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Has anyone else been charged for driving over The Mersey Gateway Bridge?

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Hi,

I went to visit a friend in Liverpool a few weeks ago. I went over the The Mersey Gateway Bridge. Ive just received a letter saying that I didnt pay the toll and I have to pay £22 fine!!

Im not disputing I was the driver, or even the fine, but I dont remember seeing any toll booths or ticketing signs saying that I had to pay a toll.

Does anyone else travel this bridge before? Do you have to pay in advance? I just want to know so that next time I dont get fined again!

(I presume theres no point contesting the fine on the grounds that Ive never been to the area before)

Thanks

Comments

  • Flugelhorn
    Flugelhorn Posts: 7,296 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    there are a fair few articles about this - mainly to do with people in hire cars where it isn';t clear which journey they are paying for and there may be debts from others. 
    This article shows the signage at the bottom https://www3.halton.gov.uk/Pages/traffic/mgpayment.aspx
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 43,305 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Here's a thread which I gave advice on just a few weeks ago. Have a read of it and follow that. The final post of the thread shows you the plethora of signs you seem to have missed.

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6484552/pcn-toll-road-charge-notice/p1
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • Emmia
    Emmia Posts: 5,576 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Information on the toll and how to pay is online

    https://www.merseyflow.co.uk/toll-charges
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,381 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    There are numerous signs in both directions warninyou and telling you how to pay.

    There are 11 when coming from Liverpool starting 2 miles before the chargeable section. Ive never counted in the opposite direction but expect a similar number.
    It's worrying how unobservant some drivers are. 
  • Umkomaas
    Umkomaas Posts: 43,305 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    It's worrying how unobservant some drivers are. 
    Especially signage in private car parks. 
    Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .

    I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.

    Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

    Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street
  • richwood1
    richwood1 Posts: 1 Newbie
    First Post

    Recently I was up in Runcorn, an area I don’t know, campaigning for the by-election and trying to find a housing estate that was difficult to locate, relying on my sat nav which was telling me to do crazy things, including directing me to that wretched Mersey Gateway toll bridge, which I probably never needed to be on.  I vaguely remember seeing a toll sign and expected see a payment booth at some point, but there wasn’t one.  As I was probably driving at 50 mph, or whatever the speed limit was, I didn’t have time to take in all the detail and in any case I was having to pay much of my attention to sat nav.

    Altogether I made six traverses of the bridge, amassing £150 in fines.  It seems that I am not alone in this.  One person commented that unless you actively knew you were on a toll bridge you would never realise that you had to pay a toll.  From memory I think that one brief glance at a toll sign was the only one I saw during those six crossings.

    However, all is not lost. I can recoup the money lost by reducing my annual charity donation.  So well done Merseyflow, you have cost a school for under privileged children in Darjeeling £150 quid.

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