How to best get through a motorway toll booth safely between paying and the barrier closing?
Perhaps this is not the most clear question, so let me explain. I own a toll tag and can normally take the 'subscriber' booth and drive straight through. But today I had left my tag in the other car and immediately realized why I own a tag. (Hint: it's not just for the discount).
Of course I didn't stop close enough to the booth and had to unfasten my seatbelt to put my credit card awkwardly in the machine. The credit card came out again and the machine said 'transaction succesful, have a nice trip'.
While I was awkwardly holding my credit card, not wearing a seatbelt and had with the window open, the barrier went up. I threw my credit card on the passenger seat, quickly fastened my seatbelt again, drove off and tried closing the window while driving. None of it felt natural.
So my question: how do I do this? Can I do all these things before driving or should I really get a car with electric windows and practice stopping closer to the booth? (Or not leave the tag in the other car ..)
If location matters, this is for France and to a lesser extend Netherlands, but I would love a general answer.
Best Answer
From personal experience, you have more than 30 seconds at least. Normally, the bar does not go down unless a car passes through, so you don't need to hurry at all.
You will find that after some instances, it will be much smoother too, and you won't need more than two or three seconds anyway; but don't stress yourself.
Try to be considerate to the queue behind you though (if any); they will hate you much less if you don't spend 30 seconds sorting your stuff. You can always pass through the bar and pull right over to sort your stuff out before continuing.
Pictures about "How to best get through a motorway toll booth safely between paying and the barrier closing?"
Paying motorway toll in France
More answers regarding how to best get through a motorway toll booth safely between paying and the barrier closing?
Answer 2
The barrier will wait for you - even for 10 minutes.
As a safety matter, you absolutely must not rush.
Take your time and correctly put away the coins, cards etc. Do not rush, for any reason.
You mention you had to actually turn off the car, open the door, and step sideways to use the machine.
This is utterly normal. I do it 100% of the time (just because I'm both relaxed and OCD), and I'd say, oh, at least 15% of drivers do this.
You seem to have completely the wrong idea, and I am happy to bring you the good news!
(1) the barrier will wait for you indefinitely
(2) you seem to express a desire to rush, or something, through the process. I can't comprehend this. take as long as you want.
(I can absolutely assure you, the only thing other drivers want is for you to be safe - there is zero other consideration on the road.)
Answer 3
First hone your driving skills. There is nothing really technical about stopping your car up close to the machine, just takes practice.
Second when I am dealing with tolls (cash or card) I put my wallet on the seat next to me or center console, so it is easily accessible at each toll plaza.
Not sure how toll tags work in France, but perhaps get one for each car and have them tied to the same funding account.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Wendy Wei, Evgenia Basyrova, Charles Parker, Mitchell Luo