Hertz - Didn't pay bridge toll. Consequences?

A couple weeks ago while renting from Hertz in SF accidently ended up going through Fastrak (auto scanner) lane on Golden Gate bridge. I assume a high-resolution photo of my license plates is on the way to Hertz. :(
Should I expect a bill from with some sort of administrative/processing fees added?

When my family rented a Navigator in PHX, I didn't realize the idea of speed cameras at the time. I ended up getting caught by two. Never was sent a ticket or anything for that matter.

I think most toll roads give one or two "freebies" per car. I suppose that means with rental cars, if nobody before you used up that car's "freebies," you're OK.

I drove through the tollbooth at ORD last weekend without paying in a Hertz car.

To be honest, I was a bit annoyed - that tollbooth is busy enough that it should have at least 1 place to pay with a dollar bill. It's the toll to get into one of the largest friggin' airports in America!! But no, if you don't have exact change or an ez-pass thingy, you can't pay. So you drive through and presumably get photographed.

No idea what will happen...hopefully this car has a freebie or two, but it was a Taurus with 19,000 miles and Illinois tags (meaning it's probably been at ORD the whole time), so who knows... My guess is that Hertz gets a lot of these tickets in the mail...

I can tell you what happens with Avis. I was going thru the Lincoln tunnel and was using my easypass but for some reason it did not register.
Here in New York there are no freebies. Easy Pass sent a letter to me direct, Avis was not even mentioned.

In germany, the police requests the hiring company to provide the details of the driver. You then get a letter with the fine where you are requested to pay up or tell them who was driving the car at the time.

If the police notices that the driver is not resident in germany, the case is closed. Other countries in the EU do the same. So next time you rent make sure you enter a foreign address. However, there are many legends about people being refused entry into the US for not paying parking tickets.... :)

I've set off bells at a couple suburban Chicago locations in Hertz cars and never gotten a notice. One one occasion near ORD, I took advantage of their amnesty program and mailed them a dollar bill with a description of the date and time and car involved. The comment about one or two freebies per car is correct.

When my family rented a Navigator in PHX, I didn't realize the idea of speed cameras at the time. I ended up getting caught by two. Never was sent a ticket or anything for that matter.

I made a perhaps tardy left turn in LA, setting off a large flash indicating a camera ticket, but never received one. I haven't tried running tolls though.

I went through the Fasttrack lane on the Bay Bridge in a Hertz car last spring -- had my transponder with me but it didn't read it.

3 months later, a bill showed up in the mail -- not from Hertz, but from CalTrans (the operator of the bridge) addressed to Hertz and me, at the address I used to rent the car.

This car was a brand new Mustang (gross racing Orange colour) so I doubt it had been used for going through that bridge before. So, the OP should expect a bill in the mail several months down the road. On the GG Bridge, I think the fee will be in the $8-$10 range ($5 toll plus service charge).

There are no freebies when taking the 407 toll road in the Toronto Area. Since all entry/exits are by video only, those not having a transponder are automatically subjected to a C$3 (or something) "video toll charge" per direction.

In addition to that, Hertz will charge you a $10 administration fee. I've never been billed this way, but i've checked when renting at the YYZ airport, and the counter staff there indicates that they do enforce the toll billing and admin fees.

I drove through the tollbooth at ORD last weekend without paying in a Hertz car.

To be honest, I was a bit annoyed - that tollbooth is busy enough that it should have at least 1 place to pay with a dollar bill. It's the toll to get into one of the largest friggin' airports in America!!

I can't count how many times I have blown this Bugsy Daley moneymaker. I'd say at least 25% of the time the coin machine doesn't even know how to count. One time I must have thrown $2 in change at the thing and still didn't get a green light. :mad: I have yet to hear anything in the past 6 months of at least 4 or 5 violations.

A couple weeks ago while renting from Hertz in SF accidently ended up going through Fastrak (auto scanner) lane on Golden Gate bridge. I assume a high-resolution photo of my license plates is on the way to Hertz. :(
Should I expect a bill from with some sort of administrative/processing fees added?


Well, now I know :mad:
The bill came straight to me bypassing Hertz and the total is $30 (holy $#%@!)
$5 bridge toll + $25 penalty. Funny, my 2-day weekend rental was less than that. Too bad there are no CDPs and PCs to reduce this one. :)

This has happened to me in Tampa - it was a stupid 25 cent toll and I had no coins. But I just took advantage of the amnesty program and sent in a 25 cent check (yep, the postage cost more) to avoid the hassle.

Well, now I know :mad:
The bill came straight to me bypassing Hertz and the total is $30 (holy $#%@!)
$5 bridge toll + $25 penalty. Funny, my 2-day weekend rental was less than that. Too bad there are no CDPs and PCs to reduce this one. :)


You thought that $25 was a big fee.
I can tell you that here in Norway it will cost a little bit more.
As we use Norwegian Kroner I`ll just convert it into USD.
A toll road pass in my city will cost you $2.00
If you have been naughty and not paid that fee you will get a penalty fee of $46.00 +the $2.00. I guess that would freak you out!!
And in the process.......if this is a rental car...in addition to the $42.00 you will be charged a service fee from the rental company of $48.00 for all the paperwork.

So if you rent a car from Norway and you mess up....well.....try not to!

Oh... and I know this because I work at Hertz and I charge these poor people everyday.

You thought that $25 was a big fee.
I can tell you that here in Norway it will cost a little bit more.


It's not only the administrative fee that costs a little bit more in Norway, it's just as often the toll itself.

I rented a cottage last year in Fjaerland where the only access to shops and gas was by toll-tunnel. I can tell you I was not happy to find out that this relatively small tunnel charges an outrageous NOK 150 one way fee! (about 25$) Having to go through the tunnel at least twice daily, you can imagine the impact on my budget after a week ;)

Well, now I know :mad:
The bill came straight to me bypassing Hertz and the total is $30 (holy $#%@!)
$5 bridge toll + $25 penalty. Funny, my 2-day weekend rental was less than that. Too bad there are no CDPs and PCs to reduce this one. :)

That is nonsense. I would pay just the $5 toll and enclose a letter explaining that you are from out of town, were in a rental car, genuinely meant to pay and ended up railroaded into the Fast Trak lane. I cannot imagine that reasonable heads would not prevail and waive the penalty.

http://www.goldengatebridge.org/fastraktolls/tollviol.html

Otherwise, it looks like the worst they can do is put a hold on your California DMV registration, which shouldn't mean very much to you if you don't live here. If you do, it looks like they will waive the penalty if you register for Fast Trak.

In any event, I would not just roll over and pay the penalty without talking to the GG Hwy Authority first.

...
If you do, it looks like they will waive the penalty if you register for Fast Trak.
...


This is a very good point. I'll do just that since I use Fastrak roads in SoCal from time to time anyway.
Thanks eric_packer! ^
BTW I noticed that the second violation leads to $70 fee (ouch).

This is a very good point. I'll do just that since I use Fastrak roads in SoCal from time to time anyway.


FastTrak is great.

A couple weeks ago while renting from Hertz in SF accidently ended up going through Fastrak (auto scanner) lane on Golden Gate bridge. I assume a high-resolution photo of my license plates is on the way to Hertz. :(
Should I expect a bill from with some sort of administrative/processing fees added?
I did the same thing on the NJ turnpike and was mailed a ticket...caught by the camera.

Anyone know why Hertz just doesn't offer toll transponders in their cars, and automatically charge drivers? I go to ORD often, and it would really help, especially now that they charge more for cash pay than transponder pay. It would speed things along too. Any idea why they don't? Do any companies offer it?

Anyone know why Hertz just doesn't offer toll transponders in their cars, and automatically charge drivers? I go to ORD often, and it would really help, especially now that they charge more for cash pay than transponder pay. It would speed things along too. Any idea why they don't? Do any companies offer it?

I think this would be an operational challenge.

First off, cars don't always stick in one geographic area -- so a car from ORD might end up in NYC and they use different systems for the tolls. Until there is one national system (which I don't forsee anytime in the near future) for electronic toll payment, coordinating the transponders would be a nightmare.

Next, there is a lag in billing between when you go through the toll and when it shows up on the statement. So, if your ORD transponder equipped car goes through the toll plaza on your return, it could be a few weeks until the bill shows up at Hertz. They would then have to bill you for it, which would probably cost more in overhead than the toll.

Finally, what happens if a driver doesn't realize they have a transponder, goes through the toll, pays in cash, and gets a bill weeks later from Hertz for the toll. Talk about a headache for both the driver and Hertz!

It would be incredibly convenient, but I just don't see it.

That is nonsense. I would pay just the $5 toll and enclose a letter explaining that you are from out of town, were in a rental car, genuinely meant to pay and ended up railroaded into the Fast Trak lane. I cannot imagine that reasonable heads would not prevail and waive the penalty.

http://www.goldengatebridge.org/fastraktolls/tollviol.html

Otherwise, it looks like the worst they can do is put a hold on your California DMV registration, which shouldn't mean very much to you if you don't live here. If you do, it looks like they will waive the penalty if you register for Fast Trak.

In any event, I would not just roll over and pay the penalty without talking to the GG Hwy Authority first.

I doubt they would buy this excuse as I'm sure they get it several times a day. The Fast Trak lanes have less of a line (naturally) which is why folks gravitate towards them, without reading the huge signs overhead. Nearly every time I cross the bridge I see folks going through the Fast Trak lane without paying. (The stop and then sloooow drive away are a dead giveaway.)

If you get to the front and find out you've made a mistake you should cut over to the parking lot on the right and go into the office. There they'll take down your license number and accept your $5 and you can get back on the road after a minimal delay.

Having been there myself I know that what usually happens when someone gets to the empty toll booth in the Fast Trak lane is that they think "Oops. What do I do now? Guess I'll drive on and see what happens."

If you do talk them into waiving the penalty be sure to let us know.

If you get to the front and find out you've made a mistake you should cut over to the parking lot on the right and go into the office. There they'll take down your license number and accept your $5 and you can get back on the road after a minimal delay.



Fastrak lanes are two on the very left and cutting across 7-8 lanes of accelerating cars to get to the office parking lot on the right side is normally not an option.

Fastrak lanes are two on the very left and cutting across 7-8 lanes of accelerating cars to get to the office parking lot on the right side is normally not an option.

If you are on the far left it can be tough. The time I did it :o I was in the first Fast Trak lane. I called over to the manned booth next to me and they threw a switch of some sort which temporarily set a red light for all the lanes so that I could zip over.

you can always try a few of these methods: http://www.zug.com/pranks/turnpike/

Here in NJ they don't even mail you a ticket so long as you plate # matches one associated with an EZpass account, they just debit your account. Maybe you best bet is to open an account in SF and thus waive the $25 fee?

you can always try a few of these methods: http://www.zug.com/pranks/turnpike/

Hahahahaha! ROFL *lol* ^ ^ :D :D

Thank you for that link!


Hammer

In germany, the police requests the hiring company to provide the details of the driver. You then get a letter with the fine where you are requested to pay up or tell them who was driving the car at the time.

If the police notices that the driver is not resident in germany, the case is closed. Other countries in the EU do the same. So next time you rent make sure you enter a foreign address. However, there are many legends about people being refused entry into the US for not paying parking tickets.... :)

I wish what you wrote about the Polizei and town councils (Parking violations) closing cases when the driver is not resident in Germany was true! I have been sent penalty notices from Germany to the address on my Driver's license. (Now, you can't say no-one told you!)

The commonest mistake for europeans parking in the US, is to park a car facing in the opposite direction of traffic flow, this will earn a parking penalty.

I wish what you wrote about the Polizei and town councils (Parking violations) closing cases when the driver is not resident in Germany was true! I have been sent penalty notices from Germany to the address on my Driver's license. (Now, you can't say no-one told you!)

The commonest mistake for europeans parking in the US, is to park a car facing in the opposite direction of traffic flow, this will earn a parking penalty.

Aha, I did wonder with all this talk about not being resident in the country where you've committed the offence would get you off the crime. I could see many a hitman offering his services in a foreign country using a Hertz rental car as the murder weapon - and getting presidents circle status at the same time!