23300-23303
VEHICLE CODE
SECTION 23300-23303
23300. The Department of Transportation shall erect appropriate
signs at each entrance to a vehicular crossing to notify traffic that
it is entering upon a vehicular crossing.
23301. Except as provided in Section 23301.5, each vehicle that
enters into or upon a vehicular crossing immediately becomes liable
for those tolls and other charges as may from time to time be
prescribed by the California Transportation Commission.
23301.5. (a) An authorized emergency vehicle is exempt from any
requirement to pay a toll or other charge on a vehicular crossing,
toll highway, or high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane, including the
requirements of Section 23301, if all of the following conditions are
satisfied:
(1) The authorized emergency vehicle is properly displaying an
exempt California license plate, and is properly identified or marked
as an authorized emergency vehicle, including, but not limited to,
displaying an external surface-mounted red warning light, blue
warning light, or both, and displaying public agency identification,
including, but not limited to, "Fire Department," "Sheriff," or
"Police."
(2) (A) The vehicle is being driven while responding to or
returning from an urgent or emergency call, engaged in an urgent or
emergency response, or engaging in a fire station coverage assignment
directly related to an emergency response.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, an "urgent" response or call
means an incident or circumstance that requires an immediate response
to a public safety-related incident, but does not warrant the use of
emergency warning lights. "Urgent" does not include any personal
use, commuting, training, or administrative uses.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an authorized emergency
vehicle, when returning from an urgent or emergency call, or from
being engaged in an urgent or emergency response, or from engaging in
a fire station coverage assignment directly related to an emergency
response, shall not be exempt from any requirement to pay a toll or
other charge imposed while traveling on a high-occupancy toll (HOT)
lane.
(3) The driver of the vehicle determines that the use of the toll
facility shall likely improve the availability or response and
arrival time of the authorized emergency vehicle and its delivery of
essential public safety services.
(b) If the operator of a toll facility elects to send a bill or
invoice to the public agency for the use of the toll facility by an
authorized emergency vehicle, exempt pursuant to subdivision (a), the
fire chief, police chief, county sheriff, head of the public agency,
or his or her designee, is authorized to certify in writing that the
authorized emergency vehicle was responding to or returning from an
emergency call or response and is exempt from the payment of the toll
or other charge in accordance with this section. The letter shall be
accepted by the toll operator in lieu of payment and is a public
document.
(c) An authorized emergency vehicle that does not comply with this
section is not exempt from the requirement to pay a toll or other
charge on a toll highway, vehicular crossing, or high-occupancy toll
(HOT) lane. Upon information and belief of the toll operator that an
authorized emergency vehicle is not in compliance with this section,
the fire chief, police chief, county sheriff, head of the public
agency, or his or her designee, upon the written request of the owner
or operator of the toll facility, shall provide or otherwise make
accessible to the toll operator the dispatch records or log books
relevant to the time period when the vehicle was in use on the toll
highway, vehicular crossing, or high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or amend an agreement
entered into between the owner or operator of a toll facility and a
local emergency service provider that establishes mutually agreed
upon terms for the use of the toll facility by the emergency service
provider. This section shall not prohibit the owner or operator of a
toll facility from having a policy that meets or exceeds this
section. If at any time an emergency service provider or the owner or
operator of a toll facility opts to terminate an agreement regarding
the payment and processing of tolls or other charges, this section
shall apply to the emergency service provider and the toll facility.
An agreement between an emergency service provider and the owner or
operator of a toll facility does not exempt other emergency service
providers not named in the original agreement and the toll facility
from the requirements of this section when those other emergency
service providers use a toll facility in the jurisdiction of the
owner or operator of the toll facility.
(e) Sections 23302 and 23302.5 do not apply to authorized
emergency vehicles exempt pursuant to this section.
(f) As used in this section, "toll facility" includes a toll
road, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane, toll bridge, toll highway, a
vehicular crossing for which payment of a toll or charge is required,
or any other toll facility.
23301.8.
23302. (a) It is unlawful for a person to fail to pay tolls or
other charges on any vehicular crossing or toll highway. Except as
otherwise provided in subdivision (b), (c), or (d), it is prima facie
evidence of a violation of this section for a person to enter upon
any vehicular crossing without either lawful money of the United
States in the person's immediate possession in an amount sufficient
to pay the prescribed tolls or other charges due from that person or
a transponder or other electronic toll payment device associated with
a valid Automatic Vehicle Identification account with a balance
sufficient to pay those tolls. If a transponder or other electronic
toll payment device is used to pay tolls or other charges due, the
device shall be located in, or on the vehicle in a location so as to
be visible for the purpose of enforcement at all times when the
vehicle is located on the vehicular crossing or toll highway. Where
required by the operator of a vehicular crossing or toll highway,
this requirement applies even if the operator offers free travel or
nontoll accounts to certain classes of users.
(b) For vehicular crossings and toll highways that use electronic
toll collection as the only method of paying tolls or other charges,
it is prima facie evidence of a violation of this section for a
person to enter the vehicular crossing or toll highway without a
transponder or other electronic toll payment device associated with a
valid Automatic Vehicle Identification account with a balance
sufficient to pay those tolls.
(c) For vehicular crossings and toll highways where the issuing
agency, as defined in Section 40250, permits pay-by-plate payment of
tolls and other charges in accordance with policies adopted by the
issuing agency, it is prima facie evidence of a violation of this
section for a person to enter the vehicular crossing or toll highway
without at least one of the following:
(1) Lawful money of the United States in the person's immediate
possession in an amount sufficient to pay the prescribed tolls or
other charges due from that person.
(2) A transponder or other electronic toll payment device
associated with a valid Automatic Vehicle Identification account with
a balance sufficient to pay those tolls.
(3) Valid vehicle license plates properly attached pursuant to
Section 4850.5 or 5200 to the vehicle in which that person enters
onto the vehicular crossing or toll highway.
(d) For vehicular crossings and toll highways where the issuing
agency, as defined in Section 40250, permits pay-by-plate payment of
tolls and other charges in accordance with policies adopted by the
issuing agency, and where electronic toll collection is the only
other method of paying tolls or other charges, it is prima facie
evidence of a violation of this section for a person to enter the
vehicular crossing or toll highway without either a transponder or
other electronic toll payment device associated with a valid
Automatic Vehicle Identification account with a balance sufficient to
pay those tolls or valid vehicle license plates properly attached to
the vehicle pursuant to Section 4850.5 or 5200 in which that person
enters onto the vehicular crossing or toll highway.
(e) As used in this article, "pay-by-plate toll payment" means an
issuing agency's use of on-road vehicle license plate identification
recognition technology to accept payment of tolls in accordance with
policies adopted by the issuing agency.
(f) This section does not require an issuing agency to offer
pay-by-plate toll processing as a method for paying tolls.
23302.5. (a) No person shall evade or attempt to evade the payment
of tolls or other charges on any vehicular crossing or toll highway.
(b) A violation of subdivision (a) is subject to civil penalties
and is neither an infraction nor a public offense, as defined in
Section 15 of the Penal Code. The enforcement of those civil
penalties shall be governed by the civil administrative procedures
set forth in Article 4 (commencing with Section 40250) of Chapter 1
of Division 17.
23303. The Department of Transportation shall have a lien and may
enforce such lien, as provided in Chapter 6.5 (commencing with
Section 3067) of Title 14 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code,
for all tolls and charges provided by this chapter.