The folks who run the E-470 toll road have to wield against the people who don’t pay their tolls — they’ll hold up your vehicle registration renewal.
Yes, the people who just a few years ago were whacking drivers with bills — for which some drivers earnestly claimed they got no initial notice — now can ask the state to not renew your registration.
Skeptical about whether this is a good idea? We join you.
Yet, the power to do so was spelled out in a that created ways to penalize people who did not pay tolls.
To be clear, people should pay their tolls. It’s that simple, right? Really, it’s not. Or it became less clear .
That’s when the authority, a political subdivision of Colorado, began tolling via transponder and by photographing license plates and sending bills to toll road users.
At that time, people were assessed a $70 penalty fee and a $7 administrative feel for each overdue toll transaction.
The Post wrote several stories about people who had incurred all sorts of penalties though they said they did everything right — including notifying the state Division of Motor Vehicles of changes in their addresses.
of Westminster was one of them. She incurred $10 in tolls during two days in August 2009 and did not receive a bill. In July 2010, she received a collection notice for $190.
She was told the bill was sent to her old address in Durango, even though she had registered her vehicle in October 2008, noting her new address in Westminster.
It’s true that the E-470 tolling authority has changed its billing practices allowing more time to pay bills, and it has reduced the penalties and fees associated with unpaid tolls. That should help reduce the number of outrageously high bills.
And it is also true that before anyone’s vehicle registration renewal is held up, the unpaid toll bill claim will have had to go through an administrative law judge.
We hope that will ensure that people who face a hold on their vehicle registration will have had adequate notice of that impending penalty.
The E-470 toll authority needs to collect tolls; we get that. But they also have a responsibility to do so in a way that is fair to users. We hope they’ve got it right this time.
