Truck driver James Bonds his way out of toll

[Blowfeld]

0ctober 17, 2011, Virginia driver uses flipping licence plate to avoid fee
Truck driver James Bonds his way out of toll (motor-plast.at)

Remember in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger when Bond flips the licence plate on his Aston Martin DB5 to avoid detection? "That is so cool!" is what you might've thought.

"That is so—practical," is what came to mind for Virginia trucker Nelson Vaquiz.

Vaquiz rigged up his own dashboard button-activated plate-flipper on his tractor-trailer, hoping to avoid the $65 toll to cross the George Washington Bridge on his way into New York City, reports NPR.

He was caught by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey October 13 when an officer saw the plates switch as Vaquiz drove through a gateless toll lane. (His rear plate was also bent upward so it couldn't be read.)

After a short chase, he was stopped; his truck was impounded and he was charged with theft of service, possession of burglar tools and eluding arrest.

Vaquiz isn't the only one trying to avoid the climbing tolls across the bridge. Drivers with obscured licence plates cost the Port Authority $14 million in 2009 and 2010.

The Port Authority says the toll goes toward rebuilding the World Trade Center.