How The 'Knight Rider' Pontiac Trans-Am Got A Speeding Ticket While Sitting In A Museum

Pop culture is filled with iconic cars that include everything from the A-Team's van to Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine. There are tons of excellent examples, and one of the best from 1980s television is KITT from "Knight Rider." KITT, which stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand, is a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that's outfitted with an advanced artificial intelligence system voiced by William Daniels in the series.

There were three KITTs used in "Knight Rider," and they've resurfaced every now and then in the decades since it went off the air. The show's popularity has ensured that KITT remains a common sight at conventions and museums, but one exhibit holds the distinction of being ticketed while parked. In May 2026, an authentic replica of KITT that was sitting quietly at the Volo Museum in Volo, Illinois received a traffic violation for speeding in a school zone in New York City.

The $50 ticket was delivered to the museum, which made more than a few people scratch their heads in confusion. How could a car that's sitting in a museum in Illinois violate a traffic law in NYC? The answer to that is, it can't, and it didn't. The car has been sitting on permanent display for years, but the traffic fine was delivered there regardless, pushing the museum to request a hearing to dispute the ticket. Nobody stole the car and took it for a joyride, and it didn't speed in a school zone — the problem was its license plate.

In "Knight Rider," KITT had the ability to switch its license plate from "KNIGHT" to "KNI 667," and it was used in a single episode to evade the police after a successful prison break. The replica sitting in the Illinois museum sports a license plate reading "KNIGHT," which is a novelty tag since that isn't registered to the museum or anyone else. On April 22, 2026, at exactly 1:02 p.m., a traffic camera on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn snapped an image of a speeding vehicle sporting a California "KNIGHT" license plate.

The car was going 36 in a 25, which resulted in the $50 traffic fine. Upon issue, it wasn't clear why the ticket wasn't delivered to the California driver's owner and instead went to a museum, but that's what happened. Even stranger is the fact that the summons came with proof of the violation in the form of a picture of the speeding car. The museum posted on Facebook soon after, writing in part:

"The camera captured the novelty license plate (not a real plate ... and also a California plate). Their official system ties the novelty plate to [the] Volo Museum, and we got a bill for $50!! 😂 You can't make this up! Our KITT hasn't moved from our museum in years! Does anyone have Hasselhoff's number? He owes us $50!!!!" Unsurprisingly, Hasselhoff owns a '1982 Pontiac Trans Am, and he even spends his off time modifying and selling them as KITT replicas. As for the ticket, it was resolved thanks to a great deal of attention.

After learning of this strange tale of a speeding ticket being issued to a stationary museum exhibit, we contacted the Volo Museum, the California DMV, and the New York City Department of Finance to fill in the details. According to Jim Woydyla, Marketing Director of the Volo Museum, "The license plate is the one that was used on the show. We sell them in our gift shop. It wasn't even a vanity plate; it was a novelty plate. Basically, a movie prop."

According to the NYC Department of Finance, the ticket was voided, ensuring that the museum was no longer on the hook. The story resulted in multiple press offices hounding the department about the ticket, which is why the fine was removed. That still doesn't explain how or why the fine ultimately found its way to Illinois. First and foremost, the Volo Museum never registered that license plate. Instead, the museum, which also sells around 800 classic and collectible cars each year, has only dealer plates. 

The weird part of the story involves how New York gave the museum the fine in the first place. After the system snapped the picture of the speeding car's plate, the New York Department of Finance contacted the California DMV, which identified the Volo Museum as the registered owner. According to the Museum, they never registered the plate, so it remains a mystery as to how they ended up as the registered owner. It's likely lost somewhere in the transfer of ownership paper trail.