Has anyone actually ever been court ordered for failure to pay tolls?
Posted by oilmoney322@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 35 comments
I had a car I sold to a scrap yard and noticed i am a “habitual tool tag violator” on the Dallas county website because I stopped paying my last month of tolls. I do not have any active warrants and have never changed my address. I was talking to a friend about this who said he has over 5k in tolltag bills he never paid and have never gotten a letter to appear. Surprisingly, growing up I have always heard of a friend of a friend who got arrested for not paying there tolls. I mean they threaten it on the NTTA letters so why not believe them?
After researching, it is not actually illegal to not pay your tolltags (no debtors prisons in the US think about it you can’t go to jail for credit card debt) the only thing that’s illegal is not showing up to court but from my understanding the courts rarely ever send out court letters to habitual tolltag violators!! If you do go to court they basically ask you to pay your tolls at a fraction of the price. I would like peace of mind to see if I should pay off my tolls from my old car to avoid a court appearance.
Brockmcc@reddit
I’m probably the minority in the situation but I laugh when NTTA send me bills. Multiple cars owned in the past with minor and major bills. They keep trying to get me to pay, the bills keep going down though. It’s been a couple years and now they only bill me for my most recently owned car. It was $1,500 but the most recent bill said $200 something. Never had any issues with registration or title another car. Just keep selling and buying cars as the toll bill goes up lol
Geoffrey-Jellineck@reddit
Do you think it's your right to not pay tolls while choosing to drive on toll roads? The entitlement on this one...
Twiiggggggs@reddit
I believe that in paying taxes we should be able to lift the burden of paying 10$(that goes to other countries like spain) to get across town. When the alternative is to sit through a prohibitive amount of stop lights. By these companies having the tolls prevents the opportunity for public roads to go in their place. But please, continue to defend the billion dollar companies nickel and diming us for every last bit we have.
Geoffrey-Jellineck@reddit
I admit it's not ideal, but the fact is the roads mostly wouldn't exist without their investment in the first place. The real issue is why our tax dollars wouldn't or couldn't fund major infrastructure projects in a timely manner without resorting to companies in other nations. The answer isn't to still utilize paid roads while skipping out on the bill. Two wrongs don't make a right.
ToeJam_SloeJam@reddit
Granted, I was a kid at the time PGBT was being proposed, but wasn’t the initial selling point was that it was only supposed to be a toll road until the costs were recouped? It was only supposed to be a toll road for a limited amount of time, not a cash machine for the owner
terivia@reddit
Same with DNT.
Turns out if you just keep charging tolls you can make a pretty nice profit in Texas by owning a piece of paid off infrastructure. Then you can use a small portion of those profits to make sure nobody in power looks too closely at the "temporary" status of your toll road.
drinkywolf@reddit
From what I remember, both PGBT and DNT were “paid off.” But NTTA isn’t stupid, so to keep the lie going, they take out loans against the tollways themselves as collateral and use the loans to “build and expand” new and existing roads. That way they claim the toll roads are never truly paid off - by keeping an amount of debt against them that they don’t even need.
I could be misunderstanding what I read like 10 years ago, but that’s what I remember. If I can find a source I’ll edit.
whytakemyusername@reddit
Because everyone at the top know eachother and there are handshakes occuring constantly that do not benefit you.
Brockmcc@reddit
Do feel entitled no, just got tired of paying for something where the money didn’t go back to the community or state. Won’t maintain and clean the tollway? Traffic in the tollway? As long as that continues, I’ll continue to not pay. Trash and debris in the tollway has cost me $8,200. Till I get a check, they won’t either.
Geoffrey-Jellineck@reddit
What are you even talking about? There is a huge difference in the condition and cleanliness of NTTA roads vs the regular highways.
It's an unreasonable and frankly stupid expectation that toll roads will never have litter or traffic, but whatever helps you sleep at night for taking advantage of something that you refuse to pay for.
Brockmcc@reddit
You’re calling me entitled, so I stated why I don’t see it that way. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please reread or take the toll road today on your way home. Look at all the rocks, tire debris and trash as you drive through the narrow one lane sections. When it’s one lane, you have no choice but to stay in the trash and rock littered lane. On the highway, you can move over and avoid and rocks or trash that may occur. I sleep just fine, I’m sorry you’re getting so upset with my reasons for not giving billon dollar companies my money.
Geoffrey-Jellineck@reddit
I take Bush literally daily and the difference in going from Bush to 75 is like day and night. Like I said, it's a stupid expectation to think there will never be any debris in any roadway, toll or not. That's some of the worst justification I've ever heard for people refusing to pay tolls they voluntarily incurred.
Brockmcc@reddit
Sorry I’m entitled and stupid. Lol I can expect whatever I want, it’s not up to anyone to dictate that. If my expectations are not met, then that’s on me to accept or not. I will continue to maintain high expectations.
Geoffrey-Jellineck@reddit
It's pretty clear you're the type of person that will finish a meal at a restaurant and then demand to see a manager to get it comped because it wasn't good.
If toll roads are unsatisfactory to you, the obvious answer is to stop driving on them and incurring tolls. And yet it sounds like you continue to use them and just ignore the bill. Get real.
Brockmcc@reddit
Don’t be so quick to judge, that’s not what this post is about. We’re discussing toll roads and NTTA. I don’t go to restaurants, Covid killed all my family so I’m terrified of tight public spaces like restaurants. I use false names to cover my identity because of judgmental people like you. The family I am with now despises my actions towards NTTA and other turnpikes. Like I told you though, that’s not up to you or anyone to dictate. I will continue to set high expectations and I will continue to be let down. You will continue to give your hard earned money away to rich people. You’ll do you and I’ll do me. I don’t need to nor do I have to explain anything else. Just know at the end of the day you lose, I don’t. I’ll always know why and you won’t.
zatchstar@reddit
NTTA maintains their facilities WAY better than any other agency in the state. And they are nice facilities. They also have free roadside assistance on their roads and they have significantly less congestion than state highways or interstates at the same hour.
The money paid absolutely improves the community because it improves the commute
Zangorth@reddit
There’s also been multiple posts on here showcasing people with expired registration anyways. Or driving around with expired paper plates or no plates at all. So even if not paying tolls prevented you from registering or renewing your license, I doubt the people who aren’t paying tolls care.
datwizard24@reddit
They blocked me from renewing my drivers license… had to pay 4k before it was lifted. 😮💨😭
ty944@reddit
I’m in this position now. I need to register my car but just can’t afford to pay the tolls I racked up on my deceased fathers car lol
jjmoreta@reddit
Go to a NTTA center (can be easier psychologically in person than over the phone) and start a payment arrangement. You may be able to settle for less. Or they can charge you just the tolltag amount, not the zipcash amount. But you don't know unless you ask.
datwizard24@reddit
Yeah they lowered the bill to 4k when I signed up for a toll tag…. This was like 3 years ago.
datwizard24@reddit
Yeah they lowered the bill to 4k when I signed up for a toll tag…. This was like 3 years ago.
ty944@reddit
Oh I did! I owe about $3500 and they quoted me $800 down and then a payment plan. I’m surviving off of spaghetti and toddler snacks though so I just don’t have the $800ish down right now. Great advice, I never would have known if I didn’t look into it a couple of months ago!
Aky114@reddit
Just drive without your license plate on your car. It’s like a $200 fine for failure to display plates. I have multiple coworkers who are forced to drive the tollway and just don’t have plates on there cars. If they get pulled over, they simply show the officers the plates in the car or they take the ticket. Have a coworker who has been driving around for years without getting a single ticket and has saved tens of thousands of dollars lol.
Word232323@reddit
The amount of people worshiping the toll Gods. Tolls are basically a cartel and should be illegal. A foreign company is benefiting from all the money spent by you people and using our court system and our government resources, that we pay taxes for to enforce their greed. Our gas taxes pay for new road construction. Not even DFW Airport should have tolls.
coloredinlight@reddit
It's such a racket. And the fact that the little ducks weasel their way into every public road construction by placing toll lanes next to public highways is fucking predatory.
I know the excuse. "just don't drive in them" but nearly 75% of the highways on DFW are tolls or have tolls.
GoGoSoLo@reddit
No but I’m a bit freaked out wondering if I’ll get hit with something like that as I just ordered a new toll tag (windshield was fully broken) and it’s tiny compared to my old one. I’m honestly not sure if they sent me the right thing and fear going on toll roads right now.
jjmoreta@reddit
It's a little chip in the sticker. No need for the big plastic thing. And if it can't read for any reason, the cameras will photo your license plate and the system will match you up.
The only times you'll get into trouble is if you sell your car and leave the plates (DON'T DO THIS), forget to register a new car, change your license plate, or don't update your debit card if it changes. If that happens, just call NTTA up, they'll make the changes, put any zipcash invoices on your tolltag account at the lower amount and you pay it off. No worries.
TeslaModelS3XY@reddit
Doesn’t matter. You don’t even have to put it on. So long as your license plate is registered with your toll tag account, they will bill you that way.
Source: haven’t had a toll tag in my car in years.
November77@reddit
Same here. No sticker on the car.
One-Wallaby-8978@reddit
The new ones are small
GoGoSoLo@reddit
Thanks for confirming! It felt like they sent me a tiny little keychain size one by mistake.
HoneyIShrunkMyNads@reddit
The larger concern is them taking away your ability to renew a Drivers License or your registration.
I have a good amount of unpaid tolls that I'm unable to pay right now, but haven't been hit with the habitual violator tag yet cause I avoid taking tolls now (think you have to use the tollway 100 times within a year to get this habitual violator status)
Zangorth@reddit
There’s also been multiple posts on here showcasing people with expired registration anyways. Or driving around with expired paper plates or no plates at all. So even if not paying tolls prevented you from registering or renewing your license, I doubt the people who aren’t paying tolls care.
HoneyIShrunkMyNads@reddit
You're not wrong, and that may fly in Dallas proper since cops don't give a shit about traffic violations but I find cops in places like Collin county will pay more attention to these violations