West Virginia Code 17-16D-10 – Evading tolls; damaging, interfering with, or obstructing video toll collection or infrastructure; violations and criminal penalties
(a) Any person who knowingly or intentionally evades or seeks to evade the payment of tolls, rents, fees, or charges established by the Parkways Authority for the use of any toll facility under the jurisdiction of the Authority, or of any private toll transportation facility pursuant to § 17-17-38 of this code, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $50 for each violation of this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 17-16D-10
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Electronic toll collection: means a system of collecting tolls or charges that has or includes the capability of charging an account holder, owner or operator of a vehicle for the prescribed toll:
(A) By electronic transmission of information between a device on a vehicle and a device located in a toll lane or otherwise used at a toll collection facility. See West Virginia Code 17-16D-2
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Parkways Authority: means the West Virginia Parkways Authority established by article sixteen-a of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 17-16D-2
- toll facility: means any facility, including all related structures, equipment, systems and software, used in connection with collecting or charging tolls for a toll road, highway or bridge in this state, regardless of whether the facility is located on, over or adjacent to the toll road, highway or bridge and regardless of whether the facility has toll lanes with toll booths and toll collection equipment that require passing vehicles to stop or slow down in order to pay a toll or uses additional or different methods, structures, technology and equipment in order to charge or collect tolls from some vehicles passing under or by the facility at highway speeds: Provided, That any such facility shall have the ability to accept cash for the payment of tolls. See West Virginia Code 17-16D-2
- Video collection system: means a vehicle sensor, placed in a location to work in conjunction with a toll collection facility, that automatically produces a videotape or photograph, microphotograph or other recorded image of the front or rear portion, or both front and rear portion, of each vehicle at the time the vehicle is used or operated on the toll facility in order to charge or collect tolls or detect violations of this article. See West Virginia Code 17-16D-2
(b) Any person who deliberately damages, defaces, or obstructs a video collection system infrastructure or power supply with the intent to interfere with, alter, or prevent the functioning of the system or electronic toll collection, or who obstructs a license plate or causes it to be unreadable by the video collection system, or who causes a transponder or other device used in an electronic toll system to be inoperable or unreadable thereby causing no toll to be charged, including a private toll transportation facility pursuant to § 17-17-38 of this code, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, in addition to any other penalties provided by the code, and upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $500 for each such action and, if applicable, is additionally liable to the Parkways Authority or the private toll transportation facility for all costs incurred to repair the damaged, defaced, or obstructed property.