Kids & Family

Report: Maryland Does Little to Chase Down Toll Road Cheaters

Nearly 650,000 vehicle owners owe about $6.7 million in unpaid tolls dating back five years, The Washington Post reported.

What's to stop Maryland drivers from blowing through an E-ZPass toll lane without a transponder? Apparently not much of anything.

Thousands of vehicles are repeatedly using E-ZPass lanes without an ­E-ZPass transponder, and the state is doing little to collect the millions of dollars in unpaid tolls, The Washington Post reported.

In total, nearly 650,000 vehicle owners owe about $6.7 million in unpaid tolls dating back five years, the Maryland Transportation authority told The Washington Post.

Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some of the biggest offenders are rental car companies, The Post reported. One company owes the state nearly $209,000 in unpaid tolls and penalties despite having received nearly 7,000 letters over four years and eight others owe between $80,000 and $200,000.

In addition, about 15,000 single vehicle owners owe more than $500 each.

Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the report, the MTA could suspend a vehicle's registration for failure to pay, but the punishment hasn't been doled out in more than two years.

"That’s because the authority hasn’t been hitting violators with a $50 citation, which it has to do by law if it wants the MVA to suspend registrations," according to The Washington Post.


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