E-Toll System Cheats Ill. Drivers, Class Suit Charges

Motorists who use Illinois' electronic toll I-PASS system cannot resolve tickets they receive because the system is overwhelmed, according to a lawsuit filed in a federal court there.

The proposed class-action suit alleges that thousands of the notices are sent in error and that more than a million consumers may have been prevented from resolving invalid violation notices.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, says the State Toll Highway Authority violates consumers' due-process rights because the violation notices provide only a phone number to resolve problems.

Customers cannot get through to the busy telephone system because of the high number of tickets sent out, the suit says.

The I-PASS system allows motorists who set up an account with a credit or debit card to use a transponder to pay tolls electronically.

When Illinois residents and I-PASS users Marvin and Cheri Kushner received a toll violation notice April 10 they tried to resolve the issue by calling the number provided on the notice, according to the complaint.

The notice says that anyone with an account in good standing can avoid a ticket hearing by calling the phone number for assistance, the suit says. The Kushners called the number repeatedly but the line was always busy, they say.

The Kushners say they had valid I-PASS accounts and working transponders.

The highway authority records 85,000 violations each day and has a backlog of more than 2 million unresolved notices, according to the plaintiffs. That volume prevents the phone system from handling all the calls, they say.

Many notices are sent out because of incorrect information, the plaintiffs say.

Several things can cause an erroneous notice, including transponders that are defective or not linked to credit cards in the authority's computer system and cameras misreading 25 percent of the license plates at toll booths, the suit alleges.

In addition, consumers have no way of knowing if the highway authority considers their accounts to be in good standing, the complaint says.

The telephone system cannot sufficiently resolve disputes, and because the violation notices provide no other means of resolving disputes, the state is denying consumers' constitutional due-process rights, the suit charges.

The highway authority has violated its contracts with I-PASS customers because the system sends out invalid notices that cause motorists to pay excessive amounts to use the toll roads, the plaintiffs allege.

They seek to represent a class of all motorists who could not resolve their violation notices.

The suit seeks the refund of fines and an injunction preventing the highway authority from taking action against consumers based on the invalid notices.

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The plaintiffs are represented by Daniel A. Edelman of Edelman, Combs, Latturner & Goodwin in Chicago.