Poll:
Do you support or oppose the idea of sending toll fines to a collection agency?
TACOMA, Wash. – The state legislature is considering a new idea if you fail to pay a bridge toll: Send the fine to a collection agency.
Right now, when you go over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, you are cited if you fail to pay the toll. You can then go to court and contest the ticket. Under the new proposal, you'd have to pay first and argue your side later.
The bill is being proposed by Sen. Mary Haugen, D-Camano Island.
"I've always heard the courts are overworked, overloaded. They don't have enough money. And so, if we could do something in a much more cost effective manner, I just think that's good public policy," said Haugen.
District court judges oppose the measure.
"To remove tickets from the courts and put them in the Department of Transporation will result in taking people's rights to their day in court away and that is a very a fundamental right people have and it isn't fair," said King County District Court Judge Barbara Linde.
The proposal is buried in a sweeping transportation bill designed with the future in mind. It would cover fines when there are tolls on other bridges like Interstate 90 or State Route 520 or the future downtown Seattle tunnel.
Revenues could shoot up even higher if people had to pay first and argue later.
But it's going to be a hard sell, especially for people who want justice.
"I think you should have your day in court first to prove your innocence before you're deemed guilty and have to pay and then try and correct that later," said Tacoma resident Marty Olson
Many wonder if this isn't the fox guarding the hen house. The Department of Transportation would contract with the collection agency. That means the group fining you would be connected to the group that would hear your appeal.
The fine for failing to pay the toll on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is $52. Last year, 112,000 drivers got tickets. Most of them were caught by the flash of a toll camera.
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