British family caught lifting French motorway barrier after months of toll dodging

One British family living in France family had a very hands-on approach to avoiding French motorway tolls. Most drivers trying to avoid a motorway toll might look for a cheaper route. This British family apparently decided the better option was simply to lift the barrier.

Three vehicles belonging to the same family were stopped by French police on August 8, after allegedly avoiding toll payments for months on the A36 motorway in eastern France. Their remarkably low-tech method involved one person getting out of a vehicle, manually lifting the toll barrier and allowing the other cars to pass through before the convoy disappeared down the motorway.

Police believe the manoeuvre had been repeated over a period of around six months. By the time the family was caught, the unpaid toll bill had reportedly reached around €3,000.

Cameras finally caught up with the toll dodgers

APRR, the company operating the motorway, had been monitoring the vehicles after noticing a repeated pattern of suspected toll evasion. Registration numbers and movements were recorded before police were alerted.

A patrol from the Villars-sous-Ecot motorised unit eventually intercepted the three vehicles at the Saint-Maurice-Colombier toll station in the Doubs department. Officers reportedly caught the group in the act as the barrier-lifting routine was being repeated.

Rather than making a dramatic getaway, the family just settled the outstanding €3,000 bill. French reports say the payment was made immediately. France takes toll evasion seriously, with failing to pay a motorway toll classed as a traffic offence carrying a €135 fine under French rules.

Getting close behind another car is a classic trick

Physically lifting a barrier might sound like something from a particularly chaotic road-trip comedy, but it is far from the only trick motorists have tried.

One of the best-known methods is sometimes called the “train” technique. A second vehicle drives extremely close behind a car that has already paid, attempting to pass through before the barrier comes down. European Commission documentation on electronic tolling has specifically identified this kind of bumper-to-bumper manoeuvre as one way motorists have attempted to avoid payment.

Another remarkably direct approach involves simply driving through the barrier and breaking it. Heavy vehicles have reportedly been responsible for some such incidents.

From chicken-wing stickers to James Bond-style gadgets

American drivers have produced some rather more inventive solutions. Back in 2018, a California driver allegedly covered parts of his number plate with the price sticker from a packet of teriyaki chicken wings bought at a supermarket. Unfortunately for him, a California Highway Patrol officer noticed the obscured plate. The Mustang was stopped, and the driver was cited.

Drivers have also been known to use mechanical number-plate flippers, shutters and other devices designed to prevent cameras from reading registrations. But perhaps the family in France had the simplest idea of all.

After months of apparently getting away with it, the €3,000 bill demonstrated one particularly painful rule of toll-road life: sooner or later, somebody is likely to notice that you keep driving through without paying.

For anyone tempted to try a similar shortcut on Spain’s toll roads, the lesson may be particularly relevant. Drivers on the Costa del Sol already know that motorway tolls can be expensive. Finding another route may be frustrating. Finding another way to pay, however, could prove considerably more expensive.