I was fined for driving on a road I hadn’t used for a year – even though I had proof that the car in question wasn’t mine

A DRIVER was left baffled when he received a fine for crossing a toll bridge he hadn’t used for a year in a car he didn’t own.

Brandt McCool of Louisville, Kentucky, was shocked when notices came in the mail charging him for crossing bridges with images of a car completely different from his own.

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In 2023, the driver returned to the city and purchased a black Volvo XC 60 SUV while preparing for his daughter’s arrival.

However, the invoices that began arriving in the mail showed an entirely different car driving on roads he had not traveled on.

“I knew immediately something was wrong,” McCool said. WHAT 11.

He showed the news outlet one of the notices he received, accusing new RiverLink toll provider Electronic Transaction Consultants of “exploiting their profits.”

“You can see it’s a light, white Honda Sedan,” he told the outlet, pointing to the vehicle on the invoice.

“There’s no Volvo license plate there and it’s a different color car.”

He noticed that the Honda’s license plate number was identical to his, except for the final digit.

When asked for his first reaction to the invoices, the new father accused the Texas-based toll operator of being “a big out-of-state company.” [that] he just wants to extract his profits.”

The company “really doesn’t care about the people in the community it serves,” he added.

ETC took control in 2023 and drivers immediately made numerous complaints about incorrect tickets and difficulties contacting customer service, according to WHAS11.

McCool stated that “ETC was not ready for prime time” and “didn’t have the resources or preparation to really deal with the volume of complaints and fines it was going to receive.”

When fighting his invoices, McCool filled out a form disputing the initial charges and subsequent late fees he was charged.

“This is not my car and I did not cross the bridge, please remove these violations from my car as your system did not fully read the license plate in the photo,” the frustrated driver wrote.

However, McCool received no response from the company, not even when it waived the fees issued during the transition period between toll providers.

At the time McCool went to the news outlet, Riverlink spokeswoman Miny Peterson said the issue was caused by an apparent “misreading” that would be “resolved during the dispute process.”

A large out-of-state company just wants to extract profits.

Brandt McCool

In an update days later, Peterson told the outlet: “Registration holds have not yet been implemented by the new provider and no date has been set yet to begin sending out vehicle registration holds.”

Drivers like McCool who had previously received reports would also not be fined, it was confirmed.

However, McCool and other drivers were even more angered by the lack of communication.

Instead of being informed of the news, McCool’s outstanding balance was reset and his accounts were withdrawn after he shared his story with the media outlet.

“They should have communicated through the media, through their website, through social media,” he said before adding, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”