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Perhaps this is not the most clear question, so let me explain. I own a toll tag and can normally take the 'subscriber' booth and drive straight through. But today I had left my tag in the other car and immediately realized why I own a tag. (Hint: it's not just for the discount).

Of course I didn't stop close enough to the booth and had to unfasten my seatbelt to put my credit card awkwardly in the machine. The credit card came out again and the machine said 'transaction succesful, have a nice trip'.

While I was awkwardly holding my credit card, not wearing a seatbelt and had with the window open, the barrier went up. I threw my credit card on the passenger seat, quickly fastened my seatbelt again, drove off and tried closing the window while driving. None of it felt natural.

So my question: how do I do this? Can I do all these things before driving or should I really get a car with electric windows and practice stopping closer to the booth? (Or not leave the tag in the other car ..)

If location matters, this is for France and to a lesser extend Netherlands, but I would love a general answer.

Willeke
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Belle
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4 Answers4

95

I ride a motorcycle (I've never learned to drive a car) and I cannot imagine anything you could be doing in a car that takes as long as zipping up the riding suit, putting the gloves back on, putting the helmet front down, and getting ready to ride off (all whilst trying not to drop the bike on the giant diesel smear that nearly every tollbooth features). Yet I have never, in 28 years (and about 300,000 miles) of riding all round the US and Europe, had one of these barriers close on me after I'd given it money, but before I was ready to ride off. I am fairly sure they have sensors to detect the passage of the paid-for vehicle, and they just don't close until those are triggered.

The only time anything like this has ever been an issue is in car parks with pay-before-leaving machines: the grace period they allow between paying and leaving is short enough that you sometimes cannot fit the earplugs, don riding suit, helmet, and gloves, finish packing the bike, and get to the barrier before the grace period is exhausted. In such cases, a short conversation over the intercom system ("I'm on a motorbike") is enough to get the barrier (re-)opened.

MadHatter
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From personal experience, you have more than 30 seconds at least. Normally, the bar does not go down unless a car passes through, so you don't need to hurry at all.

You will find that after some instances, it will be much smoother too, and you won't need more than two or three seconds anyway; but don't stress yourself.

Try to be considerate to the queue behind you though (if any); they will hate you much less if you don't spend 30 seconds sorting your stuff. You can always pass through the bar and pull right over to sort your stuff out before continuing.

Aganju
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16

The barrier will wait for you - even for 10 minutes.

As a safety matter, you absolutely must not rush.

Take your time and correctly put away the coins, cards etc. Do not rush, for any reason.

You mention you had to actually turn off the car, open the door, and step sideways to use the machine.

This is utterly normal. I do it 100% of the time (just because I'm both relaxed and OCD), and I'd say, oh, at least 15% of drivers do this.

You seem to have completely the wrong idea, and I am happy to bring you the good news!

(1) the barrier will wait for you indefinitely

(2) you seem to express a desire to rush, or something, through the process. I can't comprehend this. take as long as you want.

(I can absolutely assure you, the only thing other drivers want is for you to be safe - there is zero other consideration on the road.)

Community
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Fattie
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First hone your driving skills. There is nothing really technical about stopping your car up close to the machine, just takes practice.

Second when I am dealing with tolls (cash or card) I put my wallet on the seat next to me or center console, so it is easily accessible at each toll plaza.

Not sure how toll tags work in France, but perhaps get one for each car and have them tied to the same funding account.