A local man says he was stunned after he got a bill in the mail from the PA Turnpike for fees incurred in the Eastern part of the state. He says he’s never even been there before and he rarely uses the turnpike.
“It shouldn’t be happening. That’s kind of the bottom line,” Matt Weaver said.
For Matt Weaver, a $40 invoice from the PA Turnpike caught him by surprise.
“Getting the bill for a vehicle we don’t take on the turnpike was kind of funny,” Weaver said.
He and his family typically opt for another route when traveling.
“We avoid it like the plague because it’s like 10 bucks every time we go out to the Laurel Highlands where we usually go. We tend to use 40; it’s 10 more minutes, it’s prettier,” Weaver said.
Weaver says when he took a second look at the bill, he noticed that not only was this not his license plate; it was an entirely different car.
“The vehicle that our plate is similar to, that they mixed up, has an E-ZPass, so it’s in the system. They know it’s not a Grand Voyager. It’s like with all the technology out there it doesn’t take much to look at this vehicle and realize it’s not a ginormous van that’s 20 feet long.”
The issue stems from two numbers that look alike.
“You can clearly see like this plate ends in a zero and ours ends in an eight,” Weaver said.
The new PA plates have a slash through the zero, which looks very similar to an eight. This redesign was put into place by PennDOT this year to help distinguish the number zero from the letter O. The new plates may have solved that issue, but it’s created this new one, with license plate recognition cameras, including some on the turnpike, having trouble telling the difference.
“I’m all about automation. It’s what I do for a living…but it’s gotta work,” Weaver added.
When Channel 11’s Chief Investigator Rick Earle questioned both PennDOT and the PA Turnpike back in February about this issue, he was told that the new license plate design was made after consulting with the state police and turnpike.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Chief Investigator Rick Earle questioned both PennDOT and the PA Turnpike
Thursday, a spokesperson for the turnpike said, “While our ALPR system has undergone a couple of software enhancements since your original story in February, the enhancements have not completely eliminated the issue involving the new Liberty Bell license plates. The technology relies on pattern recognition and continues to learn and adapt as it encounters the new plates.”
Weaver says he was able to get the issue resolved after calling the PA Turnpike.
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