Posted on 03/06/2011 3:35:10 AM PST by rawhide
Meet Joel Chandler,who just paid his $1.00 toll on the Polk Parkway with a $100 bill,he is not allowed to leave unless he provides personal info to the toll taker.The toll taker tells Chandler this is what happens when they get large bills.
Chandler says to the toll taker,"So I'm being detained?"She says yes sir.
It is a policy the Florida Turnpike authority instituted for people who paid with $20,$50 or$100 bills. After it happened once,Chandler kept testing the system and taped his encounters as he went through the toll booths.
One time a toll taker told him, she wouldn't give him his change unless he gave her the information. He asked why he was being detained but never got an answer.
When Chandler called and e-mailed the Florida Department of Transportation to complain about the policy, he was told there is no policy to detain people who give large bills.
The practice continued at toll booth after toll booth and, if someone refused to provide the information, they were threatened with arrest. One toll taker told Chandler's brother Robert, "I could call FHP. Would you like me to do that, sir?" Robert Chandler asked why she would call the Florida Highway Patrol when he was being illegally detained and the toll taker said he could come up with another form of tender.
Chandler continued to complain and on July 21st at 7:19 p.m., he received an email from the assistant General Counsel of FDOT saying essentially the department didn't know what he was talking about and they don't have sufficient information to investigate. However, earlier that same day, there were a flurry of e-mails going back and forth in the department saying shut the program down, temporarily suspend it and who should call Chandler and what should they say.
(Excerpt) Read more at wtsp.com ...
I’ve never had to use a bill larger than a $50. Used twenties plenty of times and never been asked anything.
The only complaint I have when you do use larger bills is that expect your change to be all ones.
After using a fifty you kinda feel like it’s time to go to a strip club.
Sounds like you and I like ATT at about the same level!
I had to send them a check once. I was heading ffrom MD to Michigan and forgot to load up with cash. (It was a frequent trip and had become pretty routine) The PA EZ Pass wasn’t working. They actually blamed it on the rain.
Would you say the same thing to someone buying a Big Mac at McDonalds? Or a new 32” television at Best Buy?
The point is that he is purchasing the use of the toll road. There is no requirement to pay it with exact change, any more than the above examples.
Anything else is excusing the violations made by the toll road operators.
Yep, it's out there.
CC
ROTFLOL!
I looked up the fine print on mine (windows phone) a bit ago. It uses the technology to detect any wifi connections nearby.
Liars. Caught red-handed.
I’m guessing this attention seeking moron would call 911 if McDonalds wouldn’t sell him a small coke because he only had a $100 bill.
I’m not familiar with Florida Toll Roads.
Do you pay the toll before you get on the road or before you exit?
Many businesses refuse to take bills larger than $20. If the toll is paid before you “use” the road, they have a right to refuse you service.
That being said, there’s more going on than just not wanting to take large bills.
As for sunpass...a lot of folks get tickets even when paid up...not a great system for the "convenience" they claim to offer.
I wouldn't say that the policy is right or wrong, but I know that I wouldn't trust a lot of strangers who wanted me to give them 99 dollars out of my pocket in exchange for a hundred dollar bill.
“Once they’ve accomplished that, and everyone has EZPass...”
In Montgomery County, MD they have just opened the Inter-County Connector, which will be an EZPass toll road. Mr. A and I have no experience with this kind of thing, so I am hoping someone can answer a couple questions.
Suppose I was a daily commuter on the ICC, but I was disinclined to purchase an EZPass. Would the state then take a picture of my license plate, twice a day as I commuted to and fro, and then send me two bills? Even if they saved up my bills and mailed them out on a weekly basis, wouldn’t that be cost-prohibitive in terms of administration, accounting and postage? Is there some way the state can compel you to use the EZPass, perhaps holding up your license renewal if they determine you are a regular ICC user who won’t buy the pass?
Just wondering what would happen! I suppose I could Google it and get the state’s official policy, but I was wondering what could occur in reality and I thought if anyone knew, it would be FREEPers.
Mr. A says you can’t fight the power but I say that maybe you can poke it with a stick a little bit...
I was traveling from point A, to point B. The purpose of my travel was to get from point A, to point B.
Good Germans do as they are told.
More government thuggery. I feel so much safer.
Now if I were running the program, I’d have set the profile to detain anyone that looked liberal. Obama or environmental bumper stickers for example. Hybrids. Peace signs. What fun that would be. See how much they worship government after that.
I think I was behind this jerk or a jerk like him to lazy to have $1 for a toll or just out to prove a point.
Nobody is being “detained”, you just aren’t allowed to go through until you pay and the toll clerk is not permitted to make change for high denominiation bills. What don’t they get about that? Now if you want to make a stink about it, sure you will get detained, for causing a public disturbance!
Think about it. Who in their right minds wants to pay a toll with a large bill UNLESS 1) it is all they have or 2) they are out to prove a point like this jerk.
This lazy jerk’s rights end where he infringes on my rights to timely and efficient passage over public and private roads.
I think I was behind this jerk or a jerk like him to lazy to have $1 for a toll or just out to prove a point.
Nobody is being “detained”, you just aren’t allowed to go through until you pay and the toll clerk is not permitted to make change for high denominiation bills. What don’t they get about that? Now if you want to make a stink about it, sure you will get detained, for causing a public disturbance!
Think about it. Who in their right minds wants to pay a toll with a large bill UNLESS 1) it is all they have or 2) they are out to prove a point like this jerk.
This lazy jerk’s rights end where he infringes on my rights to timely and efficient passage over public and private roads.
Good point. I hadn’t thought of fake $100 bills. Imagine the line up of people waiting to pass as a toll clerk, who would risk losing her job if she took phony bills, did her/his best to determine if the bill was real.
Only Yankees and liberals could think toll roads were a good idea.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.