2017-12-14 09:10
Highways England has made over £53 million from fines as a result of motorists failing to pay the Dartford Crossing Dart charge – and this was “primarily” a result of physical tollbooths being removed in November 2014.
Instead of paying at a tollbooth barrier, as was previously the case, motorists crossing the Thames at Dartford are now identified by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and must remember to pay via phone, app, online, postal or Payzone services.
A separate Freedom of Information request revealed that since the tollbooths were removed in November 2014, 7.7 million penalty charges have been issued as a result of drivers not paying the charge - which stands at £2.50 for cars and £3 or £6 for buses, vans and lorries.
Highways England’s annual accounts show that in the 2015/16 financial year £53.1 million worth of “enforcement” income was generated by motorists “who have used the Dartford Crossing but have failed to make a road user charge”.
That represents almost a third of the crossing’s £161 million total income in 2015/16, and is an increase of £61.7 million over the previous financial year. Highways England’s Dartford account report states this increase was “primarily due to the application of enforcement management measures across the whole financial year and increases to traffic flow.”
In the 2013/14 financial year – back when the booths and barriers were present – no “enforcement” income was published by Highways England for the Dartford river crossing.
Those failing to pay the toll are faced with a £70 fine, which reduces to £35 if paid within 14 days and increases to £108 if not paid within 28 days – though drivers failing to pay the toll are given a warning for their first offence. All money collected from crossing fines are passed on to Government, and is ring-fenced for transport projects.
Should the Dartford Crossing still have tollbooths? Let us know below...
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