Last August, the state through passage of Act 165 began suspending motor vehicle registrations of motorists with six or more toll violations or unpaid tolls of $500 or more on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

We asked about a year ago why more than 10,000 of the motorists in this category, owing $17.1 million, had been allowed to get away with this flagrant disregard of the law for so long.

We also pointed out that this might become just another state law that is flouted by uncaring residents who want to game the system while the rest of us take our obligations seriously.

But perhaps things are looking up for us law-abiders and down for lawbreakers. For example, a Harrisburg area woman who owes $91,000 in unpaid E-ZPass tolls and fines now faces felony theft charges.

According to Pennsylvania Turnpike officials, this might be the first time in the nation’s history that blatant E-ZPass violators are facing felony criminal charges. If these violators are convicted, they face jail time in addition to being required to make restitution for the money owed to the state and its affected municipalities.

Turnpike officials have been targeting those with an unpaid toll and fine balance of $2,000 and more. Since last November, they have filed 122 cases in five south-central and southeastern counties. So far, they have collected more than $120,000 in 12 settled cases.

Although there are turnpike interchanges in Carbon and Lehigh counties, enforcement has not yet begun in these counties, but turnpike officials have their sights set on them, too.

In Carbon, there is the Mahoning Valley interchange and the E-ZPass only interchange (exit 87 at Route 903). In Lehigh County, there is the busy Lehigh Valley interchange.

It’s not that turnpike officials have not tried to get unpaid fines and penalties. Each violator in danger of license suspension receives on average 30 notifications of his or her violation, each a little more threatening than the last, but there are a percentage of motorists who ignore all of these efforts. Turnpike officials hope that the threat of jail will get their attention.

These lawbreakers cost all of us. In 2017, we lost more than $5 million from toll-avoiders, a nearly 30 percent increase over the previous year.

It is not unusual for some of these motorists to owe $15,000 or more. It’s just mind-boggling that they have been able to get away with it for so long.

According to turnpike officials, some of the common toll violations include: not having a transponder, not having sufficient funds in an account to cover a toll and failing to register a new or multiple vehicles on an existing account.

But there is another type of violator that is extremely difficult to detect. This is the toll-evader who uses devices to hide his or her license plate from security cameras.

Some install “flip plates,” which permit drivers to hide their plates.

They do this by pushing a dashboard switch that allows the driver to flip the regular license plate, replacing it with a different plate.

Another device, easily available online, is called “Photoblockers,” a spray that covers license plates with a highly reflective clear coating that makes the numbers difficult to capture by the E-ZPass surveillance system.

Obviously, anyone caught using these devices to cheat the state faces criminal charges in addition to the charges for the toll and fines.

We urge turnpike personnel and law enforcement officials to put the pedal to the metal when it comes to cracking down on these flagrant E-ZPass violators.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com