My EZ Pass will work at 60 mph when I'm in my car but sometimes, no matter how slow I go, when I'm on my motorcycle it doesn't read. So am I going to be getting tickets and how do I prove that it just didn't read my EZ pass? I can't stop/turn around in the EZ Pass lane.

Now that's a joke if I have ever heard one. Express lanes?

Ever seen the Dulles Toll Road exit for Rte 28 at rush hour? The RIGHTMOST toll lane is EXPRESS and the remaining two to its left are FULL SERVICE. Yes you read that correctly. Guess which lane moves fastest even at rush hour? It makes no difference which lane you are in they are all the same STOPPED DEAD. Of course if it wasn't two exit lanes into three toll booths into one lane all WITHOUT LANE MARKINGS after the toll booths that might help but VDOT would need to get its head out of its ass first.

The main toll plaza for the DTR at Rt7 Westbound? The leftmost lane is allegedly EXPRESS but routinely backs up to the point it is stopped because the one express lane suddenly branches into two toll booths. So drivers just cut in at the last minute stopping the entire EXPRESS line of cars in its tracks. Excellent planning again VDOT!

They can add all the cameras they like as it is very easy to read my license plate at 3 miles per hour. Maybe they can make out my middle finger too.

From Dr. Gridlock: Ashburn, Several people wrote to me about the lane alignment problem you describe at the E-ZPass express booth in the main toll plaza.

I went out there with a VDOT engineer. He said he'll get the lane markers repainted by the end of December so that the two left lanes approaching the toll plaza lead directly into the two express lanes. So surprised drivers should no longer be pulling into the left lane at the last second.

I have a problem with red light cameras. They installed one near my house off Rt. 7. The speed limit is 55 mph and people would have to slam on their brakes to make sure they didn't get a ticket. It's dangerous, and sometimes you have things in your car and can't afford to slam on them. If it's raining it can also be dangerous and cause rear end collisions. Plus, since the state can make as much money off them as they want, whats to stop them from going up everywhere. Next thing you know you have speeding cameras everywhere like in DC and the nanny state spreads. No smoking in any bars, no transfats, whats next? No alchol again? I mean at least let some bar owners apply for tobacco licenses or something. I'm generally a liberatarian who tends to vote democratic because of social issues, but this is one case where I am glad that the downstate republicans overruled our No. Va. majority.

Additional question - why are there so few EZ Pass lanes and so many full service lanes? Seems pretty inefficient to me... some exits don't have any EZ pass lanes, and the main toll plazas don't have that many either.

to xtr677 :

". The speed limit is 55 mph and people would have to slam on their brakes to make sure they didn't get a ticket. It's dangerous, and sometimes you have things in your car and can't afford to slam on them. I"

They shouldnt be speeding then. If you are forced to run a red light, then you are going too fast. It's that simple. You have something in your car that you cant afford to slam on your brakes - you are going too fast.

Besides, the speeding cameras in DC have definitely made me stop speeding there, after I got my ticket. DC 1, Me 0.

When I'm driving in an area where I know there are red light cameras I'm extra cautious about running a red light, even if I'm not speeding. If I'm near an intersection that I would normally pass through on yellow, I'll often slam on the brakes... and come to a full stop at a yellow light while people in the lane next to me pass through the intersection. The problem is that people who aren't familiar with a road don't know how long the yellow lasts. I'm in support of the red light cameras, but having people come to sudden, unnecessary stops is an issue.

The cameras are all well and good but what about the booths that take your money, including the employees in the full service booths, that don't register? I have went through many full service booths where the employee tosses my tolls into the basket and it doesn't register and the red light flashes. How do I prove I paid that particular toll? Do I keep tossing money until I get a green light? The toll booths are notorious for breaking down.

what about EZ pass readers that are broken? The toll reader eastbound from the Herndon-Monroe bus center onto the toll road has been nonfunctional for at least 3 years. What happens when the state's equipment doesn't work, will the driver still get a ticket? My EZ Pass works fine everywhere else, so I can only assume it's that particular reader.

Why? is correct. There is absolutely no motivation to have an EZPASS at most DTR toll plazas because it affords little or no benefit, especially during peak travel times. See Ashburn's comment about Rte 28 above. You wait in the same bumper2bumper lines as the full service lanes so no one bothers getting an EZPASS. VDOT then sees no increased EZPASS usage and the cycle continues. With the multitude of full service and exact change lanes, EZPASS users simply get shortchanged.

Sterling park has a point. It's infuriating to sit at a gate and wait for it to lift only to have to throw in more toll than required to get it to work. Maybe they should fix the damn gates for those who are honest before trying to catch those who want to skimp out on a $.50 toll.

I think they could do a better job of marking the "E-ZPass Only" lanes. Every lane accepts it, so VDOT put a purple sign over every lane. Problem is that it doesn't help someone unfamiliar with the road identify these non-cash lanes quickly. All the states further north use a flashing yellow light to mark "E-ZPass Only" lanes. You instantly know which lane to use when you see that, and you need not worry about reading little signs. VDOT refuses to do this, and it makes no sense, just as it made no sense when they refused to join E-ZPass for many years.

Given how people blast through those lanes at high speed, I think this is a safety issue. I once saw a carload of Orientals come to a stop in one of the "E-ZPass Only" lanes at the main toll plaza in Tysons, I guess because they didn't know which lane was which. I shudder at the thought of the damage a rear-ending would do there!

What they need to do is put up a thin jersey wall at the main booth in Tysons. People will still cut over at the last minute, no matter what lines are painted. And why, oh why, is the toll booth at 28 heading East from Dulles still setup with the E-Z Pass in the MIDDLE? I don't know how many times I've almost been hit there and it's to the point where I just assume someone will cut me off there.

I think the one Chris references is like that because it's easier for people coming from northbound 28, who would otherwise have to move further left. The Garden State Parkway has a similar arrangement at a fow toll plazas. A better idea would be to put one on the far right (for traffic from northbound 28) and another on the far left (for traffic from southbound 28). I think the Chesapeake Bay Bridge used to be arranged that way.

Ahem. "Orientals???" Is that the name of a sports team? I certainly hope that's what you meant (Rich)...

What's the problem?

At least you capitalized the "O" in "Orientals," that makes it sooo much better.

I still don't see what your problem is. I didn't misspell anything, so why are you complaining?

"Oriental" is seen as degrading to most of Asian descent, is what I think Charlotte is trying to convey.

Not that I've ever heard, it's not.

"They shouldnt be speeding then. If you are forced to run a red light, then you are going too fast. It's that simple. You have something in your car that you cant afford to slam on your brakes - you are going too fast."

Reality check, EVERYONE speeds at some point, even you, unless you have a car that stops itself automatically. They actually had to lenghten the yellow at the light because it was too dangerous to go from 55 to zero to make it and too many people complained because it was obviously a cash cow. The fix didn't help much. I hate when people say "you shouldn't be speeding then" when you go anything above the speed limit. Virginia and Maryland have some of the pansiest speed limits in the country and its not always about safety. In the case of DC its obviously about money, it's their commuter tax.

I hate the PC police. Sighs...especially when they patrol the free speech blogs.

Sign me,
A Deaf and Dumb Cracker

While there seems to be some debate about whether 'Oriental' is an offensive term (Wikipedia has a decent discussion on this), I think it's fair to say that the ethnic descent of the individuals Rich mentioned had little bearing on his larger point. So, frankly, I thought his including that detail was inappropriate.

Rich, seriously, would you have said "a car full of Caucasians" came to a complete stop? If not, why mention that these folks were Asian? If you had some reason to believe that these people were non-English speakers who were confused by the signs, that's one thing. But I can't think of a way you could have determined that from looking at them.

Rte 28 is a conundrum anyway. Like in Centreville where it goes from 55 to 45 back up to 55 for 1/4 of a mile back down to 45. Do we really need that stretch in there like that?

Also, didn't the article say that the red-light cameras have been deactivated? So what's the complaint? Besides, the are only active once the light goes red and has been for a split-second. If you're through the intersection and still see yellow, you'd be fine.

The lights on 28 do need some lengthening. The number of near accidents near Willard and before the Westfields overpass was amazing.

I think Rich did what many of us do: tried to seperate "us" from "them". In this case, the "them" are the accident-waiting-to-happen drivers stopped in the lane. Race is naturally the first thing people notice, and it's often pointed out in everyday stream-of-consciousness discussion, but I don't think most people do it to be malicious. That's why I just recoil at the PC police assuming someone said it to be offensive right off the bat and chiding them. Polite reminders like McLean's of making sure such identification is integral to your point is much preferred. :-)

I do agree most people do not intend to be malicious, however, let's try not to use those epithets from the 1950's, or at least use the correct ones..."Asians" for instance:)

Has anyone gotten a ticket for zooming out of the main tollbooth at 65+ mph?

My point was that yes, I assume they were confused by the tollbooth, and I don't think it's prejudiced to recognize that driving in much of Asia (outside of Japan, anyway) is VERY different from driving here and that many Orientals who did not grow up in the States often seem to have a big adjustment to make when they drive here (whereas their children who grew up and learned to drive in the States don't have that problem).

Sorry if the point was unclear. But there is nothing "wrong" or "incorrect" about the word "Oriental." If I wanted to offend, it would be easy to do so by using various terms that rhyme with rink or rap or kook, but (a) I don't use prejudiced terms and (b) I don't know where they were from, so "Oriental" is the correct term so as to be generic.

BTW, I have seen cops pointing radar guns at cars in the area just east of the main toll plaza and I've always wondered whether they're after tollbooth speeders (which is dangerous, as I've been arguing) or people going 65 on the Dulles Access Road (which is what the speed limit in there ought to be anyway).

Asia is a big continent. I'm not sure the people in Japan, Korea, etc., want to be equated with the people in Iran, Afghanistan, etc., or the Indian sub-continent by calling everyone "Asians."

Just a thought...

BTW--I'm glad I don't have to do the toll road...

Just now Virginia is going to crack down on this non paying of tolls? You mean I could have been taking that road for free for 10 years, thus saving about 600.00 a year?! I am such a fool! Why did I think Virginia was smart?!

I think we'll see big problems over this.

I've had issues for years with the toll lanes not always reading my Smart Tag. I tried slowing down and it didn't help. I called customer service several times and replaced my Smart Tag twice.

Finally a customer service person told me that the Smart Tag is known to have problems with certain car models (mine is a Celica). They told me to put it a little lower on the windshield, which I did, but the problem still isn't fixed.

Since then I've just accepted that I'll set off the alarm sometimes, and once in a while I'll get pulled over by the police.

Cameras and automatic fines will bring this to a head for me and everyone else in the same boat.

Re: Red light cameras. Regardless of whether you approve or not, studies have proved that rear-end collisions increase at intersections with cameras. This may be offset by decrease in other types of collisions, however.

But the major problem is how they are typically implemented. Jurisdictions install them at intersections with the most red light running - NOT at the most dangerous intersections. There is rarely a correlation.

Most often, the reason a particular intersection has a lot of red-light running is because it's got a yellow that's too short, or it's a confusing or badly designed intersection.

So, putting cameras in these places is specifically designed to capitalize on a bad intersection, NOT to improve safety. If this was really about safety, and not making money, then the cameras should go up at the most dangerous intersections, not the busiest ones. And before any camera goes up, an intersection should be analyzed to understand WHY people run the light so much.

Obviously, though, this practice would only result in a safer intersection with less red-light running, instead of a nice cash flow.

Fundamentally, there is a conflict of interest in the way these things are used. There is a financial benefit to a city government (not to mention the contractor that takes I believe 50% of the revenue from every ticket issued in DC). It is in their vested interest to actually maintain the status quo at badly designed intersections where people are likely to run lights, and put a camera up, rather than to fix the problem.

My question is why are there exits on the Dulles Toll Road that do not take cash but the full service toll booth will not take a credit card?