A New Jersey driver says he received a violation notice for a toll he never ran in a vehicle he doesn’t own, in a town he’s never visited.
Now he’s facing a $50 administrative fee on top of a $2.17 charge. And he says that E-ZPass isn’t making it easy to clear his name.
E-ZPass Sends Violation. You Can Barely See The Car
In a series of videos totaling more than 110,000 views, content creator @thetodd2 (who made it clear in his bio that his name isn’t Todd) shares his frustration after receiving an E-ZPass violation notice from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
The notice he got pictures a barely visible car. Instead, it’s a black rectangle. And you can just barely make out the taillights.
“I don’t own that car,” @thetodd2 says.
He says he owns “a 2500 truck.”
“I have motorcycles; I have trailers. I have campers. But I don’t own that car,” @thetodd2 continues.
The violation allegedly occurred in Sayreville, New Jersey, a town Todd says he had to look up because he’d never been there. He estimates it would take him about two and a half hours to reach from his location. And on the day in question, he says he was home taking care of his son.
The $2.17 toll violation came with a $50 administrative fee, bringing the total to $52.17.
When @thetodd2 called to dispute the charge, he says the customer service representative insisted she could see the license plate clearly on her screen. That’s despite the photo sent to him being nearly black.
License Plate Doesn’t Match
@thetodd2 says he dug deeper into the issue. He says he discovered several red flags. The license plate in question has seven digits. New Jersey standard plates only have six digits unless they’re personalized plates (which @thetodd2 says he’s never owned).
He says he even checked records going back 12 years to verify that none of the vehicles he’s owned had that particular tag.
When he explained this to the representative, he says she told him to hold while she consulted a supervisor. “I’m like, ‘This is gonna get straightened out. I don’t even own this. It’s a seven-digit tag,'” he recalls.
But instead of resolving the issue, the supervisor allegedly told him he’d need to obtain a driver’s abstract (a fancy way of saying driving history) from the DMV to prove the vehicle isn’t his at his own expense. The abstract carries its own $15 fee.
When he asked if E-ZPass would reimburse him for the cost of the abstract if it proved his innocence, he claims they said no.
@thetodd2, who says he’s 44 years old and has never run a toll in his life, found the situation absurd.
“I didn’t pick, whatever, July 28 to suddenly become a toll evader,” he says.
Customer Service Couldn’t Identify Basic Vehicle Details
In a follow-up, @thetodd2 describes pressing the representative for more information about the vehicle captured in the photo. Despite claiming the license plate was “perfectly clear” on her screen, he says she couldn’t tell him what kind of car it was or whether it was a car or truck.
“I’m like, ‘But the license plate is perfectly clear, but you can’t make out anything else? You can’t give me, like, Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Datsun. Nothing?'” he recalls questioning.
Frustrated with getting nowhere, @thetodd2 says he asked to speak with a supervisor. The same representative who had just consulted with a supervisor moments earlier now claimed no supervisor was available, the TikToker recounts. When @thetodd2 pointed out the contradiction, he says she said the supervisor was busy on a call and would call him back by Tuesday.
Wednesday rolled around, and still no call, @thetodd2 says.
@thetodd2 says he looked up the violation online and found a slightly clearer image that showed what appeared to be a hatchback, another vehicle type he doesn’t own. He theorized that the seven-digit number might be a temporary tag from a vehicle he owned years ago that was later reprinted for someone else’s new car purchase.
That person may never have registered it with E-ZPass, causing the violation to be sent to the last registered owner.
“Now, common sense should tell you that that’s what happened. E-ZPass should be able to look at that and see, ‘Oh, that temp tag’s from 10 years ago’ and be able to figure out what the problem is,” he says.
Here’s The Update
@thetodd2 says he is now waiting for his driver’s abstract from the DMV. That can take two to seven days and requires approval, with no guarantee he’ll receive it before the 10-day appeal deadline.
While he’d pay the $2.17 toll without complaint, the $52.17 total feels like extortion, he says.
“You’re literally ripping people off,” he says. He’s also concerned about violations being sent to collections. Even with proof that the vehicle isn’t his, Todd worries E-ZPass could still refuse to dismiss the charge.
“They can still look at my abstract and be like, no. I still think it’s you. What am I gonna do?” he asks.
Todd floats organizing a class-action lawsuit, suggesting that affected drivers each contribute $50 to a lawyer to challenge the system.
Commenters React
“$50 admin fee on a $6 toll. It’s wild!” a top comment read.
“Everything in NJ is becoming a scam . All they want is money,” a person said.
“Ezpass charged me twice in 2 weeks I tried calling. It’s says a hour wait I just gave up let them keep the 60$,” another wrote.
@thetodd2 My fiasco with EZPass #NJ #EZPASS #Tollviolation #Classaction #AdiministrationFEE
BroBible reached out to @thetodd2 via TikTok direct message and to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority via email.