Getting a tow to the repair shop can be costly, but there's another fee tacked on you may not know about.
It all has to do with the route the tow truck driver takes to the mechanic shop.
It's not a huge amount of money, but it's a bill you may not realize is coming your way. It's a bill Steve Gill didn't expect either.
"I travel early morning, so I'm usually at work by 5 a.m.," Gill said.
He was on the road one of those mornings when he experienced car trouble.
"My car just stopped. The engine failed," he said.
A wrecker picked up his truck and gave him a ride to the repair shop.
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"I was riding in the cab of the transport vehicle. I did see on their windshield they had a toll tag," Gill said.
Even though his car never touched the road, and it was the tow truck driver who chose the toll roads, the bill for the toll went to Gill — not the towing company.
"I avoid the toll roads at all cost. I never take the toll roads unless I specifically have to," Gill said.
But he got a bill for $22, and the North Texas Tollway Authority says he has to pay.
The Texas Transportation Code says that if they don't collect a toll while the car is being driven or towed, the authority shall send an invoice.
"It did not seem right at all," Gill said.
Gill contacted NBC 5 Responds for help, and since he was towed on a TEXpress lane we encouraged him to contact the Texas Department of Transportation for help. TxDot agreed to pass the toll charge to the tow company instead of Gill, and he was finally credited $22.
"There was a lot of research to be done. There's a point to be made. It was very much the principle of the thing," Gill said.
NTTA tells NBC 5 that because the camera system that does the billing is automated, the bill could go to the tow truck, the car being towed or even both of them. The law allows them to collect tolls from everyone. But if you reach out, they may consider an adjustment for the tow, just like they did in Gill's case.
