the shock of his life when received a $1.4 million speeding ticket. Fortunately for him, the figure was just a placeholder.

Connor Cato told Savannah-based WSAV-TV that the Georgia State Patrol pulled him over for driving 90 mph in a 55-mph zone on Sept. 2.

Though Cato was expecting to get a so-called "super speeder" ticket, never in his wildest dreams did he think that it would be for over $1 million.

When he called the court thinking the figure was a typo, he was told that he should either pay the fine or appear in court in December.

“‘$1.4 million,’ the lady told me on the phone," Cato told the station. "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 at 1:30 p.m.'"

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Just a placeholder

Savannah city government spokesman Joshua Peacock told USA TODAY on Monday that Cato's fine is just a placeholder.

"A speeding ticket can only be set by a judge in a court appearance and cannot exceed $1,000 plus state mandated cost," he said.

While Cato still has to appear in court and is considered a "super speeder," he will not have to pay $1.4 million in fine.

Under Savannah law, "super speeders" are anyone caught driving more than 35 mph above the speed limit. Super speeders have to appear in court, where a judge will determine the actual fine.

Peacock explained that because super speeders are required to go to court, the e-citation software automatically puts in a $999,999 base amount plus state-mandated costs. That ended up coming to $1.4 million for Cato.

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The court is currently adjusting the placeholder language in order to avoid any future confusion, Peacock said.

"The city did not implement the placeholder amount in order to force or scare people into court," the City of Savannah said in a statement to WSAV-TV. "The programmers who designed the software used the largest number possible because super speeder tickets are a mandatory court appearance and do not have a fine amount attached to them when issued by police."

Contributing: Associated Press

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.