Driver Wins Case, Won't Pay $10,000 in Fees for $11.70 Bill: Reports

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A Fairfax County judge said this week that a company collecting tolls and administrative fees for Northern Virginia’s 495 express lanes can’t collect because they waited to long to take a driver to court, according to a report by WTOP.

The landmark case could help other drivers in similar situations, some area defense lawyers are saying.

The driver’s attorney in the case argued that toll-operator Transurban had one year to bring Fredericksburg driver Toni Cooley to court. The company argued they had two years; her attorney argued her case this week and Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Dennis J. Smith agreed and dropped the cases, saying the statute of limitations had expired before the company charged with collecting tolls brought her to court..

Cooley was flagged for not paying the tolls in November 2012, after she realized her transponder in her car wasn’t working. After she realized she hadn’t paid, she came up with the $11.70 in February 2013, but by then Transurban had hit her with $300 in “administrative fees.”

The amount grew even larger by December, when Transurban “filed actions against Cooley totaling more than $2,200, including administrative fees and $1,800 in civil penalties for non-payment, according to court records,” The Washington Post reported.

In all, Cooley ended up with fines and fees in excess of $10,000.

Virginia law allows Transurban to assess civil penalties from $50 to $1,000 for unpaid tolls, the Post reports.

Have you ever gotten a ticket or been hit with fees after traveling the 495 express lanes?

PHOTO: 495 Express lanes photo courtesy of expresslanes.com