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Toll violations in Central Florida: Expect to pay up sooner
Changes to toll violations in Central Florida take effect Sept. 1.
August 26, 2010|By Dan Tracy, ORLANDO SENTINEL
Motorists in Metro Orlando who do not pay their tolls face much smaller penalties than they used to, but they are about to get the bill sooner, too.
The Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority decided Wednesday that it will send out notices to violators after two unpaid tolls per month, rather than three, which was the old standard.
The change, which takes effect Sept. 1, could bring in an additional $725,000 annually to the agency, which owns and operates 105 miles of toll roads in Orange.
Violators are caught by camera, which takes a picture of the license plate of each vehicle that passes through a plaza without paying. That happens, on average, about 24,000 times a day.
People who do not pay after receiving a notice in the mail have a hold put on their tag registration, meaning they cannot get a new license without settling up with the authority.
Previously, toll scofflaws had their driver's license suspended and had to go to court, where they also faced heavy fines.
The agency changed the process last year after a series of Orlando Sentinel stories about how punitive the old system was. Before the change, motorists could lose their licenses for failing to pay as few as four tolls.
Now, the fine is 10 cents per violation, plus a $3 handling fee.
"This looks like a better system for our users," authority Chairman Walter Ketcham said. "That's why we opted to go for it."
Habitual offenders still are being referred to court, said David Wynne, manager of toll operations for the authority. Those are "the worst of the worst" who do not pay tolls and ignore requests for payment.
Toll violators cost the agency about $6 million a year.
The old penalty system came under scrutiny in April 2008, when a Sanford judge decided that an Osceola firefighter had been unfairly punished by Florida's Turnpike.
The judge not only overturned the $3,000 fine and license suspension, but also terminated the turnpike's ability to go after toll violators in Seminole County, where the turnpike operates a portion of S.R. 417. That ruling eventually was overturned.
The turnpike also sends out notices after two missed tolls.