For Whom The Bell Tolls: Drivers Must Stump Up

Motorists can't avoid the new automated road toll charge system.

Drivers have been warned they will be tracked down and fined if they fail to pay for using Ireland's unique new barrier-free M50 toll road.

There's no hiding place - even for foreign nationals - as the AA in Ireland said the Republic's National Roads Authority will use a Europe-wide debt recovery agency to seek out drivers from across the UK and abroad who fail to buy an electronic tag or to pay later via the internet and has compared the fines regime to the one used in London to monitor the congestion charge.

The new cash-free tolling on the M50 became operational after the system was activated at the weekend and motorists can no longer pay with cash and coins at the now abandoned toll plaza for using the vital section of road between junctions six and seven near Blanchardstown in western Dublin.

Vehicles instead pass at the normal speed limit under a gantry, which will collect their tolls electronically using cameras.

Motorists can either carry an electronic tag, pre-register to pay automatically, or pay the following day in order to avoid penalties.

All car registrations from Ireland and the UK passing through will be captured on camera with the new system designed to ease traffic hold-ups caused by motorists queuing to pay at the toll plaza.

Conor Faughnan, AA Ireland's Public Affairs Manager, advised non-Irish resident drivers who use the M50 to buy the electronic tag or pay quickly online.

Tags can be bought in newsagents and garages and operate like a mobile phone top-up system. Faughnan compared the penalty system to London's equally controversial congestion charge.

(BMcC)