Dartford tunnel fine?

c7borg

After receiving the fine and doing a google it becomes obvious what has happened.. they've done away with the booths but at the time in not the best of weather and usual chaos of picking a lane I wrongly assumed they were doing alterations as there were cones everywhere.. now a couple of months later I have to pay £35, surely I should be given the option to pay the £2.50? I've been quite happily paying at the booth for all my years of driving, I saw no signs about how to pay and even if I did I probably would have thought they were an alternative to paying with cash.
I work at a hospital and we have to pay for parking but sometimes the system breaks and they raise the barrier and we don't have to pay (legit) I applied the same logic how would I know any different?

Is this something I can appeal for?

Orford

You can:
http://www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk/how-to-appeal

but on the basis that you used the Dart Crossing it's unlikely to succeed unless one of the grounds apply.
Probably best to take the discount and put it down to experience

Umkomaas

As we tend to major on private parking tickets here, this isn't necessarily the best place for your query. PePiPoo is probably more appropriate for penalties/fines for road-related incidents. Here's your link:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=30

Have a read through some of the other threads there before you post your own to get the hang of what information they need from you in your opening post - but as a minimum you will need photos/scans of all correspondence you've received about your penalty (both sides, if appropriate).

PePiPoo has an excellent success record, and I'm sure there will have been other similar Dartford Tunnel incidences they have recently dealt with.

trubster

You really missed all the signs telling you about the Dart Charge? They were even putting it on the matrix signs in the M1 in Leicestershire.

Robin9

As a regular user I don't think you have any excuse

menoexpert

Robin9 wrote: »

As a regular user I don't think you have any excuse

I too am a regular user (well, once a week) but it took me a while to work out what was happening there. The crossing did indeed look like roadworks and the signs weren't all that clear. If you live nearby I guess it would've been covered by local media but not all of us who use the crossing do.

After a quick skim read through the link provided by Orford I guess it might be possible to appeal under the 'Compelling Reasons' part but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Half_way

While i do use the crossing from time to time, the signage is next to useless, the last time I went over there wasn't even any notices saying pay the Toll or whatever, as they had been painted out to be replaced with a vague Dart charge message
If the signage said Dartford Crossing Toll pay online, by phone etc then people may understand better, but calling it Dart charge is a bit vague, and maybe deliberately so.
Wasnt it supposed to be free after a certain year?

ParkingARGH

A friend of mine recently missed the deadline to pay after crossing and was fined, he called them up and they said they can be lenient and he only had to pay the standard charge. Might not be the same circumstances but could be worth a try.

Half_way

The best way to deal with this would be to give motorists a letter demanding £2.50+a 50p late payment fee ( to cover the letter costs ) to be paid within 30 days, or the penalty kicks in.
As mentioned before the signage is appalling.