It's a TRAP! Why Toll Plazas Should Have at Least One Attendant
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 2/20/2016 1:00:00 AM
It's unfair to issue a summons to drivers who don't have exact change.
The other day I rented a car because mine was in the shop and I went onto the Garden State Parkway in NJ and I was faced with an interesting dilemma. As I approached the toll booths I was faced with 4 lanes. Two were "Exact Change", and the other two were "E-ZPass" only lanes. I stopped the car about 50 feet before the booths because I didn't know what to do. While I sat there, I took the photo you see above.
Since my rental car didn't have an E-ZPass, I needed to find 50 cents to pay the toll or I would be forced to break the law, because there weren't any lanes with an attendant, and I didn't have any change.
I've had my E-ZPass so long, I took it for granted that I needed to stop to pay tolls, but I assumed that a government run toll system would at least offer drivers like me a LEGAL way for every driver to pay the toll.
This particular toll plaza is clearly a trap designed to force drivers to break the law. As I see it, an unsuspecting driver approaching this plaza has exactly 3 choices, and none of them are legal.
1. The first option is to go through the "Exact Change" lane and not pay the toll. This will likely trigger a penalty to be sent via US Mail based on a photo of the license plate. Clearly this will cost far more than the cost of the toll.
2. The second option is to go through the "E-ZPass" lane and wait for E-ZPass to send you a violation, which may or may not be as high as the one for going through the "Exact Change" lane. Either way it's illegal and expensive.
3. The third option is to find a way out of the toll plaza itself. This will likely be the last resort, because that would potentially require an illegal turn, which is a moving violation and potentially result in an accident.
As I sat in my rental car deciding what to do, I checked the glove compartment and center console hoping that the previous driver might've left some change there and then I realized there was a 50 cent bag of potato chips on the seat... and I realized I paid cash for the chips so I actually had 2 quarters in my pocket. I threw them into the machine and I made it out of the toll plaza without breaking the law.
As I finally drove through the toll plaza, I couldn't help but wonder how many people they've penalized for not having change.
The next day, my car was still in the shop so I knew what to expect. I popped into a convenience store and got myself another bag of chips, and spend the next few hours making sure I didn't lose them. I refuse to pay a penalty simply because the people who run the Garden State Parkway set a trap.
Simply stated, every toll plaza should have at least one attendant. Drivers should never be forced to break the law simply because they lack exact change.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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