More than a million drivers fined after Dartford Bridge payment change

[Arthurgray50@blu]

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.

[TheDaddy]

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

[Stuart]

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).

[Kymmy]

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

[Osem]

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.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

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

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

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

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

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

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.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

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.

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

[Arthurgray50@blu]

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

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

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.

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??

[jodash]

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

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

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

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

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Osem

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

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..

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.

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.

[Osem]

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.