So- it's a no win situation trying to use a Smart Tag on the motorcycle. In the past I've used a digital camera bag hooked to my Timbuk messenger bag and that used to work maybe 90% of the time. Then, it worked less and less. I tried holding it at an angle to register, slowing down to a crawl... it was hit or miss at that point.
Then when they started reinforcing the use of the violation cameras last year (Apr/May '07), I received 5 toll violations within a two week period. Keep in mind this all happened while having the smart tag on my bag. So I disputed the charges and they just deducted the tolls from my account for each violation. Then the representative told me that since it's a motorcycle I can just add that vehicle to my account and if the "Toll not paid" light goes off, they'll see that it's tied to my account and deduct the toll accordingly. So in theory, you don't even need to carry the smart tag with you on the motorcycle, right?
It's been working like that for a year. IF I have the time and the lines are not long I will stop in the cash lines and pay the toll. But in some cases like IF IT'S RAINING, I'll use the smart tag lane and go on my way.
So what happens tonight? It starts raining and I use the smart tag lane, then pop go the blue lights. I pull over right away, shut off the bike take off my helmet and the state trooper tells me to stay put. He asks if I have a smart tag on me and I explain the whole situation. He looks at me and just says, "You're kidding, I've never heard of anything like that". License and registration...
He gives me a ticket for "Failure to obey highway sign (smart tag lane only)". I can pay the fine but get 3 points tacked on to my record or present my documentation at the court date.
From here on out, I'll strap on my smart tag again and never stop to toss quarters again.
sorry, I had to get that off my chest
Sounds like the trooper needs to be working an area where he understands all the situations that could occur. Well he'll know after your day in court if you go.
After having the hit and miss issue with the tag I stopped by the toll office to explain my problem. Other people had told me that battery was only good for about 5 years. So the person there tells me they are supposed to be good for 7 or 10 years or somethings. But then they go, "oh you've had this about five years. Let's just switch it out." How new is your pass?
I'd dispute the ticket. Unfortunately I'm sure that involves taking leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I wouldn't want the points and potential insurance expense. I'm sure the judge will cut you a break or at least take away the points.
Quote from: Ducatista on May 18, 2008, 10:37:10 AM
I'd dispute the ticket. Unfortunately I'm sure that involves taking leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I wouldn't want the points and potential insurance expense. I'm sure the judge will cut you a break or at least take away the points.
I concur....
Po-po can be a little insensitive at times.
So how did it feellll worrrrrl worrrl pull over fella :o
Quote from: Aikidoka on May 18, 2008, 06:32:20 AM
How new is your pass?
I've had this one for about 3 years now...
Quote from: Ducatista on May 18, 2008, 10:37:10 AM
I'd dispute the ticket. Unfortunately I'm sure that involves taking leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I wouldn't want the points and potential insurance expense. I'm sure the judge will cut you a break or at least take away the points.
Yeah I'm hoping no points for this... (but read further down)
Quote from: ducati culture on May 18, 2008, 08:02:41 PM
I concur....
Po-po can be a little insensitive at times.
So how did it feellll worrrrrl worrrl pull over fella :o
Dude, IT SUCKS.
I go to the EZPass office to get this in writing and the lovely person there typed up an explanation behind the whole, "take a picture, deduct from your account" situation. It clearly states that when my motorcycle goes trough and trips the light, my actual license plate WTFRAK is recorded with a time stamp, and tolls get deducted from my account.
So I'm taking Rt.7 east to go to the Tyson's DMV to get a copy of my driving record... and what happens next?
That's right, I get pulled over again! When it rains it pours. Why would I be speeding? I was pacing a pickup truck in the center lane, and I'm the one that gets stopped, the truck keeps on going. It's right where the 28 exit is off rt.7 east before you pass Dulles Town Center, 55mph drops to 50mph.
w t frak man [bang]
hopefully my
one speeding ticket in the past 11 years will show for something. Talk about kickin a guy when he's down...
be careful out there guys
Quote from: Ducatista on May 18, 2008, 10:37:10 AM
I'd dispute the ticket. Unfortunately I'm sure that involves taking leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I wouldn't want the points and potential insurance expense. I'm sure the judge will cut you a break or at least take away the points.
except that the court has nothing to do with points. they can't remove or suspend them. The Va dmv sets them. From prev. experience they dont even know what the points go with what tickets!!!!
Bad times......been there......fought that........lost.........got the t-shirt.........good luck
Quote from: ducless on May 19, 2008, 09:04:00 PM
except that the court has nothing to do with points. they can't remove or suspend them. The Va dmv sets them. From prev. experience they dont even know what the points go with what tickets!!!!
Bad times......been there......fought that........lost.........got the t-shirt.........good luck
That is true; however, they can reduce the charge to one with fewer or no points. Points aren't based on the charge, IIRC. They're based on the conviction.
Teaches you to tell the truth. You should've said "yes, it's right here in my bag"... and then feigned surprise that it wasn't there as if you had forgotten it.
And that's what the violation cams are for anyway; the cop shouldn't even be there. Though I am no longer surprised but any of the stupid things that VA police do.
Can you dispute the ticket by mail?
Quote from: Ducatista on May 18, 2008, 10:37:10 AM
I'd dispute the ticket. Unfortunately I'm sure that involves taking leave, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I wouldn't want the points and potential insurance expense. I'm sure the judge will cut you a break or at least take away the points.
I will gladly go to court with you and explain how dangerous it is especially at the main toll plaza and how we are all having problems, I have 5 bikes, on the 3 Ducs I have it in the map pocket on top sometimes it works some times it doesn't, on the Victory's I have a little cell phone type pouch mounted to the Handlebars it works about 95% of the time. Also might wnat to contact AMA. I am dying to make a case out of this and get it fixed. I want to know why they can pickup a Superbike on the front straight of VIR, Road Atlanta etc.... at 160+ and yet the technology they have on the toll road cannot pickup our smart pass at 30 mph.
I don't think the court would care too much about the danger. Get the news people involved. Here in MD they did an article on the old hardware in the EZ-Pass lane and malfunctioning axle counters charging car drivers as having more than two axles. The latter at least got fixed. The lane buzzed at me today. The only difference was that my tank bag was fully expanded, making it closer to the sensor! Of course what was weirder still is that the sign said PAID. Go figure.
Quote from: skurvy on May 19, 2008, 02:28:48 PM
... my actual license plate WTFRAK is recorded with a time stamp, and tolls get deducted from my account.
Oh my Gods, that's awesome. Someone told me they saw a motorcycle with that plate, but I didn't know it was someone from this board.
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/66708/detail/ (http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/66708/detail/)
Quote from: twolanefun on May 20, 2008, 06:29:18 PM
I will gladly go to court with you and explain how dangerous it is especially at the main toll plaza and how we are all having problems, I have 5 bikes, on the 3 Ducs I have it in the map pocket on top sometimes it works some times it doesn't, on the Victory's I have a little cell phone type pouch mounted to the Handlebars it works about 95% of the time. Also might wnat to contact AMA. I am dying to make a case out of this and get it fixed. I want to know why they can pickup a Superbike on the front straight of VIR, Road Atlanta etc.... at 160+ and yet the technology they have on the toll road cannot pickup our smart pass at 30 mph.
After almost dumping the bike today twice wrestling the damn EZ pass out of my jacket pocket and waving it in front of me like an idiot as I am careening into the EZ pass lane lugging in 3rd gear cause I can't downshift, it still failed. I was told last time to hold it up and out 30 feet before the toll booth.
If I don't have a tank bag, what the hell am I supposed to do with the damn thing? Tape it to my visor?!
I've gotten it to work by stuffing it between the "windscreen" and guages on the monster.
I ordered a second pass, the kind that is made for metallic tint windshields / bikes, etc. that is meant to use the same screws as a car license plate. I zip-tied it to my lower triple clamp and have never had a problem. YMMV as I have a monster without bodywork that might obscure the signal.
Another option would be this: http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Cycle-E-Pass-p-19117.html
Thanks for the tips.
FWIW I talked to EZ pass today and they said that if the pass doesn't register on the Dulles toll road they will match my plates to my account and automatically pull the payment.
They said the Greenway, however, is not set up to do this kind of matching and I could get a violation there if I just blow through.
I might try the Aerostitch thing, thanks.
BTW, the customer service at EZ pass was exceptional, they were so nice! How rare is that? They just called me back to suggest mounting the pass to 1) windshield, 2) tank, 3) jacket, but no guarantees that this will work. Not very useful system but very nice people.
D....this is the other option I mentioned to you on Wednesday evening BTW...
http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Forearm-Map-Case-p-16196.html
Update: went to court and charges were dismissed. Judge's final remark, "don't rely on the cameras to work".
Quote from: skurvy on July 30, 2008, 12:06:41 PM
Judge's final remark, "don't rely on the cameras to work".
Meaning what exactly? They might not work - so you scoff the toll since there's no record of you? Or don't rely on the system to take your picture and actually get it right by deducting from your account... but instead slack off and sen you tickets?
use this
http://www.jjcyclepass.com/
i had this on my bike and it was picked up by ez pass everytime, got it bc the taping the ezpass to the gas cap wouldn't work at times, got a notice in the mail but proved i had one at the time so no worries.
got this holder that attahces to the handle bars, it holds the ezpass upside down (this is key as the ezpass has to be upside down to be picked up, i noticed if its right side up it won't register) and then after putting this on it was picked up evertime by the ezpass sensor, no problems at all.
get it, its only like 20 dollars or something and it works.
honlestly i have found the map pass thing doesn't work at times for me bc the "barrier" of the holder seems to sometimes interfere with teh signal, with this design there is nothing between the pass really and the sensor.
Quote from: yuu on July 30, 2008, 12:51:19 PM
Meaning what exactly? They might not work - so you scoff the toll since there's no record of you? Or don't rely on the system to take your picture and actually get it right by deducting from your account... but instead slack off and sen you tickets?
I think the judge meant it as don't rely on the cameras to take your picture and deduct from your account and to always have the smart tag with you if you're going to use the smart tag lane. She went on saying that her husband has a smart tag and uses a motorcycle and never has problems. I didn't even want to get into a discussion about whether or not his motorcycle has a windshield or whatever.
After I pleaded not guilty and explained what happened, the look of disbelief from the judge was a little surprising. She asked if I had any proof of the picture/electronic deduction process and I had the 2 documents with me. 1) the letter from the Smart Tag office and 2) the past 42 transactions on my transponder dated 5/1 through 7/30.
I told her that the tag works 50 percent of the time, for example it won't work at toll plaza but it will work when I exit off the toll road. After reading the letter and seeing my smart tag transactions I could tell she didn't want to get into it and just said, "keep your smart tag with you and don't rely on the cameras to work".
Quote from: skurvy on July 30, 2008, 01:26:48 PM
I could tell she didn't want to get into it and just said, "keep your smart tag with you and don't rely on the cameras to work".
wise man once said ...not waste time on arguement with better prepared persons.....Confucious was obviously channelling himself through the Judge it seems....good on you for being so prepared!
Quote from: sbrguy on July 30, 2008, 01:20:23 PM
got this holder that attahces to the handle bars, it holds the ezpass upside down (this is key as the ezpass has to be upside down to be picked up, i noticed if its right side up it won't register) and then after putting this on it was picked up evertime by the ezpass sensor, no problems at all.
It will read right side up if the battery is good in it. That is how it sits on the tank bag of my MTS. I have no luck with it at an angle though. On my 999 I mounted it inside the windscreen on the left side and it had never read.
Quote from: skurvy on July 30, 2008, 01:26:48 PM
I think the judge meant it as don't rely on the cameras to take your picture and deduct from your account and to always have the smart tag with you if you're going to use the smart tag lane. She went on saying that her husband has a smart tag and uses a motorcycle and never has problems. I didn't even want to get into a discussion about whether or not his motorcycle has a windshield or whatever.
After I pleaded not guilty and explained what happened, the look of disbelief from the judge was a little surprising. She asked if I had any proof of the picture/electronic deduction process and I had the 2 documents with me. 1) the letter from the Smart Tag office and 2) the past 42 transactions on my transponder dated 5/1 through 7/30.
i find that pathetic. my grandma, who is FAR from knowledgeable about traffic and EZpass knows about the photo matching. it seems to me a judge who is in this kind of position and DOES NOT KNOW is perhaps one step from being derelict.
Quote
I told her that the tag works 50 percent of the time, for example it won't work at toll plaza but it will work when I exit off the toll road. After reading the letter and seeing my smart tag transactions I could tell she didn't want to get into it and just said, "keep your smart tag with you and don't rely on the cameras to work".
didnt' want to get into it? i am sure. it is nauseating though.
send her a nice letter with some information from EZPass which explains how their system works. tell her you found her knowledge of EZPass "depressing" and it's a shame that a traffic judge is ignorant of how toll roads in her area work.
sign it "Lazlo Toth"
So I wrote AMA, the Govenor, and Vdot. The Govenor's office gave me a reply from the seretary of transportation "99.95% accuracy rate under most conditions" and it gets worse " on occasion a transponder may fail to read for reasons such as minor equipment malfunction, imporperly mounted transponder - blah, blah , blah," and " I should point out that our system is designed to so that even if your transponder doesn't read properly, the toll amount will still be automatically deducted from your E-ZPass acount as long as the account is in good standing and the account information, inlcduing license plate information, is correct" Guess they forgot to tell the Virginia State Police. The AMA is concerned but wants more info, they did not jump on it but I get the impression they would with enough information. Vdot, gave me a direct number to call. So I made the call, they state that the transponder has a weight element to it and that I really need a different transponder for the 5 motorcycles and one for the Truck, so I decided to play along, they issued me a new transponder for my truck, which BTW was only 1 year old, and another one for the motorcycles, so far I've tested it with the Vicory KP, which was already pretty reliable with the old transponder and the M900, which failed about 50% of the time at the Dulles Toll road main plaza but was 99% at other entrances/exits and 100% on the greenway. The new one appears to be working, 5 trips so far through the main toll plaza and no failures on either bike. Have not tested the other Victory or the S2R and ST3 but things are looking up, whether it's the new battery or there in fact some other difference with the new transponder I do not know, but I'm optomistic. Only downside is I now have 2 transponders, which means that my account is loaded up with $70, instead of the usual $35 and when it gets low they load it up with $70, not a big deal just means I have more trips between fill ups. I would like to see this thread continue, would love to get AMA involved but right now I do not have a reason. - Gene
Quote from: twolanefun on August 11, 2008, 06:49:47 PM
...so I decided to play along, they issued me a new transponder for my truck, which BTW was only 1 year old, and another one for the motorcycles...
Thanks for the report Gene, this is good information. Is there anything on the new "motorcycle" transponder that enables you to distinguish it from the car/truck transponder? In the past, I have requested a motorcycle-specific transponder from MD EZPASS and was told there was no such thing. I'd love to have some specific model or other identifier that I can offer up the next time I call with this request.
Dave
Damned if I can see any difference, they wrote a number for me on the motorcyle unit but from the outside they look the same to me. They would like me to belive that there is a weight component, which translates to class, but since the charge for motorcycles and cars are the same I'm not buying the class thing. We will just have to see how this works out, so far so good. - Gene