Warning
to motorists: Don't speed in the toll lanes. E-Z Pass is watching.
Several states, including New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania, say they
monitor speeds through the fast pass toll lanes and will suspend your
E-Z Pass for multiple speeding violations.
In all, five of the 15 E-Z Pass states have some kind of rules on the
books for breaking the speed limit in the convenience lanes.
"You can lose your E-Z Pass privileges if you speed through E-Z Pass
lanes," says Dan Weiller, director of communications for the New York
State Thruway Authority. "You get a couple of warnings. We don't have
the power to give a ticket, but we do have to power to revoke your E-Z
Pass, which we will."
He and tolling officials in several other states say the issue is the
safety of human toll collectors. "At most toll barriers, we have a mix
of E-Z Pass lanes and standard toll lanes," Weiller says.
On Maryland toll roads, drivers' speed is monitored in the free-flowing
toll lanes, which have a 30 mph speed limit, says Becky Freeberger, a
spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority. "If we clock you
at 12 mph more than that, we will send you a warning, saying slow
down," she says. "It's not a ticket." If a driver gets a second such
notice within six months, their E-Z Pass account can be suspended for
up to 60 days.
[Full]
Room 101
ReplyDeleteCheer up, we won't all fit in there.
(What? Well, yeah, reckon they could have as many Room 101s as they wanted … especially if they built 'em on-line.)
Not to worry, Rodger.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many of US will be "hanging alone".
We are and are IN good company.
Not to be pro-tyranny, but there are workers in the other booths, and they do pass through the lanes. Also, speeding can lead to problems when you try to merge out the other side, from 5-6 lanes into 2. Haven't personally seen accidents, but a few near-misses.
ReplyDeleteLinda F, I agree there may be that problem, and I don't discount it. However, police state measures are always introduced as being benevolent. The state will take our freedom, and we will thank them every incremental step. Especially true of late.
ReplyDeleteASIDE:
Are we becoming a police state? Five things that have civil liberties advocates nervous
In Pennsylvania most EZ Pass toll booths have radar and and a sign that tells you how fast you're going through them. The speed limit is 5 mph which is ignored by absolutely everybody, even cops and PennDOT vehicles. Most go 20 or 30 but some go even faster. 5MPH is silly but it's really frikkin' dangerous to go much more than 15. Frankly, I'm surprised they _haven't_ been sending people tickets for screaming through toll booths. It's a well-marked legal speed limit and if speed cams are legal they would have every right to do so. They could generate thousands a day at every booth.
ReplyDeleteI do not see this as a Big Brother thing, not nearly so much as the fact that they DO record every time you get on and off and the time. Those records have been used in criminal and civil cases.
It has been discussed to use math to send people tickets simply by knowing the minimum time it takes to get from one booth to another going the speed limit. Any less and you did in fact speed, there's no defense. It's airtight and requires no new hardware, only a few lines of code. They haven't done it because they know if they did 90% of EZ-Pass users would cancel instantly. The data they generate is too valuable for non-evil reasons like real time monitoring of traffic flow.
Also every now and then someone suggests making use of EZ-Pass mandatory to use any tool roads and eliminate cash toll completely. That goes over like a lead balloon because some people absolutely refuse to use it on privacy grounds and even people that do still want the option of not. That won't happen anytime soon, everyone but the worst statists hate the idea. But the fact that it is proposed at all means someone thinks it's a good idea and they must be watched.
You Marylanders- drive around the Baltimore beltway with a radar detector some time and notice it goes off at most underpasses. When it does, look for a box about a foot square on the bridge beams over the road facing traffic. That's radar monitoring the overall traffic speed. It can't pick out individual cars. Yet.
AWM
Most of those same people that object to EZ-Pass for privacy reasons carry cellphones that can be tracked everywhere and even better. Frankly, I don't mind either. Should I ever feel the need I can hide my phone and EZ-Pass on a truck (or better, a vehicle similar to mine if one is available) before it gets on the turnpike and go the other way.
ReplyDeleteAWM
Todays' Trivia...
ReplyDeleteClear sports-board tape placed over an auto tag is transparent but, curiously, defeats traffic cameras.