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SunPass Crackdown Takes Heavy Toll On Some Users
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Published: May 9, 2008
TAMPA - Cynthia Hill racked up more than $3,000 in fines for unpaid tolls after her husband borrowed her car last summer to get to his job at MacDill Air Force Base.
The battery for the car's dashboard transponder ran low, but Hill didn't realize it until months later when she got a letter explaining her license was being suspended for unpaid tolls on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
"This was the first time I was aware there was a problem. I was so upset," said Hill, a postal worker from Hernando County who needs a driver's license for work.
Hill's situation is increasingly common. Escalating numbers of SunPass users – now 66 percent of all drivers on toll roads – and a push by the state to improve its toll-collection rate has resulted in more people facing hefty fines and suspended licenses for seemingly minor violations.
The changes started showing up a year ago when the agency that operates most of Florida's toll roads lowered the threshold for sending out violation notices.
People previously could skip out on three tolls before a collection letter would go out. Now the threshold is a single violation. And if violators wait around long enough, their unpaid tolls can morph into traffic citations that can affect driving privileges.
The result: longer lines at traffic court as people fight to keep their licenses.
At traffic court in Hillsborough County, the first Friday of each month is dedicated solely to toll violations. A year ago, only a handful of such cases appeared on the docket.
Back then "it was very limited," said Bill Foster, a hearing officer in Hillsborough's traffic court. "I hardly saw any toll cases."
The May 2 docket was typical: about 900 cases.
Blame The Machine
About half of them involved motorists with SunPass transponders. Sensors at toll booths detect the electronic devices and then bill the motorist.
If a toll isn't paid within three weeks, it can turn into a $25 fine. If still unpaid 30 days later, it can escalate to a $165 citation that adds three points to the driver's license. At 12 points, the license gets suspended.
As expected, not everybody is happy with the changes.
"There is a belief among a lot of attorneys, even on the law enforcement end, that maybe this can operate a little bit harshly," said Anthony Arena, a Tampa lawyer who often handles toll cases.
Keith Warshofsky, another lawyer, said, "It's definitely one of those things that seems unfair."
Circuit Judge John Galluzzo in Sanford was so incensed at the severity of the punishments that in April he tossed thousands of citations and barred toll road operator Florida's Turnpike Enterprise from issuing tickets in Seminole and Brevard counties.
Galluzzo was irked that a firefighter incurred thousands of dollars in fines because the transponder in his wife's sport utility vehicle had a low battery and didn't register the tolls.
Because the family moved, the toll notices went to the wrong address and were never forwarded. The violations snowballed into more than $3,000 in fines and resulted in suspension of the man's license. He spent months fighting to get it reinstated.
Tell It To The Judge
Hill and others spun similar stories on May 2 in Tampa's traffic court.
After appearing before a hearing officer, Hill said she thinks the battery on her transponder ran low, causing the problem. She moved to a new home and didn't hear about the issue until months later when she got a notice her license was suspended.
"My biggest concern is the lack of communication. I was not even aware of this until the department of motor vehicles contacted me," she said.
Hill lived in Riverview at the time but now resides in Hernando County. Her husband, a member of the Air Force, is in Iraq.
Cory Jefferies of Tampa lost his license after two trips on the Selmon expressway, one each on April 25 and 27.
Jefferies moved to a new home after the violations occurred and said he didn't know about the unpaid tolls until months later when he was pulled over by a police officer and told his license was suspended.
"It was suspended as a result of not paying two $1.75 tolls," Jefferies said. "It's definitely an injustice. I could understand it if it was speeding. That's my fault. But here, I have a SunPass account."
Deficit Disorder
About a year ago, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, which operates most of the state's toll roads, started cracking down after it learned it lost $20 million the year before in unpaid tolls.
The authority started to address the problem by enforcing its service agreements with customers. Just as customers are required to change the batteries in their transponders, they are responsible for keeping their accounts up to date when they change vehicles or move.
A single toll violation can get out of hand if the agency can't contact the motorist or if the violation is allowed to linger.
"Some of it is people moving away,'' said Arena, the Tampa lawyer. "Some of it is they received the notices and just didn't react to them. A lot of people let the notices sit there, and the time period runs, and they don't realize there's a problem until it's too late."
Joanne Hurley, a spokeswoman for Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, couldn't say how much money the authority has recovered since last year's push.
The authority recovered $1.3 million in unpaid tolls in the 2007 fiscal year. The 2008 fiscal year ends June 30.
For each violation that escalates to a $165 fine, the authority gets $25, plus the amount of the toll. The rest, in the form of surcharges, goes to various health and safety programs across the state.
There's a raft of rules SunPass users must follow. Among them: The devices cannot be moved from one vehicle to another unless the second vehicle is listed on the transponder's account. Users also are obligated to notify the agency of any changes that might affect their accounts, such as a change in a car's registration or license plate.
"It's incumbent on these people to keep this information up to date," she said.
The authority has made one change on its end that might help users.
In February, the authority started forwarding the toll collection notices it mails out.
Hurley said the change should help collection process. She defended the authority's efforts to recover unpaid tolls.
"Like any good business, you want to make sure you are collecting all the revenue that is due you," she said.
RULES OF THE TOLL ROAD
•Pay attention to your transponder battery. If the battery is low, the transponder will emit three low tones when you go through a toll booth and its green light will not flash. Those signs also could mean a problem with your account.
•Contact SunPass, 1-888-865-5352, if you get a new license plate, your address changes or the device is being used in a different vehicle.
•If using a prepaid account backed by a credit card, contact SunPass if your bank issues a credit card with a new number.
•If using a transponder in more than one vehicle, make sure the second vehicle is registered with SunPass.
•Mount the SunPass to the windshield, not the dashboard. Go to www.sunpass.com for a list of vehicles and instructions for attaching the devices.
Source: www.sunpass.com>
Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or at rshopes@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( signit4bes ) on May 9, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Give SUNPASS your opinion here:
http://esurvey03.com/fdot/begin.htm
There is a section for comments.
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Posted by ( myway ) on May 9, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I, too, have had problems with my transponder in the past, but I pay attention to it and when it beeped "weird" I immediately called Sunpass. The problem was on their end and while it took them 5 days to fix it, they credited my account every penny that they should have and made sure there were no violations on my account. You have to have some responsibility in monitoring the thing! They have no problem in working with you and fixing a mistake if you take responsibility for your use of it!
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Posted by ( tgarrett ) on May 9, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Just how do people expect sympathy for a low battery when they should be aware of the responsibility to check it even if they elect not to pay attention to the warnings? Duh! Perhaps these are the individuals that should get in line and pay the toll the old fashioned way. That way you don't have to worry about a fine and penalties Maybe some of this group are the same ones that run red lights because enforcement is limited. But now we have the camera technology thing for them.
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Posted by ( DennyPCrane ) on May 9, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I would say it is the sunpas owner who is responsible for ensuring that the unit is operating correctly. How hard can it be to listen for three beeps and notice the green light did not illuminate? The majority of the drivers were probably too busy talking on their cell phones to notice. I could see missing one toll however I cannot see any justification for anyone to continuously going through the tolls and not noticing the battery is low. Sounds like a lame excuse to me. When I lived up north and was a member of the Ma. State Police we had occasional crackdowns on toll absconders at the few booths that were exact change only. About 33 percent of the people going throug the booths made no attempt to pay and found an unmarked State Police vehicle parked on the other side. Sometimes we had 15 or 20 violators lined up at the same time. Some people are just generally dishonest and will try to get away with anything.
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Posted by ( solar ) on May 9, 2008 at 11:38 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I got a letter a few weeks ago saying that I went through a Sun Pass lane wihtout a transponder. I have one, but the battery was low and didn't work, and I had a different tag than what was on my account. Basically all I had to do was call them, and update my account and they charged my account $1.
While I think that the fines are really out of line for the violation, I find it hard to believe that someone could go through all those tool booths and never notice that the Sun Pass didn't beep or notice that the "Thank You" green light didn't come on.
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Posted by ( billy21 ) on May 9, 2008 at 11:50 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
i know that sometimes i go through the sun pass lane and the transponder does not beep. I am going to check my account right now.
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Posted by ( Quagmire ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Since the transponders are mounted on the windshield, shouldn't there just be a small solar panel on the sunpass to keep the battery charged?
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Posted by ( petepuked ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sounds like a tax hike in hiding. Why not require a sunpass in every car and charge for every road we drive on? From gas tax to sunpass, what next?
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Posted by ( gina1108 ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Someone forgot to close the italics HTML. ahahahahaha
Anyway, I am always aware when/if my transponder battery is low. Why is it that some people can figure it out when others can't? Laziness?
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Posted by ( BornSouthern ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I've had people try to tailgate me going thru the toll...I've also been charged for towing a "trailer" because someone rode my a$$ so close thru the toll it registered as me pulling a trailer.
My battery became "low" and I was sent a letter, I changed the battery, paid the outstanding $2 tolls and all is fine. It also states on the Sunpass website when you have unpaid tolls.
So these dumba$$ people claiming "I didn't know" is crap....
They should get fine, ticketed, lose their license etc. It's their responsibility to keep up with the Sunpass, just as their car is their responsibility. If they can't take care of a little white box maybe they shouldn't be driving anyways.
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Posted by ( motorist ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
All these people that are crying make sure that their cell phones and mp3's are charged, TV remotes have new batteries etc. You have no excuse for your negligence.
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Posted by ( mrey ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:31 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I pay my Sunpass monthly and keep up with the batteries ... it's not that hard. I would however like to suggest they make the Transponder with an option for a car adapter.
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Posted by ( robertj1954 ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:40 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Over all the sunpass system has worked fine for me with regards to the transponder working correctly. I did receive a letter once telling me my battery was low. I immediatly got one at Radio Shack where they recommened I go for a replacement.
I do have one beef with Sunpass and that is over on Veterans Toll Booth at Anderson. Why are all of the booths gated and require the motorist to come to a full stop? That defeats the purpose of the sunpass.
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Posted by ( Claylisa ) on May 9, 2008 at 12:44 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
gina1108 it's cos you are perfect!
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Posted by ( gina1108 ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Claylisa, that's very true...But that's not the issue here.
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Posted by ( phil ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
boo hoo boo hoo..all you cry babies!!!..MAN-UP! and pay the man...you are RESPONSIBLE!!!! Hello!!
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Posted by ( krb352 ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Considering the IQ of most americans is close to mild retardation, this is not suprising.
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Posted by ( a1evilboy ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:35 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
What a bunch of pompous hypocrites. Like all we have is spare time to battery test our transponders. The toll road authorities knew there would be loss, but compared to the price of paying actual humans to take tolls, the 20 million lost is actually still a profit. Did anyone think of how many people are out of jobs because of your transponders? Probably not. You're too busy gassing about how irresponsible it is to not hear the beep of the SunPass. Idiots.
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Posted by ( GreenCats ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If you leave the Sun Pass in the car, your batteries will die quicker due to the heat!! Come on people, just check your battery every 3-4 months. I have also had my Sun Pass "misfire" on accasion and all it takes, just like some of you have already said, is a phone call to fix it. Sun Pass sent me a letter when I only owed $1.00 - did this individual get any letters regarding toll violations? Bet she did!
Pay the fines and quit whining, you owe the money.
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Posted by ( Drewski ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:43 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm sorry, I couldn't read the other comments because they were hidden behind all that self-righteousness.
It's not fair to suspend someone's license over a $2.50 debt that is owed to a non-governmental business. Toll roads are supposed to improve transprtation in our community, instead the Florida Turnpike Enterprise is using the toll roads as a debt collection scheme.
The Florida Turnpike ENTERPISE had video of each vehicle, which showed them who to contact. Why not just bill the account that matches the vehicle? Send an alert by mail so the user can fix the error. But why charge such high rates for not complying when the Enterprise could just bill the account in the first place? The answer: $$$.
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Posted by ( specialtimes ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:47 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Like someone said,I bet there cell phone battery never ran dead. That is such a lame excuse, I bet they will be the ones that die in a fire because they didn't know what the beep was for coming from the smoke alarm, which has a LOW BATTERY!!! Anyway to beat the system.
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Posted by ( Major7th ) on May 9, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
The there is the other side of the coin. Maybe somebody at Sunpass should listen when someone, such as myself calls to let them know one of their sensors IS NOT working properly. Instead they remind me how to mount it so that the sensor reads the sunpass. I made this call on a day when I had been from Riverview to Brooksville, and 1 out of 6 sensors didn't had no problem, but when the one did I called, only to be made to feel like I was wasting my breathe. I have called at least 3 times, and I won't waste my time again, go ahead take me to court.
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Posted by ( bigpete ) on May 9, 2008 at 2:09 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WHA WHAAA WHAAAA WHAAAA pay your frkn tolls - and don't taze me bro. Come on people get a life. All of our work trucks have them and once in a while the batteries NEED TO BE CHANGED---
H E L L O !!!!!!!!!!
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Posted by ( AngryKreyon ) on May 9, 2008 at 2:17 p.m.
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Posted by ( AngryKreyon ) on May 9, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Ummmm, when I signed up for the sunpass service, I gave them my license plate number, and everyday I see the sign that tells me I can "pay by Plate" which means they take a picture of my plate as I go through and they bill me that way, well why the heck can't they match the two?!?!?! if they know enough to know it was you going throuh and they can access your account info based on that then what the heck is the reason they don't just match them up and take care of it that way (oh, I guess the state could not rack up all the extra money from fee's and court costs!) it seems to me that if I can use just my license plate to go on the tol roads then they canmatch my plate with my transponder account and make it all work witout me haviing to be hassled.
and for those who can't understand how you could NOT hear the beeps, I ride a motorcycle and with my helmet on and the noise from the tail pipe I can hardly hear myself think, so NO I cannot hear the Beeps! and I could wreck if I took the time to try and look for the little green light while driving my motorcycle. so shut up, your not that smart!
bottom line is there is more than one system for them to collect and if they bothered to make them work together there would not be all the problems that there are!!!!
since my plate is registered with sunpass and I keep my account up to date automaticaly I should never have to worry about even having the sunpass in the car, it should be a given, they see my plate and I get charged, if the sunpass is in the car or not, otherwise what is the sense of "pay by plate" ? and if hey know enough to know that it WAS you going through with a low battery or no Sun pass then can't they take a simple look at the records and say "hey, so and so has a sunpass account!", maybe the battery was just low, let's just charge this account for that toll and send a letter letting them know the battery might be low!!!) seems logical and that must be why they don't do it! beside losing the funding they earn from punishing the public!
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Posted by ( MsDrtMover ) on May 9, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It seems that common sense would tell you that if you go through the tolls you eventually have to replenish your account....right? Well, if you never have to replenish your account, there's a problem--apparently your transponder wouldn't seem to be working. So then you use the brain God gave you and call to see if there's a problem!!!! Jeez....
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Posted by ( LAH510 ) on May 9, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I have had two separate issues with Sunpass in the past year and both times it was due to issues with their equipment and not my transponder. I spent about a month each time trying to resolve the issues with Sunpass. One issue, my account kept dropping to zero so my bank account was replenishing 3 times a week for $30 each with the usage of only about $15 a week in toll. Second issue, transponder would not beep, replaced the batteries, ultimately was told to buy a new transponder. When I did so and the new one didn't work either--then they admitted they were having an equipment malfunction. My advice, pay attention to your sunpass account and your account you charge your replenishment to, and document any correspondence or emails you send and receive from Sunpass. I have and should any violations appear later down the road from a past issue--I have that for backup.
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Posted by ( GreenCats ) on May 9, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Keep in mind that every 4 years you get a new license tag, not just the little sticker to go in the upper right hand corner. Sun Pass can simply bill you account by tag # - if you have not recently gotten a new tag and number - happened to me... Now I should not have this problem for another 4 years.
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Posted by ( Claylisa ) on May 9, 2008 at 3:53 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
OMG, PEOPLE!!!!!
JUST GO BACK TO THROWING CHANGE IN THE DANG BUCKET THEN!!
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Posted by ( jbsteel ) on May 9, 2008 at 5:23 p.m.
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Posted by ( LuckyB ) on May 9, 2008 at 6:18 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I pass through 4 tolls everytime, 6 months ago I was not charged for 1 of the tolls. I did not receive any notification until April. January I added another pass to my account so that my second car would have its own. I verified my information on both accounts everything was fine. April I received the fine. Of course I'm going to court. If there was a problem with my pass I should have been fined for four tolls not one. Who fault is it then. Good battery, it charged the other three tolls, same car, same tag, no change of information, and this is my fault?
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Posted by ( Quagmire ) on May 9, 2008 at 7:28 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Claylisa....SHE SHOOTS....................SHE SCOOOORRRES
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Posted by ( Bulldog ) on May 9, 2008 at 9:16 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
My SunPass transponder pooped out a few months ago. Changing the battery did not work. So I had to shell out another $25 for an identical transponder and register it to my SunPass account. The remaining balance on the bad unit got transferred to the new unit. Now even the new unit does not always beep or otherwise indicate my toll was collected from the transponder. Moral of the story: SunPass should contract with more reliable manufacturers of transponders. Now I'm stuck with over $100 in unusable prepaid tolls as I refuse to buy a 3rd piece of crap transponder. I will pay the extra 25 cents for a real person to take my real money. It's worth the extra 5 seconds at the toll booth than the hours I have spend on the SunPass web site and their customer service reps trying to figure out what the heck is wrong.
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Posted by ( suemccartin ) on May 12, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm sure the sunpass are made in china just like the majority of electronic gadgets these days. I for one don't see how you can be spanked for a weak/bad battery when there is no battery indicator on the unit. These things can be set off by spurious electronic interference; thus killing the battery prematurely. Yes, it's the owner's responsibility to keep the tags accurate on the account, yes it's also the owner's responsibility to keep a good credit card on file with them (but you may forget if your card gets stolen and you have to change everything, you should have some wiggle room for that one). They get your email address when you set up the account, why can't they send you an email if your tag goes through a toll post and the transponder doesn't work? They could do that easily, they could also send you an email for other reasons too (like unpaid fines etc). Yes folks move away and forget about it but most don't change their email address at least not right away, and, if they use a web portal like hotmail they may not ever change it at all (and many, many cell phone services like tmobile provide methods of sending sms text messages or even regular emails to folks cell phones) there's no excuse not to notify the customer of a problem! This can all be programmed into a computer so a human doesn't have to do it manually--it can be done if they want to! If they really wanted to provide customer service they would, they don't because of the incentive of that cut of the fines.....of course they don't want to collect 1.75 when they can collect 65 or more and don't give me any bs that it goes to charity ect., you know very well it goes in the company coffers not to some charity. We come up with this wonderfuler service and then like everything else down here in this dumb state the idiots running it are not watched or held accountable for the way they run the business.
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