Egg Harbor Township, NJ – An investigation by NBC10 has spotlighted another case of an automated toll enforcement error after a western New York woman repeatedly received collection notices for a vehicle she says she has never owned or driven, Egg Harbor Township.
This report was published by NBC 10 in Rochester and has gone largely unnoticed here in New Jersey.
According to NBC10 Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Breen, Celia Johnson of Chili, New York, has been receiving toll violations from New Jersey despite the fact that the vehicle pictured in the violation notices is a dark-colored SUV, while Johnson owns a different vehicle altogether.
She says she has never been to New Jersey, let alone Egg Harbor Township.
“So this is the bill you got from New Jersey?” Breen asked during the report.
“Yes,” Johnson replied.
“And that is obviously not your car?”
“No.”
Toll violation grew from less than $5 to more than $54
According to the report, the original toll amounted to just $4.85, but additional administrative fees increased the balance to more than $54.
The citation alleged the toll violation occurred near the Jersey Shore last October, a location Johnson told NBC10 she has never visited.
“Has anyone from New Jersey called you to say, ‘Hey, look, we got the wrong car. Don’t worry about it?'” Breen asked.
“No, not at all,” Johnson responded. “They still think this is you.”
Johnson also showed the station more than a dozen collection warning text messages she received, including one sent in late May, demanding payment for the toll violation.
Investigation points to recurring camera mistakes
Breen said Johnson’s case is far from unique.
To illustrate the broader issue, the report cited a study commissioned by the State of Washington that found automated traffic enforcement cameras are approximately 95 percent accurate.
While that may sound highly reliable, the report noted it also means the systems can be wrong up to five percent of the time.
Standing alongside Interstate 490 in Rochester, Breen explained that with approximately 99,000 vehicles traveling that section of highway daily, even a small error rate could potentially affect thousands of motorists if applied across a similar volume of traffic.
Johnson told NBC10 the repeated notices have become overwhelming.
“I’ve never been in New Jersey and it’s not my car and I don’t know who did it and why or anything. It’s just overwhelming for me,” she said.
Following its investigation, NBC10 contacted the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and asked officials to compare Johnson’s vehicle with the SUV photographed in the toll violation.
“I asked them, please take a look at Celia’s car and then please take a look at the SUV that is in the ticket and do the right thing and fix this problem for Celia,” Breen said.
The station concluded by saying it would report back whether the authority corrects the error. NBC10 also said it requested information from the authority regarding the accuracy rate of its toll camera system. The report did not include a response from the agency.
The case illustrates how automated toll enforcement systems, while designed to improve efficiency, can still produce costly errors that leave motorists navigating collection notices and disputes over violations involving vehicles they say they have never driven.
Shore News Network also contacted the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, but emails were not answered.
