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Fastrak - License Plate Readers

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  • Fastrak - License Plate Readers

    About two years ago I got a fine from Fastrak saying I didn't pay a bridge toll in the bay area. Ironic because the car was sitting in my driveway 400 miles south. It was obvious that they has misread an "E" on the offending car as the "F" on my car. It seems the offending car has a plate frame ("San Francisco") that covers the lower portion of their "E" so it looks like my "F." What befuddled me at the time is the offending vehicle was a Toyota SUV and the my car is a Honda Civic. So, it is obvious they are not checking the manufacture with the plate number when they send notices. Anyway, I sent proof of the difference and it was corrected.

    Now in the past two months I have gotten three more Fastrak fine notices. One was resolved, one is still pending (for quite some time) and the third I just received. But, get this, it says the infraction date is December 29th, 2016! WHAT??? Has anyone else had these issues? I'm ready to get the plates changed as this is getting utterly ridiculous. It takes well over an hour of my time to provide the proof that I was not the offender. Lastly is there a Fastrak scam going on? The other infractions showed the plate of the offending car. This notice did not provide that.
    '64 Lark Type, powered by '85 Corvette L-98 (carburetor), 700R4, - CASO to the Max.

  • #2
    A couple of years ago I had a problem with San Francisco Fastrak citing me for using the Fastrak lane without a transponder. This was for my 63 Avanti with original black license plates. Since I bought the car in 2005 it has never been north of the Simi Valley. They sent me a picture of the offending license plate which was white and had three letters and four digits. I sent them a picture of the Avanti with the black license plate and told them they had the wrong car and the wrong plate. Someone in the San Francisco Fastrak offices didn't bother to check that they had the wrong car and just issued a citation as they were too lazy to check anything. I got a response a couple of months later apologizing for the mistake and I haven't heard anything since. Bud

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    • #3
      Not familiar with Fastrak here in the East, but I'm pretty sure that these citations are issued electronically without any human input. Mistakes like yours require a human to look at your appeal and manually void the ticket. You should feel fortunate -- one Maryland county does not provide any way to appeal. You have two choices: pay up (credit card preferred) or post bond and go to court. Been there, done that -- always wasted a whole day, and they had my $100 for a year at no interest.
      Skip Lackie

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      • #4
        Yea, so much for "Innocent until proven guilty." You can imaging my disappointment when I thought the latest mail from Fastrak was my being absolved of the last mailing they sent only to find it was yet another!!! Much less that it was an infraction they said occured over a year and a half ago. WHAT???
        '64 Lark Type, powered by '85 Corvette L-98 (carburetor), 700R4, - CASO to the Max.

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        • #5
          If I remember correctly, it was more than a year after my supposed infraction that I received the Fastrak citation. Either the people at Fastrak are totally inefficient or they are hoping the person that receives the citation will pay the fine because they can't remember anything about the supposed incident. Bud

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          • #6
            I just obtained an E-ZPASS here in Indiana today. It is probably similar to Fastrak. I hope I will be glad I got it.
            "Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional." author unknown

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            • #7
              Sometimes the EZ Pass doesn't work as designed. A few years ago our daughter was using an EZ Pass heading to NYC and the pass wasn't picked up by the receiver. I received a citation in the mail (the car registered to my wife and I) for $8.00 for not paying the toll. While paying it wasn't a problem, the citation said there was a $45.00 fee to protest the citation if I felt it was wrong. What a racket!
              Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

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              • #8
                All this stuff would be moot if they'd just put the toll plazas back in service.

                Clark in San Diego | '63 Standard (F2) "Barney" | http://studeblogger.blogspot.com

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by showbizkid View Post
                  All this stuff would be moot if they'd just put the toll plazas back in service.
                  ...and traffic would be backed up for miles...



                  And then we'd be clamoring for some sort of automated system to fix the problem. "Sure there may be a few mistakes, but it would be better than sitting in this back up for hours" .
                  Dick Steinkamp
                  Bellingham, WA

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                  • #10
                    I have had NY's EZ Pass for about 15 years and knocking on wood have yet to have any trouble. I have four of them, one for each car. Gave them a credit card number in the beginning; and they take 15 to 25 dollars when my account runs low; depending upon how much travel I am doing on toll roads. I even went through the wrong lane in IL towing a car with a U Hall truck. The EZ Pass was in the car in tow. I don't remember what they charged; but there was no problem.
                    I can travel from NY to either VA or IL or TN without stopping to pay a toll. It is a great time saver.
                    Ron

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