By CY FRANK For The Sun

I found the article on our latest red-light revenue producer very interesting, simply because it brought to mind a Naperville senior citizen's experience recently.

Sharon Reed is a very active lady who has lived in Naperville for more than 40 years. During that time, she raised a family as well as founding and maintaining a successful business in our city.

Some months ago she received a $75 citation in the mail from the city of Chicago for running a stop light in their city. The evidence attached was a photo of her license plate number with some undecipherable logo/decal in front of the numbers.

Included in the photo was the rear of a Chrysler van. Her vehicle is a four-door Buick.

After many phone calls, insisting this was not her vehicle, nor was she anywhere near the location indicated, she was instructed to protest the ticket at the Daley Center.

A protest filing fee was paid. Three appearances were required in traffic court. Each one became more frustrating than the one before. It seemed the protester was not innocent before being proved guilty but quite the contrary. It became obvious that no representative of the court believed the story.

The third appearance finally got the court's attention because the license plate was produced as evidence, and although it did match the numbers on the plate, it was not identical to the plate on the photo.

After all the dust had cleared and the expenses were paid by this tenacious senior citizen, including time, parking fees, tolls as well as anguish and distress, the case was dismissed.

It was dismissed simply because, after investigation by this lady, it was discovered that two vehicles registered in the state of Illinois can have the same identical plate number. The only difference is that one is a vanity plate.

This story should raise a red flag in our community, not to mention our state as well as the people who represent us. Reed had a three digit plate number. A number that might be desired by people who have "clout" downstate.

Duplication of the same identical numbered plate would of course become very obvious. However, creation of the same number, including an organization or cause, not only satisfies the people with clout but could produce various rewards.

Obviously, this could present a huge problem to the original owner of this number. For instance, if Reed was accused of a hit-and-run fatality, with the same scenario a much larger court case could materialize. The results could be traumatic.

The victim of this incident has written to media organizations, including our representatives with no response whatsoever. Our local representatives should take note of this, before they promote this project further.

Don't forget a Naperville senior citizen who refused to give up brought this to our attention.

It was dismissed simply because, after investigation by this lady, it was discovered that two vehicles registered in the state of Illinois can have the same identical plate number. The only difference is that one is a vanity plate.

think you can appeal since she was part of a funeral procession?

Red Light camera generates $1.3 million in fines a year at one intersection in Atlanta.

WHAT?