More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2015-...ayment-change/

Members read this and think, whose making the money.

I have used this crossing late at night, and my god. When you pay the money, sometimes, the coins go through and don't register. Therefore you are stuck.

In reality, if you are crossing a major river then you have no choice, but if you are on the M25 you are stuffed.

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

You were never stuck or stuffed, I go over the bridge most nights and very rarely had to stop at an unmanned booth when they were there and if you really don't like it that much then A2 blackwall tunnel isn't a million miles away, in fact in some cases it's a better option than the bridge

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

For one thing, there are no booths or coin machines any more. It's all done online.

For another, you aren't stuck at all. Even if you are on the M25, there is nothing stopping you (apart from the extra journey time/distance) using one of the other bridges or tunnels crossing the Thames. After all there are quite a few and most are free. Well, they are free at the point of use, they are paid for by other means (such as tax).

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

Dartford crossing has been booth free for over a year.. We just have an account and pay it that way and you don't need to worry about remembering to pay before midnight the next day. Also it works out as 1/3rd cheaper.

If you cross and you don't pay then yes you will get fined and deservedly so

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

The Dartford Crossing has also been completely free between the hours of 10pm - 6.00am since 2008 IIRC.

The thing which bothers me more is that whereas, when the booths were in operation, foreign drivers had no choice but to pay the tolls, now a great many aren't and we all know that chasing up those fines is likely to be a pointless exercise.

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

How do you work out its cheaper? It's at least one pound more expensive and if you go one was only its three pounds more expensive. Not that I pay cash I use a dart tag so could have misread the new pricing structure

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

So - another great thread by the OP where *his facts* are completely incorrect?

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

For a car it's £2.50 a crossing, if you pre-pay on the account it's £1.67 a crossing.. Only worth while if you cross more than 4 times a year as it's a minimum of £10. Do they still use dart-tag as they have full ANPR for determining crossing charges?

Also with an account you can add more than one vehicle so you could share the account with other family members as long as you add the VRM before the crossing.

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

It is £2.50 a crossing but you have to buy a return even if your going one way IIRC so it's a fiver. I don't know how we cross tbh, my firm sorts it all out, I just assumed they did away with the actual tag but kept the DART system in place, lets hope so anyway 'coz I'll account for quite a few of those fines if they just left it :shocked:

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

I would like to make a point here. The last time l went over the Dartford Bridge, was about 15 years ago.

I just making a point about the fines

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

So where you said that you then just said you haven't actually used the crossing in over 15 years!!! Who is stuck, not you that is for sure! did you cycle across on your bike??

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

we drive across it on a regular basis no problems at all when my balance hits the limit that I have pre-set it tops up my account I have a readout emailed to me once a month

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

You don't have to buy a return, it charges per crossing

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

Didn't know that, but then I don't drive and the last time I used the Dartford crossing was a few years back. Thanks..

That's the problem with relying on technology. It's appears cheaper as you don't have to pay staff, but it has problems. One, you've already highlighted and another is fake plates.. A friend of mine had to go to great lengths to prove that neither he nor his car were in various parts of North London a few years back when someone got hold of a set of fake plates with his car's registration on and kept breaking various road rules. A person would have noticed that the car breaking the rules was not a red BMW 5 series. I don't think ANPR or speed cameras can.

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

In any event, whether the plates were fake or not, so far as the crossing is concerned, the toll still had to be paid. Now the innocent driver whose plates have been cloned gets targeted with the fine for non payment of the toll along with the speeding and parking tickets.

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

I realise that. I also realise that the booth operators would probably not have had access to the DVLA database so would be unable to look it up. I just included that as an example of technology not necessarily being better than humans. In the case of the Dartford Crossing, as you say, anyone with a car not registered in this country would have to pay at the booth.

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

That's interesting, sure we got a leaflet through which said you had to get a return, perhaps they changed their minds

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

Sorry Arthur......you was saying - and I QUOTE:

Re: More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change
 

you pay as you use it, you only have to pay for the return journey
if you are going back the way you came.
which is not necessarily the case
:xmas: