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A California driver’s toll roads class action lawsuit claims that the operators of some state toll roads have been deceptively shaking down drivers for tolls and fines.
Plaintiff Ebrahim E. Mahda is suing Transportation Corridor Agencies, the California-based company that manages toll collection on certain state highways in Orange County under the name The Toll Roads.
Mahda is challenging the way The Toll Roads issues fines to drivers who enter onto these roads without an electronic transponder called a FasTrak, used to assess tolls for registered vehicles. The FasTrak transponder is linked to a prepaid account that automatically covers the charge for toll whenever the driver uses a particular toll road.
The specific roads at issue in this toll roads class action lawsuit are state routes 73, 133, 241 and 261. Madha says these roads account for 20 percent of the roads in the Orange County highway system.
Drivers may use these roads without a FasTrak device in their car. But those who do will receive a Notice of Toll Evasion in the mail demanding payment of a fine, Mahda says. He says he received one of these notices himself in December 2015 after driving on state route 73 twice during the previous November.
Madha says that failure to pay the fines on time results in a compounding of penalties on top of the original fine amount. His own notice demanded $6 for each violation and threatened penalties of $57.50 if Madha failed to pay by Jan. 9, 2016, he alleges.
By the time Madha paid the toll and associated penalties in May 2016, he says his total bill amount had risen to $232. He alleges these notices of toll evasion have resulted in thousands of dollars of revenue for The Toll Roads.
What makes The Toll Roads’ practice a deceptive and unfair business practice is that there is virtually no signage to alert drivers before they enter a stretch of road that requires a FasTrak transponder for toll payment, Madha argues. He says drivers have a reasonable expectation that upon using the toll road they will be able to pay via some other mode like cash or a credit card.
This is not the first time The Toll Roads has faced scrutiny from a class action lawsuit. In February, plaintiff Penny Davidi Borsuk filed a lawsuit against those responsible for operating unmanned cashless toll systems on California’s highways, after she was allegedly cited for tolls and fines that she wasn’t aware of until it was too late for her to contest them.
Madha alleges that The Toll Roads’ practices violate provisions of California’s Business and Professions Code. He also accuses them of negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.
If certified, the proposed plaintiff Class will encompass all persons who paid a fine to The Toll Roads in response to a toll evasion notice during the applicable Class period.
Madha’s toll roads class action lawsuit seeks an award of damages and restitution of profits derived from The Toll Roads’ allegedly deceptive conduct, plus attorneys’ fees and court costs. He also seeks an injunction that would stop The Toll Roads from continuing the conduct Madha complains of here.
The plaintiff is represented by Aaron Dolgin, Michael J. Flannery and Charles J. LaDuca of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP; and Michael McShane and S. Clinton Woods of Audet & Partners LLP.
The Toll Roads Deceptive Business Practice Class Action Lawsuit is Ebrahim E. Mahda v. Transportation Corridor Agencies d/b/a The Toll Roads, Case No. 8:16-cv-00940, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
UPDATE: On July 31, 2018, a federal judge certified a Class of drivers in a class action lawsuit alleging that California toll operators use personal information to collect toll payments. The judge also trimmed some of the claims in the case.
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55 thoughts onThe Toll Roads Class Action Challenges Driver Penalties and Fines
Paid a fee right after using the toll… they chose to not apply the payment and just kept the money and made me pay again after receiving a violation in the mail. The refuse to refund it and refused to remove the violation from my record. Add me to the list!
I want to be included too. I moved from CA in 2017 and had a fast rack when I lived there and now have received 3 toll violations from 2018. I never received anything prior to this week plus I don’t owe any unpaid tolls.
please add me !!!!!!!!!!! I have transponders and they have money in my account yet I have 20 bills not paid to the 91 express
This is got to be illegal I have a 5000 lien on my DMV renewal yet a 150.00 hold they that dont pay my tolls with!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE HELP ME – WE ARE ON THEIR SYSTEM YET THEY DONT PAY OUR TOLLS – WHAT A SCAM
The toll roads here in Southern California are a fraud. If you sell a car to someone that doesn’t fully register that car with the idiots at the DMV, they will keep charging you for toll violations even though you don’t own the vehicle anymore. The new buyer can keep using the toll roads and force you to keep getting the bills. Flawed corrupt system with the toll roads and California DMV.
Add me to the lawsuit against California Toll Roads
Help, I have the same problem as the rest, no one at toll both, had moved and didnt get my mail until about a month later, theres about 8 of them, i need help even just to reduce them please help. believe me, I will never go on a toll road again.
Thetollroads.com recently charged me $300 over my toll fees. I have a fastrak account. It did not deduct my toll from the account, they said, because I set it up after the fees happened. That doesn’t make sense. In Florida I heard the SUN Pass deducts from your account. Even if it is after the event. It shouldn’t matter. Tollroads “reduced” my charge to $69. Effectively charging me $50 over the $20 charge for the initial tolls. So I am out $50 because they have a bad system. This is a horrible business practice. But there is no other option while on the road sometimes.
12 years ago i had to drive a girlfriend to class and pick up 5 days a week, As well she lived near Bear St. Up to 6 x’s a day for about a year like that.. My card on file expired , my transponder beeped , i had been to my Post office box and when i did Vehicle registration was some $9700.00 on a 6k suv…
I wrote nice letter telling them i had ni intention to defraud them it was a mistake and tears ago i racked up fines and they made me just pay the toll.
They do that 1 time for people second is no break..
I called office & they lowered it to 3,500.00 i said no way , called back in few days and they said that was my best offer now they want 7,000.k w notes saying not to drop the amount. WEnt to DMV and they said nothing they can do.
Toll road people made me pay 10% of the 9,600. & promise to pay some 700 am month for the year. Major stress. Never mad a payment got registration and repeated what i said above .. Never made the 2nd contracts monthly payment and the 3rd buyer it went away.. They are crooks. i remember asking if they give money to Nellie Gaile residents for putting a freeway in back yard. nope. in the end they got 1400. and lost a patron for life
Please add me!