- MTA Police And Partner Agencies Seize 118 Vehicles During Latest Toll Scofflaw Crackdown
- National Identity Theft Nonprofit Spotlights Spread Of Toll Smishing Scam
- US Highway Work Zone Safety Isn't Improving, According To Contractors Recently Surveyed
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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MTA Police And Partner Agencies Seize 118 Vehicles During Latest Toll Scofflaw Crackdown
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) conducted another toll evasion and “ghost car” enforcement “blitz” at three of its bridges and tunnels between May 18 and May 22. The joint operation with the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement partners focused on unpaid tolls, concealed license plates, unregistered vehicles, suspended licenses and other traffic violations. “The scofflaws [apprehended] had amassed more than $996,000 in unpaid tolls and fees, judgments, and debts. The operations resulted in 15 arrests and 1,203 summonses issued.” Also, police seized a total of 118 vehicles. Over the course of 15 interagency enforcement operations, officers have seized 740 vehicles, arrested 174 people and issued 5,345 summonses.
According to the authority’s news release on the latest operation, “MTA Bridges and Tunnels, through tolls and fees collected, has recovered more than 98% of the tolls owed by recidivist toll scofflaws since the inception of its DMV Registration Suspension Program.” (TRN inserted a link in quoted text.)
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Crime Beat ETC Systems Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York New York City PANYNJ ScofflawsNational Identity Theft Nonprofit Spotlights Spread Of Toll Smishing Scam
WRTV (an Indianapolis ABC affiliate) reports, the Identity Theft Resource Center issued a warning yesterday that the toll road smishing scam is targeting Indiana residents. The RiverLink toll system serving bridges in Louisville, Kentucky, and southern Indiana, has posted a consumer alert on its home page with advice for its customers who receive a bogus text.
The Identity Theft Resource Center is a national nonprofit organization that works with consumers, businesses and government to prevent “identity compromise and crime” and minimize its impact. Among other things, it is a major aggregator of information about data theft and data breaches. Earlier this month, it issued an announcement and produced a podcast about the proliferation of the toll bill scam.
Digitaltransactions.net, a business website, reports on the Identity Theft Resource Center’s analysis of the text scam.
Crime Beat ETC Systems Indiana Kentucky Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges RiverLink Toll System (IN-KY Ohio River Bridges)US Highway Work Zone Safety Isn't Improving, According To Contractors Recently Surveyed
An AASHTO Journal article reports:
- 49 percent of contractors who responded to a recent national survey question said highway work zones have become more dangerous than they were just 12 months ago;
- most of the others said the risks faced by their workers hadn’t changed over that time period;
- two-thirds of respondents had one or more work zone crash experiences during the year; and
- almost one-third of those incidents involved worker injury, but 66 percent resulted in injury to drivers or passengers.
The respondents overwhelmingly indicated they believe penalties for violating work zone rules are insufficient to deter unsafe motorist behavior. Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and a construction software provider, HCSS, conducted the survey in April and May, drawing responses from 700 US contractors.
In a statement accompanying the survey’s release, AGC chief executive Jeffrey Shoaf said, “Bad driving behavior and lax work zone safety laws don’t just put construction workers at greater risk. Our new data shows that drivers and their passengers are in even greater danger from highway work zone crashes. That is why AGC is pushing Congress to require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to collect comprehensive data on work zone crashes. . . .”
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Maintenance Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Transportation and Infrastructure Research & DevelopmentThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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