Californians Tell me - Its this a scam??

[Booberdawg]

Recently I was on vacation and rented a car for a weekend in California. I just got a notice today from the car rental, Advantage Rental Car, of a toll citation issued against the car whil I had it.

The toll was for $3 for "Catalina View North Lane 12" which I think was on my way back from San Luis Capastrano, and there is now a $35 charge on top of it. There was a checkpoint on the way there but I was not ASKED to pay a toll.

That's all I can think of that this toll could be for. I don't recall being charged a toll anywhere nor was I issued a charge for anywhere that I know of. I just have a sneaky suspician this charge is a crock of shit.

[giantrobot_2000]

1. Ha ha!

The camera got your plates after you weren't "asked" to pay the toll. The $35 is a fine for the violation. Slow down and pay the toll next time. You probably went through the FastTrack lane without realizing it.

[Booberdawg]

3. But there was no place to pay a toll??

:shrug:

[xray s]

2. Did you go through a electronic toll lane?

We have those in Illinois. They take a picture of your plate if you do not have the transponder to pay the toll.

I could understand how people from out of state could get in the wrong lane during the rush hour and blow through the toll without paying by mistake.

[Booberdawg]

4. I don't know if I did or not

And I'm just assuming the location since there was a checkpoint on the way to San Luis Capastrano, but nobody was paying a toll - people were getting waived through. They were checking for illegal immigrant smuggling.

[haele]

5. If you were on Highway 73 ...

The "shortcut" toll highway between San Juan Capistrano and Huntington Beach, it's easy to get sucked into the FastTrac lane if you aren't familiar with Californa toll roads. Especially since there's a nasty tendancy of the highway engineers to place signs right on top of on and off ramps, as well as just before the toll stops so that unless you are familiar with what is going on, you'll generally be in the wrong lane.
There is one toll station on Highway 73, which looks like a border checkpoint, and if you're in the wrong lanes - the pre-paid lanes that some unknowing driver blowing through in "the fast lane" would tend to take - you won't be stopped to pay the $2 toll. Hmmm, if you say it's $3, looks like they've raised their rate.

There's also several toll lanes on various other Orange County freeways that double as multi-occupant only bypass lanes that aren't seperated from the rest of the freeway; if you didn't know it, were driving as a single occupant and traffic was heavy, you might have been tempted to scoot into one of those lanes for a few miles thinking to save time, and been caught by the camera and transponder monitor.

I'm sorry, but I don't think they'll accept "visitor in ignorance of the law" as an excuse - and $38 is actually cheap compared to the $250 they could have charged depending on how long and where they tracked you.

Haele

[Booberdawg]

6. WellI'll be damned. I sure didn't see anything

I just thought the car rental was gouging me for another fee.

The charge goes up to $73 after the 16th so I guess I'd better just pay it. There is a way to pay it online so I'll just do that.

Thanks

[TreasonousBastard]

12. I saw that in Massachusetts...

where there were a few fast pay lanes you can get sucked into if you aren't watching.

And one "invisible" exit I did get sucked into.

My EZ-Pass works on the MassPike, too, but it is a little disconcerting to run into that after New York and New Jersey insisting everyone crawl through the toll booths even when paying electronically.

[Booberdawg]

14. That just seems like a racket to me - paying extra to get in the

fast lane??? What a rip off!

[TreasonousBastard]

15. Tolls are the racket...

after that, it's just a matter of how you pay them.

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Well, Boob, perhaps

they were collecting funds in order to build that new California City "San Luis Capistrano."

Taz<----Ducking

[Booberdawg]

8. *snarf*

Did I get the name wrong? :D

[Le Taz Hot]

9. <grin>

San Juan Capistrano. (Don't ya just hate a smart ass?)

[Booberdawg]

10. Okay. Being a smart ass myself,

I consider a little payback once in a while just a small cost of doing business. ;)

What do us Iowegians know anyway ;)

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. the Comedian Franklin Ajaye (sp?) has a great line about driving in SoCal

"The cops are TOUGH in LA. The other day i got a ticket for being a black guy in a sunny day! (He honestly said that in a stand up routine a few years back! But he didnt say "Black guy")

Boober...there is a budget crisis in this state. My stepson got a ticket at his high school last february for...ready? Littering. He was messing around with his buddies and (He says) threw a wadded up piece of paper at one of them. As he was leaning over and about to
pick it up, the L.A. County Sheriff Deputy on duty on the campus put his hand on his shoulder and says "Too late for that" We had to go to a hearing on this RIDICULOUS CHARGE and guess how much the fine was?

Go ahead....guess....i'll wait....

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!
for throwing a piece of paper at his buddy.
Sorry to all the California natives but...i HATE this fucking state.

[Booberdawg]

13. WOW! I guess I was lucky to get by with my measly fine then.

Now I wonder .... just where the hell I was supposed to pay this toll anyway if I HAD known about it at the time??

Oh, I'm going to pay it and not bother contesting it, but it just seems like a crock of shit to me.