A Simpsons 'BORT' license plate has turned into a toll-road nightmare for one unlucky Massachusetts driver
Published on Jan 19, 2026 at 11:02 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Jan 19, 2026 at 3:03 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
This Massachusetts driver found herself saying ‘D’oh!’ when her Simpsons ‘BORT’ license plate became a toll-road nightmare.
Katie Unis, from Gloucester, kept getting charged toll bills meant for other people’s cars.
Although she found the humor in the situation, it was undoubtedly frustrating as she now faced an uphill struggle to dispute these bills.
And who would have thought a joke from a 30-year-old Simpsons joke would cause so much trouble?
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How this woman’s Simpsons ‘BORT’ license plate landed her in a whole heap of trouble
You wouldn’t imagine The Simpsons to have so much crossover with the automotive world, would you?
We’re just as surprised as you are.
Plenty of cool cars have appeared on the show – whether it be Mr. Plow or the Homer – and the show has made its fair share of car predictions.
So really, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one Massachusetts woman has gotten herself into a heap of trouble with a Simpsons-themed license plate.
The plate at the center of this story simply read ‘BORT’, and no, it wasn’t a typo on the name of mischievous prankster Bart Simpson.
It was a reference to a gag featured in Itchy & Scratchy Land, a season six episode that aired back in 1994.
The episode sees the Simpson family visit the amusement park based around the mouse and cat cartoon duo.
While there, Bart seeks out a souvenir plate with his name on it, but is instead met with one that reads ‘BORT’.
As if to rub salt in the wound, two people around him reveal themselves to have the bizarre name.
With this in mind, it’s no wonder that a Simpsons fan like Katie Unis decided to pay tribute on her own vehicle.
She might have expected to get a few laughs out of it, or maybe have a few people take pictures of it.
What she wasn’t anticipating was a whole load of toll charges.
How did this all go so wrong?
While Katie got her plate legally, there are plenty of BORT duplicates out on the roads – bought either online or at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando.
These plates look similar enough to Katie’s plate that she is getting charged when drivers with fake plates drive past E-ZPass cameras.
In an interview posted on WBZ NewsRadio’s TikTok, Katie issued a plea.
“Stop using my plate, come on! I have to pay for that!” she urged fellow drivers.
“I’m continuing to get notices, and I don’t know when the bills stop.
“I do appreciate it’s really funny, but it’s causing me a bit of a headache.”
Katie and her husband spend a ton of their income on Simpsons memorabilia – including a tattoo on her arm – but they likely wouldn’t have anticipated this kind of expense.
@wbznewsradio Aye, caramba. . #TheSimpsons #Cartoons #90skids #90sMemorabilia #Massachusetts ♬ original sound – WBZ NewsRadio
The price of her novelty plate is already costing her $80 a year – Ay Carumba!
Hopefully, they’ll get it all straightened out.
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Following stints at LadBible, The Sun, The New York Post, and the Daily Mail, Ben joined the team full-time in February 2025. In his role as Senior Content Writer, his sparkling copy, the ability to sniff out a good story at 100 paces, and a GSOH quickly led to him becoming an integral and invaluable member of the writing staff.
