diverted on to toll road and charged for privilage

ivabiggon

few weeks ago i was travelling home, the kilcock enfield road was closed for technical examination following a fatal RTA, tha gardai diverted traffic from heading out the old kilcock-enfield road onto the M4 toll road.
I explained i had no money so the nice garda told me to present my case to the kiosk operator in which i did.
A supervisor took my details and said i'd 10 days to pay up or go through the courts.
now my query is that if the road that i need to travel was my only alternative and i was force to take the toll road should i have to pay... it not the amount but the principle of it.
the operators complaints dept said they are obilged to collect the toll on behalf of the NRA so i took it up with them they say the operator Eurolink are empower by law to recoop there money they spent in building the road.
should there not be a waver system in place so drivers can have free passage when directed on to a toll road by a garda that they had no intention to travel on.
After all anyone here who has drivin emergency vehicles throught the old west link kiosk and the east link kiosks know that they wave through a whole queue of vehicles in order to clear the way for you, and i can't see them been obligue to collect there money in that situation.
any thoughts???
:cool:

andrewh5

Let them take you to court. They will lose hands down as you were directed onto the road by gardai.

Sleipnir

I would be handing over the money thinking how lucky that I wasn't the reason the road was closed in the first place and I was still alive to pay a toll.
But sure take them to court, life is a long, drawn-out affair that needs filling with court actions based on principles.

deadwood

Seems unfair.

(Where would the guards have diverted you to before the motorway was there?:D)

Surely in a situation like this, some prepaid tickets valid for a limited time could be delivered to the scene so diverted motorists could hand them in at the toll.

Would it hurt the toll company to open the gates for a few hours and play their part in an investigation hich will, ultimately, improve road safety?

Fighting Irish

ivabiggon wrote: »

few weeks ago i was travelling home, the kilcock enfield road was closed for technical examination following a fatal RTA, tha gardai diverted traffic from heading out the old kilcock-enfield road onto the M4 toll road.
I explained i had no money so the nice garda told me to present my case to the kiosk operator in which i did.
A supervisor took my details and said i'd 10 days to pay up or go through the courts.
now my query is that if the road that i need to travel was my only alternative and i was force to take the toll road should i have to pay... it not the amount but the principle of it.
the operators complaints dept said they are obilged to collect the toll on behalf of the NRA so i took it up with them they say the operator Eurolink are empower by law to recoop there money they spent in building the road.
should there not be a waver system in place so drivers can have free passage when directed on to a toll road by a garda that they had no intention to travel on.
After all anyone here who has drivin emergency vehicles throught the old west link kiosk and the east link kiosks know that they wave through a whole queue of vehicles in order to clear the way for you, and i can't see them been obligue to collect there money in that situation.
any thoughts???
:cool:

I'm not saying i don't believe you but what happens if everyone started saying this? I was diverted etc etc

Pay the €2 and get on with your life

andrewh5

We shouldn't be paying tolls on the roads anyway. We already pay through the nose - VRT, motor tax, fuel tax etc :mad:

Bang Bang

I'd a similar situation on the M50 about two years ago where traffic was diverted through the toll bridge due to an RTA on one of the slip roads. A Garda directing traffic instructed motorists to use the the extreme right hand toll lane. On arriving at the toll lane a toll staff member gave us further instructions and directions to work our way back around the other side of the toll booths. No toll was charged.
It was clear there was excellent communication between an Gardai and the toll booths.

ivabiggon

is it worth gion to court and risk a conviction?
and not everyone who passed through the toll would have known about the divertion.. only the drivers who headed up onto the overhead roundabout interchange were diverted, so they would have be genuine, they had no intention of using the m4 in the firest place.
and as for the alternative to the old road if the motorway wasn't there.. i'm not familar with the surrounding small roads but i would imagine if the gardai pick a route to divert drivers that it would be quite obvious divertion. but the garda who directed me only knew of the motorway and was as familiar with the surrounding roads as i was..
i'm sure there was an alternative to my alternative and if i turned around and headed back to dublin and went out the naas road i would have suceeded but that a bit unreasonable.

mcguiver

Yeah, normally when I'm dealing with a dead body at the scene of a fatal car crash I'm thinking ...jebus, these motorists are going to be forced to pay a few euro toll. Maye I should hand out tokens or escort them through one at a time.

(Instead of the usual..damn lots of blood and guts, keep composed, better start figuring out how to break the news to family etc.)

If the couple of euro is worth a day in court, posting on the internet or losing sleep over.... go to court. Better still, sue somebody. And be thankfull you have nothing else to worry about.

ivabiggon

ye i see your point about the calories and stuff....couldn't really afford that,
i've sort of resigned to the fact that i'll be paying it.. but i just want some thoughts on it.. and to throw it out there?
oh it was a artic i was driving.

Trojan911

ivabiggon wrote: »

any thoughts???:cool:

Find out what station covers the area & then pop the bill into an envelope with a nice letter to the Super of that station explaining why you are billing him. After all, you were complying with a direction of a garda on duty & in uniform.... :pac:

parsi

mcguiver wrote: »

Yeah, normally when I'm dealing with a dead body at the scene of a fatal car crash I'm thinking ...jebus, these motorists are going to be forced to pay a few euro toll. Maye I should hand out tokens or escort them through one at a time.

(Instead of the usual..damn lots of blood and guts, keep composed, better start figuring out how to break the news to family etc.)

The sarcasm isn't really called for.

The OP is asking should there be a system whereby once it is decided to open a diversionary route then the relevant toll operators be informed by Garda HQ. He's not saying that the Garda on the scene should be involved in this process beyond radioing base when arriving on scene and establishing that a closure is necessary.

ivabiggon

look this sorted, i'm putting it to bed. thanks for the input
topic closed