Illinois Tollway Authority Worse than the Mafia
Posted: Monday, October 01, 2007
by Mike Fak
http://mikefak.com
The Chicago Sun Times, in my opinion the finest newspaper in the country, filed an interesting story about Illinois Tollway scofflaws.
The report details how drivers who fail to pay tolls are finally getting pressured to pay their fees, fines and late charges but that is only part of the story. Let me set the table for all you folks who have not had the good fortune of having had any experiences on the Illinois Tollway System.
In an effort to speed up the toll paying process, an open road toll system has been created whereby the four left lanes are set up for drive through toll fees being triggered electronically.
What happens is the drivers purchase a box that is fastened to their windshield and then as they drive through the electronic lanes, their toll is automatically deducted from their account. When their account gets low, they are automatically recharged from either a debit or credit card on file with the tollway authority.
Now to be certain the electronic toll paying does speed the process up as the opportunity to zoom through a toll booth at 65 miles an hour does beat having to get in line to hand a human a buck but there are severe drawbacks to the system that the computer dweebs never considered.
First off is that the pay-in-person toll booths are to the far right of the roads and not everyone is bold enough to be able to slip three, four or even five lanes of heavy traffic to get over into the far right lane where the humans are waiting to take your dollar. Often times, someone unfamiliar with the system is forced by traffic to stay in the electronic lanes and thus a picture of the offender’s license plate is taken as they are forced to speed through the toll point. There is no where to stop. There is no where to throw a dollar out the window. A motorist is simply forced to break the law. This is where the story can get ugly.
The Sun Times mentioned one scofflaw who decided over the course of two years to skip paying tolls and just run through the electronic lanes to the tune of over $ 80,000 in fines and fees owed the Tollway Authority. Now that is a lot of money at a buck a throw until one reads in the report that the scofflaw actually ran the booths just over a thousand times. Yes, someone who should have paid $1100. in tolls now is being sent a bill for $80,000 dollars. It seems the Illinois Tollway chieftains have a system of fees and late charges that would make Benny, the corner loan shark blush with shame The report goes on to state that Illinois in effect is charging $70. in late fees for every dollar owed them and then fees are tacked on to fees until the amount goes past all reason..
Now I can tell you from personal experience as one who was once trapped in the electronic lanes that I was forced to break the law four times as bumper to bumper traffic didn’t allow me to move over to the pay now lane. A few months later, I received a notice that I owed $64. to the state. The statement showed I had a four dollar toll fee owed plus a $60. dollar late fee added. I was a little short on money at the moment so I paid the state and told Benny to just roll my interest on what I owed him since his rates were so much better than Illinois’ 1500% annual percentage rate.
Now to be sure, people who enjoy breaking the law and feel compelled to act like they don’t have to pay their fair share need to have the hammer come down on them but this is ridiculous. In fact the rates charged by the Toll Authority actually are higher than those allowed by the states usury laws yet no one is challenging the authority for running an illegal juice loan system.
One quote in the Sun Times had a woman stating the Illinois Tollway was as bad as the Mafia. I asked Benny about that. He said his bosses wouldn’t have the nerve to charge the interest the State of Illinois does. It seems even the mafia has some personal pride. Not so it seems with the Illinois Tollway Authority.
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More commentsMe too! I continue to get violations once a month from 3-4 years ago. Each time I get a violation notice I pay and ask if there are any more and they tell me no. Then each month I get hit for another undiscovered toll from 3 years ago. If I try to dispute it becuase they just told me there were no more, they tell me they will just suspend my license if I don't pay. It's extortion!
We are the people of illinois, and We think the tollway system is not justified. Illinois tollway must remove all of its tolls, re-imburse all of the honest hardworking citizens for the money they had paid to the tollway system, then beg for our forgiveness. We the people control how our government works. Therefore we need to organize a mass and demonstrate the need for the removal of the toll way system. A class action.
Complaints or reports of waste, inefficiencies, fraud, corruption, mismanagement, and misconduct may be reported to the OIG through the Illinois Tollway OIG Hotline at 1-866-7TOLL-IG or 1-866-786-5544 or delivered to the following address:Office of the Inspector GeneralIllinois Tollway2700 Ogden AvenueDowners Grove, Illinois 60515(630) 241-6800 ext. 1300(866) 786-5544 (Hotline Number)
Hi all! Here is my situation: I do not live in IL, but I generously loaned my car to someone who did. She ran tons of tolls while she had it and now I am being contacted by an agency saying that I owe over $10,000. Because the car is registered under my name, I am to assume full responsibility! The person who was driving my car at the time is willing to do whatever possible to get this off of my record/out of my name, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone that can tell me how to do that. Any of your advice is greatly appreciated!!I recommend you contact the Illinois Attorney General's office..Or use a lawyer. Good luck
This is 100% legalized extortion. I drove through 4 tolls because I didn't have any coins and all the tolls I went through only had unmanned coin operated stations. I meant to go home and pay the whopping $4 in tolls online, but somehow it slipped my mind. I received a letter in the mail 2 weeks later which assessed enough fees to make that $4 go up to $190. 2 weeks after receiving the letter that I now owed $190, I received another letter stating if the fines were not paid within 6 days that it would go from $190 to $640 and that they also would push to have my license suspended.When I went to pay the fines, they also tried to use some social hacking tricks to get more personal information about me. They asked me to verify my phone number and other personal information that they didn't have, but would if I was stupid enough to assume they did already. I told the lady on the phone that I will not give them anything except my name and the citation number.I've never dealt with a more scandalous system in my life.
dont worry terrorists are going to walk in the the center in woodidge and open up on everyone and burn all the bodies, so just wait sit back and enjoy the show on cnn...again.
Yeah, I had a HUGE issue with the IL tollway system a couple years ago! I had the same situation happen to me, where I didn't have an iPass and was forced to go through the "open tollway." I ended up receiving a statement in the mail that said I owed a ton of fees and they tacked on late fees for not paying the initial fee on time! The problem was, I didn't even receive the notice until after it was already late! I kept getting more notices AFTER the due date and the late fees were compounded.I finally received a notice that said they were going to revoke my license if I didn't pay the fees, and only in THAT notice was there any additional contact information with an address to dispute it. So, I went there in person and brought my notices with me, which were postmarked AFTER the due date.The first lady I spoke to said she could bring it back down to the initial fee, but I was not allowed to just pay the amount of the toll. I didn't have the money at the time, so I asked to speak with the manager. He let me break the fee into two different payments, and I still ended up paying $250 for only about $6.00 of fees!I eventually got them off my back, but I am FURIOUS with the whole IL toll system. It really IS worse than the mafia!
I was just charged 142 dollars for going thru a tollway with my ipass but the ipass didn't register and when they said they sent me letters to my home about this - they didnt or I didn't get the letters - so they charged me - when I contacted them that I had an ipass they didn't care and they said they will suspend my license and plates if I didnt give them the 142 dollars. I told them again that I had and have a ipass and it showed that I had it during the time of the incident - they didnt care and still forced me to pay or else. This is criminal and bullying people coercion all the way. Someone needs to take them to court and sue them for all the illegal acts they perform and bullying people like they have been. I should not have been charged for the tolls fines - i had an ipass but they didn't care and still forced me to pay the fines and all.
This Illinois tollway is a joke. I recently passed through an ipass 25 times over 2 months while my fiance was pregnant because that was the quickest route to the hospital. Me being me thought oh I'll Pay it later. Well I forgot and received a bill in the mail for 580.00.. So for 25 .80 tolls that equate to 20 dollars im paying almost 600?? This is nothing but extortion. I could understand a little late fee but that much?? Than if I don't pay their highly inflated tolls within a month my license gets suspended and than how am I suppose to be any help to the economy or pay my 'fees' for a toll road I paid for outta my taxes.. This state is a joke.
yup...totally got victumized today by illinois tolls...paid the bastards 520.00bucks in fines over 10.00worth of tolls...and i pay taxes...sigh....its an economic crisis and now i can't pay my morgage this month...the bank is taking my house...and now i'm not payin taxes cuz i don't gotta job...hows that workin out for ya ole uncle sam? and now since all this b.s. i'm STILL going to use the tollway!! i'm goin to invest in a ghost plate to i never pay a toll again...lol how do u like dem apples??!?!
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