Currently, if you didn’t feel like paying tolls on Maryland highways, you don’t have to. Just drive through the E-Z Pass lane without a transponder. Yeah, you’ll be sent a fine in the mail, but it’s a paper tiger. You’re vehicle’s registration won’t be suspended, and your toll debt will not be figured into your credit score.
But the Golden Age of Toll Evasion could soon end. The General Assembly is considering a bill that would hit freeloaders with a $50 citation and eventual suspension of their registration.
Del. Barbara Frush thinks the bill will be an “easy sell,” despite toll evaders having cheated Maryland out of a mere four-tenths of one percent of toll revenue accrued over the past five years. AAA Mid-Atlantic also supports remedying the virtual non-issue.
