Why Traffic Camera Tickets and Tolls Will Cost You More in a Rental Car

There are certain risks to consider with leasing. Renting a car seat and a rental car, for example, can be a bad decision. Another hidden danger that you may not have considered is that toll fees and tickets from cameras can be very expensive when driving a rental car.

According to The Washington Post in 2022, the founder of the car rental company Kyte, Ludwig Schoenack, declared that “historically, tolls have been a profit center for car rental companies.” Another reason for this is that a rental car usually uses a rental transponder. There is a charge for that, and then, of course, the toll itself must be paid. Different rental companies offer different services and ways to do so. Hertz’s PlatePass All-Inclusive Tolling service is prepaid for each rental day and is available in 25 US states, including Florida, California, and Washington State. Hertz notes that drivers who do not sign up for PlatePass, or who use toll roads outside of the program, may be charged regulatory fees, in addition to applicable toll fees.

It is therefore important to fully familiarize yourself with the policies of your rental company and any toll roads you may include on your trip, to avoid unpleasant and expensive experiences. Enterprise warns, “You are responsible for all costs, fines, violations, tolls, and administrative fees we charge for processing and billing.” This also means that if you get a traffic camera ticket, it’s usually not just a fine you’ll be paying. In the case of Avis, a $20 administrative fee is charged to process parking or traffic tickets, meaning that a fine that would have been $100 (for example) is suddenly 20% higher.

Traffic cameras automatically capture images of offending vehicles. If it is a rental car, the rental company will be identified as the registered owner of the car. The driver is largely responsible for paying the fine, but how this is handled depends on the company used and the location of the offense.

Enterprise, for example, notes that the “municipality or toll road authority” sends, as the owner, information on the violation or toll charge (usually only electronically because it is faster than physical tickets). Some jurisdictions allow Enterprise to legally transfer liability, so the driver can pay the appropriate amount as they would if they were driving their own vehicle at the time. In such cases, Enterprise adds, “our normal administrative fees still apply.” A possible delay in receiving this notification from the rental company may lead to it arriving after the driver has paid the issuing body, when the driver cannot complete the proof of payment form from other suppliers.

When renting a car, it is possible to avoid some of the additional costs without paying directly before the rental company sends its invoice. If you have your own E-ZPass Transponder, you may be able to use it with a car and thus avoid using the TollPass Service. This can be important because Alamo notes that the service itself costs $4.95 daily, roughly $34.65. If you intend to drive the car for a long time and there are likely to be many tolls on your route, it becomes more important to understand these additional costs. There are certain things you need to do before renting a car, and this is one of them.