How to Get Out of a Speeding Ticket: Wear a Monkey Mask

Who out there is brave enough to take on the forces of Arizona Department of Public Safety's highway speed cameras? It's the Masked Speeder, that's who.

Dave VonTesmar, a 47-year-old Arizona man, has amassed dozens of speeding tickets since last year. Or rather, someone driving VonTesmar's car amassed those citations. VonTesmar claims that because it cannot be proven that he was driving the car, he is not responsible for the tickets. And it cannot be proven that who was behind the wheel because the driver pictured in highway cameras was always wearing a mask—a monkey, sometimes a giraffe.

What might be craziest of all is that whoever was driving the vehicle doesn't seem to be all that crazy a driver. Most of the speeding violations were for driving between 11 and 15 mph over the limit. So was the Masked Speeder actually trying to attract the attention of the authorities and get speeding tickets? That's bananas!

From the AP:

"You've got to identify the driver, and if you can't it's not a valid ticket," said Dave VonTesmar, a 47-year-old flight attendant.

It took Arizona state police months to realize the same driver was involved and was refusing to pay the fines. By the time they did, more than 50 of the tickets had become invalid because the deadline for prosecution had passed.

Authorities have since stepped up their efforts to ensure that VonTesmar pays his $6,700 in fines.

I sense a movie deal in the works based on the story—a latter day "Smokey and the Bandit" just in time for our recession-plagued, anti-authoritarian era. Is Burt Reynolds too old for the role?

Related: Check out tips for fighting parking tickets and other oddball ways to save.