Automated mailed ticket.... But I wasn't there!

[PJveetwin]

I received a letter from a toll road outfit claiming I blew off a toll on a road some 300+ miles away. Bill is now $45. and will be another $100. in 10 days if I don't pay it. I responded claiming I have never been there, but also included a picture of my Spyder asking them to compare it to the one they took during the violation. They did respond telling me the ticket has been dismissed and to have a nice day...... Gotta wonder how many people they screw over on a daily basis.

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[oldguyinTX]

The various toll agencies here in Texas are notorious for doing exactly the same thing, as well as sending out paper bills for bogus tolls to owners of vehicles that have toll tags. They have been under investigation for years about this and other issues, and have changed administrative oversight contractors no less than five times in the last 10 years. It pays to check your transaction statements every month.

[NorwegianRT]

Glad you made them dismiss the ticket

Over here in Norway two and three wheelers do not pay on toll roads and I hope it last for a looong time. NMCU (Norwegian Motorcykle Union) is lobbying hard on the goverment to stay toll free and they do a great job !

[Bangorbob]

We traveled a couple months ago thru Ill and Wis using 94 & 294. No toll boths. No mention that I saw about having only 10 days to pay OR. So I called them and said I needed to pay tolls. I also ask how anyone that is out of state would know there is such a short timeframe. Her response. You are correct sir, no one wouldn't know. She was very nice and I paid my $9 via CC. Gotta luv it.

[Gwolf]

Got a bill for running a red light in New Jersey once. I had not been close to New Jersey in 15 or 20 years. They had my tag number and vehicle type. I wrote back and told them that I had not been anywhere near New Jersey on the date they claimed I ran a red light, and my vehicle had never been to New Jersey. I refused to pay the scam ticket and told them where they could stick it.

Never heard from them again.

[hut1]

The same thing happened to my daughter on I95 in Maryland. There was no way to make out the picture of the bike and tag in the letter. According to the date of the alledged infraction, she was in the midst of an 8 week internship in Africa. The case was dismissed.

[Saluda]

Happened to me once in Connecticut, took a bit to straighten out. All this automated crap concerns me, tougher to get a person to talk to and resolve.

[FrankR]

PA remover the toll booths and have EZPay or tool by plate number EZPay is ($1.00) price by plate is 3x the cost (3.00) = total rip!

[cruisinTX]

The various toll agencies here in Texas are notorious for doing exactly the same thing, as well as sending out paper bills for bogus tolls to owners of vehicles that have toll tags. They have been under investigation for years about this and other issues, and have changed administrative oversight contractors no less than five times in the last 10 years. It pays to check your transaction statements every month.

Several years ago I started getting notices from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) for a non-payment on a road in the DFW area. The tag number they claimed to have matched the one on my BMW R1100S, however the tiny little picture they included was so small it was unreadable. I tried to call them but got and automated system that put me on hold. I don't have a lot of patience for being on hold so hung up pretty quickly. I read their notice more carefully and found an E-mail address so sent them an E-mail explaining that I had never been to DFW on that bike. A few days later another notice arrived with the same tag number but a different date and time of the offence. We normally let junk mail pile up a bit and I recalled seeing the NTTA thing on a few other pieces of mail so started digging through the "junk" pile and found four more notices. I sorted them by dates and noted that they all occurred late at night and even well into the morning like two and three AM, yet I was managing to be at work the next day nearly 400 miles away. One of the infractions even occurred when my wife and I were in Lake City, CO. I sent still another E-mail about two weeks later trying to clear this up. They continued to ignore me so I ignored their bills and threats of issuing an arrest warrant. About six weeks into this from the time of the first notice, I got another one from a collection agency in Chicago. I called the number provided and got right through to a live body. After explaining the situation to that person, they said hold on a minute while they did a search in the computer where there was supposed to be a larger picture of my tag. Upon returning I was told that the picture did not match my tag number. I asked what number was and it turns out the computer system had mistakenly read a K as an X that was on my bike. All charges and threats were dismissed.

Moral to the story; don't let the automated ticketing system screw you around.

[Isopedella]

I got an Automated Speed Camera Ticket in the mail, along with a photo of my alleged offending showing the plate, location, time and date.
I advised them in writing I am not paying, please advise of a court date for a defended hearing.
I also advised them I would be seeking costs should I be successful in my defense.
That being expenses and a charge for my time.

I did not tell them the plate was similar to mine, but not my plate.

I got a reply, a summons to appear for a hearing.
Bout 1 week before the hearing I got another letter, charges to be withdrawn.
Then another confirming no further action, charges officially withdrawn.

Missed out of a free several days bike tour to attend the Court nowhere near where I live, all expenses paid.

[gkamer]

I had the happen to me once. Claimed I skipped a toll going over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in western Washington. I haven’t driven on the west side of the state in about 10 years. I called them and told them they had the wrong truck. They admitted the picture was kind of fuzzy so I guess they all got together in the office and tried to decide what the license plate was. They finally decided to say the heck with it and canceled the ticket.

[BigPoppa]

Had the same issue here in the California Bay Area. Motorcycles can still use carpool and express lanes for free but have required their FasTrak Flex tag for a number of years now. I have to check my Fastrak account on a bi-weekly basis now since I’ve gotten bogus charges due to their system not always picking up the tag as well as incorrect manual reading of the photos (they’ve tried to bill me for an express lane I typically don’t use and on the day in question was in my car).

Makes no sense to me that if they can read the license plate well enough to send you a ticket then they should be able to tell it belongs to a motorcycle and waive the fee without the need for a toll tag.

[Gwolf]

What the final result is, the various government agencies are using the system to raise money. They don't care if the tag is wrong or where the vehicle came from. They just want the money and will try to scam you to get it. Most people will pay a small fee to avoid the hassle and not fighrt it. That is what the agencies are depending on.

[fuzzyspyder]

When I licensed my new to me truck last May, they told me I needed to get a new plate ($55) because my old plate was too old, and the luminescence wouldn't work for the toll readers. I asked them why I needed to buy the new plate just so they could track me on toll roads when I don't have a single toll road on my side of the state and I never go east over the Rockies (not quite true, but it is really rare).

They called a supervisor over and she agreed with me and said I could get the new plate for $5.

I then asked why I needed to buy a new plate with a new number that I would have to learn. She said I could order the new plate with my old number for $55.

Of course, I asked again, why should I pay to have a new plate just so they could collect tolls in an area I never was. She agreed again and gave me a new temp and ordered the new plate with my old number to be mailed to my house.

Ya gotta love the lack of rhyme or reason of the Government sometimes. And here is the funny part ... when I renewed my tri licenses (that plate was almost 20 years old and 15 years older than the truck one) they let me use my old plate. I asked how come I didn't need a new plate due to the loss of luminescence. I was informed that the plates on the motorcycles don't lose luminescence.

Okay, Disclaimer: I am 70, Retired and can afford to waste time trying to get government agencies to see the lack of logic in their policies. Problem is, I don't think they care if their policies are logic free as long as they generate income!

[Tango]

This has happened to me twice since moving to Florida. Once from Louisiana. Said they got my trailer at a boat ramp. Showed a trailer. Send pic of the plate which was on my Spyder. They dismissed it. And FL. Sun Pass "got me" blowing a toll on the turd pike. Had to go to the office as they refused to respond to phone calls. Brought up a pic of a huge guy on a small motorcycle. I said that is NOT me. They dismissed it. Yes, they go to extremes to not answer or dismiss. It's privatised so they want to make money! Tom

[Bangorbob]

I keep telling my wife: It's all about power and $$$$.

[WDAVEY]

Posted on another forum. Guy got a toll violation ticket with a picture of his car and plate. Only thing.... his car was on a roll-back tow truck at the time the picture was taken!

[Chiefburg]

We traveled a couple months ago thru Ill and Wis using 94 & 294. No toll boths. No mention that I saw about having only 10 days to pay OR. So I called them and said I needed to pay tolls. I also ask how anyone that is out of state would know there is such a short timeframe. Her response. You are correct sir, no one wouldn't know. She was very nice and I paid my $9 via CC. Gotta luv it.

Same happened to me…no toll booths and nothing to show what I should do. By the time I got a notice they had added late fees. I wrote them a letter explaining and received no response…They just don’t care. I will never drive through Illinois again.

[baxter]

I stopped at a restaurant in downtown Nashville, TN. in October on a Sunday Afternoon. It was a small place and had a gravel parking area which was full. There was a concrete slab next to the building on the other side with several cars parked there and I assumed it was part of the restaurant. There were no other building near it but this one. A few weeks later i received a notice saying i owed 82 bucks for a parking ticket from the owner of this slab. Since i did not pay the max for one day parking which was 32 bucks. I researched and found that this out of state company owned many empty places in Nashville and must rent out spaces. There were no signs up indicating that this was a parking area nor how much or where to pay. I contacted them and explained the situation and later notified that charges were dropped. They did have a picture of my car parked there.

[Peacekeeper6]

I received a letter from a toll road outfit claiming I blew off a toll on a road some 300+ miles away. Bill is now $45. and will be another $100. in 10 days if I don't pay it. I responded claiming I have never been there, but also included a picture of my Spyder asking them to compare it to the one they took during the violation. They did respond telling me the ticket has been dismissed and to have a nice day...... Gotta wonder how many people they screw over on a daily basis.

IMG_4980.jpg

Toll roads are for the birds.

I used to live in NJ and remember those annoying toll booths, ESPECIALLY on the Garden State Parkway. The Turnpike wasn't as bad, but still.

So glad I live in a state that has NO toll roads. In fact, some roads are SO straight, deserted and LOOOONG, it's a great time to perform a "German tune-up", LOL.