Dartford Toll Charge.

[jonty14]

I paid for this but still got a 100 pound fine. Good job I kept the receipt. The reason they gave me was that my numberplate was not the right format. It is a German plate. For a bridge/tunnel near Dover it should be able to recognise foreign numberplates. Also how many foreign drivers turn up not realising you have to pay online. There is no option to buy the toll there on site. Also not everyone has Internet access. Not a good system. Next time I visit family I will go clockwise on the M25. Anyone else caught out with Dartford crossing?

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

That is an odd crossing if online payments are needed.
How can they justify a fine even for people who didn't pay when there's no toll?
That's like being fined for getting on a train with no ticket when there's nowhere to buy one!

 

[scott118]

avoid Dartford and use the Blackwell tunnel. That's free...

As i understood it, ANPR can't read foreign plates, hence most people's displeasure.

 

[AM9]

avoid Dartford and use the Blackwell tunnel. That's free...

As i understood it, ANPR can't read foreign plates, hence most people's displeasure.

If the cameras couldn't read the German numberplate then how could they have sent notice of a fine?

 

[telstarbox]

The image is still retained and is readable by a human, it's just not decoded automatically.

 

[John Webb]

That is an odd crossing if online payments are needed.
How can they justify a fine even for people who didn't pay when there's no toll?
That's like being fined for getting on a train with no ticket when there's nowhere to buy one!

There is a toll for the Dartford crossing, but to speed up traffic they've taken the toll booths out - hence the ANPR and the 24 hours to pay via Internet or other means.

By the way, there is a free crossing nearer the Dartford crossing than the Blackwell Tunnel - it's the Woolwich Free Ferry, but the shorter journey is probably off-set by the need to wait in the queue to catch the next boat! On the other hand it makes a change and gives a break from driving.

John Webb (ex-Woolwich resident)

 

[Johnuk123]

There is a toll for the Dartford crossing, but to speed up traffic they've taken the toll booths out - hence the ANPR and the 24 hours to pay via Internet or other means.

By the way, there is a free crossing nearer the Dartford crossing than the Blackwell Tunnel - it's the Woolwich Free Ferry, but the shorter journey is probably off-set by the need to wait in the queue to catch the next boat! On the other hand it makes a change and gives a break from driving.

John Webb (ex-Woolwich resident)

Not much use to drivers for the 10 hrs a day it doesn't sail though.

 

[Bald Rick]

I paid for this but still got a 100 pound fine. Good job I kept the receipt. The reason they gave me was that my numberplate was not the right format. It is a German plate. For a bridge/tunnel near Dover it should be able to recognise foreign numberplates. Also how many foreign drivers turn up not realising you have to pay online. There is no option to buy the toll there on site. Also not everyone has Internet access. Not a good system. Next time I visit family I will go clockwise on the M25. Anyone else caught out with Dartford crossing?

I should imagine the signs for several miles on the approach would probably be a good indicator of the need to pay. Exactly the same principle as the London congestion charge.

Out of interest, if you have German plates (presumably registered to an address in Germany) how did they find you?

I only ask as I can see this method being rapidly rolled out to other tolled crossings and routes, and it won't be long before it appears on busy roads at peak times. Pretty much the whole trunk road network is already covered ANPR.

But foreign reg vehicles would be quite a loophole, so interesting to see it has been covered.

 

[Kite159]

If you have a car registered in Germany, I'm surprised they could be bothered to ask the German version of the DVLA for the keeper details, and could be bothered actually issuing a fine in the knowledge that it probably won't get paid and there won't be a lot they can do about it.

 

[scott118]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23334597

The Dartford Crossing is predicted to lose about £6m a year in unpaid tolls once a new charging system is in place, the Highways Agency has said.
Its figure is significantly lower than the £21m estimated by BBC South East.
Barriers will be removed from October 2014 and drivers will be recorded via number-plate recognition cameras and urged to pay before they travel.
A Highways Agency spokesman said it would use penalty and recovery processes to recover charges owed.
It has estimated that the crossing will have a 93% compliance rate, meaning 7% of drivers would not pay the charges.
'Small percentage'
BBC South East Business Correspondent Mark Norman had said if it was assumed they were all foreign-plated HGV vehicles, then more than 3.5 million vehicles would escape paying, which at £6 per HGV would add up to £21m a year.
However, the agency later told BBC South East the figure attributed to non-compliant users was not one that it recognised.
"Around 2% of all crossings are estimated to be foreign (non-UK) lorries and only a small percentage of these are anticipated to be non-compliant," it said.
"We recognise that we have to be realistic about deliberate evasion, since free-flow charging or tolling schemes will not be evasion free.
"We estimate that around £6m per annum would be attributed to non-compliant drivers (UK and non-UK) who do not pay the road user charge."
Penalty charge
The new "free flow" toll system will allow motorists to use the Dartford Crossing without having to stop at barriers to hand over payment.
Road users will be able to pay through a variety of methods including telephone, text message, online, and at retail outlets.
Motorists will have up until midnight on the following day to pay the standard charge.
The penalty charge for non-payment will be £70, with a reduced rate of £35 if paid within 14 days.
If the penalty is not paid within 28 days it would increase to £105.
The Dartford to Thurrock crossing, which consists of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and two tunnels, is used by 140,000 vehicles a day.

 

[John Webb]

Not much use to drivers for the 10 hrs a day it doesn't sail though.

I did wonder about putting "speed up traffic" in quotes as I have in this sentence as I'm sure it has done no such thing, as you seem to indicate! I wonder how much more it costs them to run the ANPR system compared to the toll booths; I suspect they were trying to save wages on manning the booths 24/seven.