Posted on 07/27/2005 11:03:36 AM PDT by JZelle
Maryland transportation authorities are using E-ZPass technology to cite thousands of motorists who speed through toll plazas -- a tactic that has drivers and transportation groups fuming. Citizen Advocates for Safe and Efficient Travel, a motorist advocacy group, logged more than 300 complaints from upset drivers since July 15, when the group's president said the strategy was made public. "On one hand, the state wants [drivers] to buy E-ZPass to help traffic flow; then, on the other hand, nails us for doing it," President Chuck Jackson said. "It's a cheap speed-trap aimed at unsuspecting motorists, who are being cited for violating a speed limit that is difficult to obey and posted so you don't see it until they already 'gotcha.' Nearly everyone who called accused the state of being deceptive and sneaky in the way this is being handled." State officials said the monitoring of speed at the state's seven toll plazas is neither new nor clandestine. "When a customer opens an account and E-ZPass, they are agreeing to the terms and conditions," said Teri Moss, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority. "I need to stress that a motorist frequently has to be going substantially above the posted speed in order for their accounts to be suspended."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
In other words, the regular flow of traffic.
I'm amazed they haven't yet given tickets to speeders on toll roads. They know what time you got on and off, do the math and bingo, you get a speeding ticket along with your change.
Typical bureaucrat. The question and allegation wasn't account suspension, it was speeding.
Typical bureaucrat. The question and allegation wasn't account suspension, it was being ticketed for speeding.
ML/NJ
The strictest law and order types on here will have a hard time arguing against these tactics...
Nowadays, many of the traffic laws are enforced not because of safety, but for revenue production.
Now, if they are using secret speed traps at other parts of the highway, that would be different.
Traffic tickets = REVENUE. Doesn't has squat to do with safety.
"It's a cheap speed-trap aimed at unsuspecting motorists, who are being cited for violating a speed limit that is difficult to obey and posted so you don't see it until they already 'gotcha.'"
Bull. The speed limits were clearly posted. E-Z Pass members were warned far in advance that cars were going through too fast. I'm not a big fan of Md. gov't, but E-Z Pass is correct here, IMHO.
The speed limit in the E-Zpass lanes is only 15mph through the toll.. Jeez, in Houston, I've followed cops going over 80mph through the equivalent on the beltway....
The speed limit in most of the E-ZPass lanes is 15 mph.
I'm pretty much a strict law and order type, and agree that with the info presented, this seems ridiculous and simply a speed trap.
Maryland, another democrat voting socialist state. You get what you voted for.
"Then they SHOULD be ticketed. I see people flying through there, when the speed is clearly posted."
Exactly, I go through 5 tolls a day and many of these drivers go thru much too fast. They were warned.
I don't think it's talking about speeding at the tollbooth area, but using the transponders to calculate their speed over the whole toll-road portion of trip.
And it's the easiest tax to avoid, legally.
I wish all government revenue was raised via traffic tickets without the use of sales tax, income tax, etc. My effective tax rate would plummet.
"The speed limit in most of the E-ZPass lanes is 15 mph.
I'm pretty much a strict law and order type, and agree that with the info presented, this seems ridiculous and simply a speed trap."
It' a toll booth. How fast should they be allowed to go?
Oops, guess I was wrong. Seems like they are talking about the tollbooth plazas.
The article says the speed limit is 15 mph. Im unfamiliar with the layout of the particular areas in question, is there any good reason for it being so low? Absent hairpin turns or nearly nonexistant exit merge lanes for the cash lines, it is hard to picture a reason for such a low speed limit.
Make of this what you will but the NJ State Police spokesman told me that the troopers and the NJSP leadership don't care how many tickets are given out because the money goes to the municipality in which the ticket was written, not to the state.
He also said the tickets tend to be a an unreliable source of income to the towns, dependent on NJSP staffing, road conditions and other variables, so towns don't count on the income when making budgets.
I got flamed for bitching about a parking ticket I got, when I was standing in a loading zone for about 10 seconds.
"Well you should have obeyed the law>."
"You should have been fined 100$, not 50$."
If we're going to take that type of attitude, then lets just set up radars and cameras on every street, and dish out tickets to those doing even 1 mph over the posted limit.
That would be within the law.
wrong. Md. tolls don't work that way. You stop and pay at each toll, not like Pa. or Nj. This is about speeding thru toll booths.
It's not about revenue OR safety, it's about ensuring they get a read off your card. If you go through too fast they run the risk of not recording the transaction.
Yeah, I already corrected myself.
There is a history of this but it was terminated.
Basically they measured the distance between toll booths vs. your time.
The posted speed limit at toll plazas on Houston tollways has been 65 mph for years, with no notable safety issues, but there is adequate merging pavement and markings, too, and perhaps the thru lanes are a bit wider at the booth. Still, 15 mph is awfully low, but it is the northeast, where too many locales have that as there school limit speed, rather than a more reasonable 20 or 25 mph. Most irritating is the PA DOT's 40 mph limit for construction zones, when most states manage just fine with a 50 or 55 mph limit in same situations.
It's a toll booth. 15 is pretty reasonable considering that most drivers are at a stand still in other lanes. I have E-ZPass, it doesn't hurt to slow down a bit. One still gets thru much quicker.
Have you ever seen how some motorists speed through the toll plazas since they have EZ-pass? I have seen them, and I tell you, you had better get out of their way is you are driving the speed limit or a little above. They feel they own the tool-road since they got their little EZ-Pass.
Here in Oklahoma, the PikePass lanes at many of the toll booth areas are the full 75MPH speed limit. Those w/o a PikePass account and/or w/o a transponder mounted on the vehicle have to slow down and then stop to pay the toll.
On a few of the turnpike toll booths here, those in the PikePass lanes do have to slow to a crawl, but don't have to stop.
there is a due process issue there.
It is like using an airplane to track speed and then not requiring the pilot to appear in court.
It was shot down year ago. But I bet the revenue hungry municipalities will forget that and we will have to relitigate it.
That does seem kind of low. The speed limit through the SunPass lanes in Florida is 25 mph (E-Pass lanes in the Orlando area have a 35 mph limit).
Yes, I read, had already posted. Sorry.:-)
I have no problem with using the same rule used for lost paper tickets (no documentation = assume the maximum possible toll).
Admittedly, this doesn't work for people who go too fast through the booth on both ends.
And the problem is?
I bet the fines are double in those construction zones and it does not matter if no workers are present either.
Well, ya know what they say, those 'slow' Yankees just can't keep up with us fast-paced Southerners!
Naw, it's easy, just make the argument that the state should prove that the purpose is safety, not revenue by specifying that the punishment may not be any monetary fine, fees, or court costs, but must be community service. Then sit back and see how many tickets are issued.
On some of the newer toll roads in Florida, drivers without SunPass or E-Pass have to exit the highway to enter the tollbooth area (like you'd leave to hit a rest area). The people with transponders just continue down the highway at the speed limit.
The limits are 55 approaching the toll, only 15 to go thru the booth itself and have your pass read.
....and in unrelated news.....
E-ZPass Subscriptions Down 75%
Nowadays? This has been a method of generating revenue for localities since they posted the first speed signs ... decades ago.
I think that the technology is already there to be able to detect your speed based on your cell-phone's built in GPS capability (to which you may not have access, but which is installed in all newer phones as a gov't requirement.) Please correct me if I am wrong. I would like to be wrong about this.
Aren't they doing something similar with red light cameras?
Wrap your phone in lead.
It's not about revenue OR safety, it's about ensuring they get a read off your card. If you go through too fast they run the risk of not recording the transaction."
But they are goving the tickets based on getting a read off your card. Also, the official said you need to go a good bit faster than the speed limit to get a ticket. It does not seem that it is about getting a good read if the tickets are issued to people whose cards were read just fine.
For anyone interested, if you do not have E-ZPass, but are in a rush, just go thru anyway. They send you the bill in the mail. Did it once before I got the pass. Mailed them a check for $2.00, done.
They can't because they can't cite a particular speed violation.
You could go 30 miles an hour most of the way and then punch it to 120 mph. Or you could be doing a steady 80. Without surety of speed, they have no case.
to get around the due process it is GENEALLY a fine on the vehicle owner and is in the same class as a parking ticket. No record or insurance increase.
Speeding tickets do give points and do give insurance increases.
Most states that have adopted the uniform traffic laws treat infractions as a civil offense which operate under the rules of criminal procedure.
It is an issue of preserving revenue and the protecting the pretext of safety.
For any old times out there, remember "Hacienda Village, Florida"? No taxes just tickets!
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