E-ZPass accused of speed errors on Grand Isle
Drivers, motorcyclist facing threat of suspension deny exceeding limit
Richard DiTullio of Grand Island said he is anything but a speed demon when riding his motorcycle.
If anything, the 59-year-old pharmaceutical company employee and church volunteer said he could be accused of driving too slowly.
So he is perplexed that the state Thruway Authority has accused him of speeding through the E-ZPass lane on Grand Island on four separate occasions since May 8.
DiTullio is one of at least four motorists who claim they were wrongly accused of speeding through the E-ZPass lane at the Grand Island Thruway toll barrier.
But Thruway Authority officials say they are unaware of any “wholesale problems” at that location.
The complaints about Grand Island were made a day after the authority confirmed that a technical malfunction at the Dunkirk-Fredonia exit caused about 3,600 motorists to be mistakenly cited for speeding through an E-ZPass lane.
On Friday, three motorists who live on Grand Island and one who lives in Niagara Falls told The Buffalo News that they have been erroneously accused of speeding past the E-ZPass toll booth on Grand Island.
“[The Thruway Authority] told me I drove 49 miles an hour in the E-ZPass lane on June 9, and my E-ZPass will be suspended for two months on June 30,” said Pamela Bucholtz, a nurse who lives on the island.
“I’ve never driven that fast through a toll booth in my entire life. I’m a very safe driver. I haven’t had a speeding ticket since I was in my 20s, and I’m 56 now.”
Four different vehicles used by members of her family share the same E-ZPass account, meaning a suspension would affect four different drivers, Bucholtz said.
“To me, it sounds like they had another big computer glitch on Grand Island,” Bucholtz said.
Similar complaints came from DiTullio and Patricia Paolucci, also of Grand Island, and from Kyle Brocious of Niagara Falls.
DiTullio said the authority keeps accusing him of speeding past the toll booth on his motorcycle, even though he is extremely careful not to speed.
“I am not a 20-year-old racing through town on a sport bike,” DiTullio said. “If I create any problems on the road, it is from driving too slow.”
Ever since receiving his first warning letter, which alleged a violation on May 8, DiTullio said, “I have been doubly sure not to exceed 5 mph.”
He even faces the tollbooth camera and holds five fingers up to show the speed he is going, DiTullio said.
The authority, he said, has threatened to suspend his use of E-ZPass for two months because of four speeding allegations, including a claim that he zoomed past the toll booth at 39 mph during rush hour on May 15.
“[It] would be truly scary to go through the booth at 39 mph, even if there was no traffic around,” DiTullio said.
Had he been going 39 mph during rush hour, as the authority alleges, he would have smashed into the cars in front of him.
Asked Friday about the Grand Island situation, Dick Bennett, a spokesman, said the Thruway Authority “is not aware of any wholesale problems with the E-ZPass lanes at the Grand Island bridges.”
If anyone alleges they were wrongly cited for speeding, they should contact the E-ZPass Customer Service Center and file an appeal, Bennett said.
The speed-detection system at the toll booths, he said, is designed “to protect the safety of employees and the motorists [and] not to catch speeders.”
In the Dunkirk-Fredonia case, many motorists received letters telling them that their vehicles had zoomed through the Dunkirk-Fredonia E-ZPass lane at speeds of 40 miles per hour and faster. Some motorists were told their E-ZPass privileges would be suspended or revoked.
Technical problems with the device that measures vehicle speed at the exit led to the erroneous tickets, Bennett said. He said all the motorists will receive letters advising them that the speeding citations will be overturned.
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