Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/17/1740.asp

5/8/2007

Virginia: Toll Road Tickets Innocent Toll Payers
New photo enforcement machines on the toll road in Dulles, Virginia are issuing automated tickets to innocent motorists.

Virginia's newly installed $7.6 million photo ticketing machines are accusing innocent motorists of skipping out on tolls that they, in fact, had paid. Washington Post columnist Dr. Gridlock reports that dozens of motorists have complained about malfunctioning equipment on the Dulles Toll Road with dozens retelling instances where they received a photo ticket for a crime they did not commit.

"I was in an unmanned cash only line and saw a car in front of me go through and have it blink red and blow the bell noise, and I thought, hey, he violated!" one motorist wrote. "Then it comes to me, I toss in my coins, and it does the same thing to me! I'm worried I'm going to get a ticket, and how will I prove I paid?"

Another motorist who paid a toll received a photo ticket in the mail demanding $25.50. When he appealed the fine, the Dulles Toll Road officials threatened to suspend his driving license. Many others found a ticket in the mail even after following the instructions of a toll booth worker.

"Three months ago there was an incident happened at the Toll Gate," wrote Reina Gomez. "My husband paid the toll but the light didn't turn green, and the gentleman that works there told him, 'It is okay to go.' ...We received two tickets saying that he ran the red light, now we have to pay."

Source: Dulles Toll Cameras Questioned (The Washington Post, 5/7/2007)

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