The Florida Senate

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 sole 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 certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address of the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation. In the case of joint ownership of a motor vehicle, the traffic citation must be mailed to the first name appearing on the registration. 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 the violation. In addition to the citation, notification must be sent to the registered owner of the motor vehicle involved in the violation specifying the remedy available under s. 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 notification of the alleged violation, to furnish to the appropriate governmental entity an affidavit setting forth:

1.  The name, address, 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.

(d)  A written report of a toll enforcement officer or photographic evidence that indicates 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 may supply the department with data that is machine readable by the department's computer system, listing persons who have three or more outstanding violations of this section. 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.

History.--s. 1, ch. 85-184; s. 16, ch. 93-164; s. 15, ch. 96-350; s. 26, ch. 97-300.