316.1001 Payment of toll on toll facilities required; penalties.—
(1) A person may not use any toll facility without payment of tolls, except as provided in s. 338.155. Failure to pay a prescribed toll is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation under chapter 318.
(2)(a) For the purpose of enforcing this section, any governmental entity, as defined in s. 334.03, that owns or operates a toll facility may, by rule or ordinance, authorize a toll enforcement officer to issue a uniform traffic citation for a violation of this section. Toll enforcement officer means the designee of a governmental entity whose authority is to enforce the payment of tolls. The governmental entity may designate toll enforcement officers pursuant to s. 316.640(1).
(b) A citation issued under this subsection may be issued by mailing the citation by first-class mail or by certified mail to the address of the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation. Mailing the citation to such address constitutes notification. In the case of joint ownership of a motor vehicle, the traffic citation must be mailed to the first name appearing on the registration, unless the first name appearing on the registration is a business organization, in which case the second name appearing on the registration may be used. A citation issued under this paragraph must be mailed to the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation within 14 days after the date of issuance of the citation. In addition to the citation, notification must be sent to the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation specifying remedies available under ss. 318.14(12) and 318.18(7).
(c) The owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation is responsible and liable for payment of a citation issued for failure to pay a toll, unless the owner can establish the motor vehicle was, at the time of the violation, in the care, custody, or control of another person. In order to establish such facts, the owner of the motor vehicle is required, within 14 days after the date of issuance of the citation, to furnish to the appropriate governmental entity an affidavit setting forth:
1. The name, address, date of birth, and, if known, the driver license number of the person who leased, rented, or otherwise had the care, custody, or control of the motor vehicle at the time of the alleged violation; or
2. If stolen, the police report indicating that the vehicle was stolen at the time of the alleged violation.
Upon receipt of an affidavit the person designated as having care, custody, and control of the motor vehicle at the time of the violation may be issued a citation for failure to pay a required toll. The affidavit shall be admissible in a proceeding pursuant to this section for the purpose of providing that the person identified in the affidavit was in actual care, custody, or control of the motor vehicle. The owner of a leased vehicle for which a citation is issued for failure to pay a toll is not responsible for payment of the citation and is not required to submit an affidavit as specified in this subsection if the motor vehicle involved in the violation is registered in the name of the lessee of such motor vehicle.
(d) A written report of a toll enforcement officer to photographic evidence that a required toll was not paid is admissible in any proceeding to enforce this section and raises a rebuttable presumption that the motor vehicle named in the report or shown in the photographic evidence was used in violation of this section.
(3) The submission of a false affidavit is a misdemeanor of the second degree.
(4) Any governmental entity, including, without limitation, a clerk of court, may provide the department with data that is machine readable by the department’s computer system, listing persons who have one or more outstanding violations of this section, with reference to the person’s driver license number or vehicle registration number in the case of a business entity. Pursuant to s. 320.03(8), those persons may not be issued a license plate or revalidation sticker for any motor vehicle.
(5) Subsections (2)-(4) supplement the enforcement of this section by law enforcement officers, and this section does not prohibit a law enforcement officer from issuing a citation for a violation of this section in accordance with normal traffic enforcement techniques.
...On appeal to the circuit court, Baird only challenged the denial of his motion to withdraw his plea and motion for reduction of legal penalty. Baird and the State were the only parties, and neither party challenged the enforcement of EPASS or SUNPASS toll violations pursuant to section 316.1001, Florida Statutes (2007), or sought any relief beyond correction of the county court's error in denying the stipulated motions....
...The circuit court wrote: The Court having determined that EPASS and SUNPASS users have license agreements for prepaid and guaranteed accounts with the authority of each service, and having found that these users are exempt from enforcement of toll violations pursuant to F.S. 316.1001 (2007), the FDOT, Florida Turnpike Authority and Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority are hereby enjoined from filing any toll violation action in the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida for violations of F.S. 316.1001 (2007) as against any prepaid or guaranteed account holder who has entered an agreement with these authorities for EPASS or SUNPASS services. The Clerk of the Court of Seminole [County] and the Clerk of the Court of Brevard County are hereby *381 ordered to refuse the filing of such citations for violation of F.S. 316.1001 (2007) by these authorities and their enforcement officers or any other state agency with the authority to issue such citations until such time as the enforcement officer files a report under oath stating that such violator is not a prepa...
...vehicle’s rear license plate is obscured, the toll is assessed against the trailer
owner, rather than the vehicle owner, as the trailer’s rear license plate remains
visible.
Tropical Trailer sued the Department for erroneously interpreting sections
316.003(21) and 316.1001, Florida Statutes (2010), to authorize the Department to
assess tolls against the trailer owner, instead of the owner of the vehicle towing the
trailer. Tropical Trailer asserted that its trailers were not “motor vehicles” within
the meaning of section 316.003(21), and that the Department should have charged
the vehicle owner the toll pursuant to section 316.1001, because the vehicle owner
was the “person” who “used” the toll road....
...orida
Statutes (2011), which became effective on July 1, 2012, redefined “motor
vehicle” to include “trailers.” Ch. 2012-174, Laws of Fla.; see § 316.003(21), Fla.
Stat. (2012) (adopting meaning found in section 320.01(1)(a) for purposes of
section 316.1001, Florida Statutes).
5
Class B -- DAMAGES AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF: All trailer
owners whose trailer license tag was used by [the Department]
between 10/14/10 and 6/...
...iolations, which includes the use of cameras. See Fla. H.R. Policy Comm. on Roads, Bridges & Ports, HB 325 (2010) Staff Analysis 3 (Jan. 8, 2010) ("Cameras are permitted by current Florida law to enforce violations of payment of tolls.") (citing § 316.1001(2)(d), Fla. Stat. (2009) ). The toll violation statutory scheme authorized "a toll enforcement officer to issue" citations for toll violations and allowed toll operators to employ "independent contractors or designate employees as toll enforcement officers." § 316.1001(2)(a), Fla....
...3
These drivers allegedly smudge or obscure the tractor plate to avoid MDX detection.
Plaintiffs argued that Florida statutes make a driver ultimately responsible for the
entire unpaid toll, not the trailer owner. See § 316.1001(2)(c), Fla....
...The Plaintiffs have no practical way of identifying the drivers
towing their trailers. This makes it impossible for the Plaintiffs to track down the
toll violator to compel immediate payment of the toll, or to avoid the toll by
providing MDX a timely affidavit with the toll violator’s information, as required in
section 316.1001(2)(C)1., and 2., Florida Statutes (2017)....
...be assessed any
toll under the pre-2012 statute.
4
In 2012, however, the legislature amended section 316.003(21), defining
“motor vehicle” as:
(21) Motor vehicle.--Except when used in s. 316.1001, any self-
propelled vehicle not operated upon rails or guideway, but not
including any bicycle, motorized scooter, electric personal
assistive mobility device, or moped. For purposes of s.
316.1001, “motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in s.
320.01(1)(a).
§ 316.003(21), Fla....
...ailer, truck
tractor and semitrailer combination, or any other vehicle
operated on the roads of this state . . . .
The 2012 amendment to the section 316.003(21) definition arguably created
an ambiguity between the requirements in section 316.1001, requiring payment from
the registered owner of the motor vehicle committing the toll violation, and the now-
undefined responsible party for the toll when there were several owners involved in
a “truck tractor and semitrailer c...
...3
These drivers allegedly smudge or obscure the tractor plate to avoid MDX
detection. Plaintiffs argued that Florida statutes make a driver ultimately
responsible for the entire unpaid toll, not the trailer owner. See § 316.1001(2)(c),
Fla....
...The Plaintiffs have no practical
way of identifying the drivers towing their trailers. This makes it impossible for
the Plaintiffs to track down the toll violator to compel immediate payment of the
toll, or to avoid the toll by providing MDX a timely affidavit with the toll
violator’s information, as required in section 316.1001(2)(C)1., and 2., Florida
Statutes (2017)....
...railers were not self-propelled, they could not
be assessed any toll under the pre-2012 statute.
In 2012, however, the legislature amended section 316.003(21), defining
“motor vehicle” as:
(21) Motor vehicle.--Except when used in s. 316.1001, any self-
propelled vehicle not operated upon rails or guideway, but not
including any bicycle, motorized scooter, electric personal
assistive mobility device, or moped. For purposes of s.
316.1001, “motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in s.
320.01(1)(a).
§ 316.003(21), Fla....
...ailer, truck
tractor and semitrailer combination, or any other vehicle
operated on the roads of this state . . . .
The 2012 amendment to the section 316.003(21) definition arguably created
an ambiguity between the requirements in section 316.1001, requiring payment
from the registered owner of the motor vehicle committing the toll violation, and
the now-undefined responsible party for the toll when there were several owners
involved in a “truck tractor and semitrailer co...
...umstances. Violations of Chapter 316 , Florida Statutes, with the exception of criminal offenses enumerated therein, are noncriminal infractions for which individuals are cited. 12 Section 318.14 (2), Florida Statutes, states: "Except as provided in s. 316.1001 (2), any person cited for an infraction under this section must sign and accept a citation indicating a promise to appear....
...The officer may indicate on the traffic citation the time and location of the scheduled hearing and must indicate the applicable civil penalty established in s. 318.18 ." 13 As an exception to this general requirement that a person sign and accept a citation, section 316.1001 (2), Florida Statutes, allows a citation for failure to pay a prescribed toll to be issued by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation....
...1, CS for SB 94, 1996 Legislative Session. 7 See , s. 1(1), CS for SB 94, 1996 Legislative Session. 8 See , s. 1(3), CS for SB 94, 1996 Legislative Session. 9 See , s. 1(4), CS for SB 94, 1996 Legislative Session. 10 See , s. 1(5), CS for SB 94, 1996 Legislative Session. 11 Cf ., s. 316.1001 (2)(b), Fla....
...citations were issued to motorists who ran the light. 12 See , s. 318.14 (1), Fla. Stat. (1995). 13 Section 318.14 (3), Fla. Stat. (1995), makes it a misdemeanor of the second degree for a person to willfully refuse to accept and sign a summons. 14 Section 316.1001 (2)(b), Fla....
defendant is issued a citation for violating section 316.1001, Florida Statutes, and the defendant elects
This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney. Attorney Syfert regularly works with Chapter 316 in the context of traffic and automobile accident law and represents clients throughout Northeast Florida. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.
