“Received Ticket In Illinois. First Time In The States :(”

Hi everyone, I have a question about out of province toll booth ticket

So 2 month ago, I drove from Ontario to Alberta through the states. I crossed the Chicago area late at night and since i never drove in the states before, i went through some "i pass" tolls. They mailed a $170 fine to my parents house in Ontario (I am in Alberta now).

well, i can't really fight it in court since i'm in Alberta, but also don't want to pay such a huge fine for few dollars worth of tolls. In the letter they threatened to petition the secretary of state to suspend my vehicle registration and an additional $400 fine if i don't pay up.

what are my options? I am changing my plates from Ontario to Alberta plates soon if it matters.

thanks!

Suspended registration means that your car will be considered unregistered in Illinois until your fine is paid. If you, or anyone, gets caught driving that car in Illinois it will be towed away and you will get another ticket for driving without valid registration. Changing your plates form Ontario to Alberta might throw them off if you get pulled over down there, but I wouldn't count on it. If you don't pay the fine your best bet is to never drive any car that is registered to you in Illinois again. Remember that computers have long memories so don't make the mistake of thinking that just because a few years have gone by that the state will have forgotten about the outstanding fines, they won't. That registration suspension will be in their database forever. Also at some point they may forward your account to a collection agency, so you may have to put up with some collection letters and phone calls. That having been said I don't think they can do much to you in Canada other then call up and annoy you. Also I don't think Illinois has reciprocity with Alberta for toll booth tickets so I don't think the Alberta government will do anything to you if you don't pay, although these agreements are always changing so you will have to check with the Alberta MOT to be absolutely sure.

thanks for the reply and advice. I'll probably will just ignore them and never visit Illinois again. If i do cross the border again, would i get denied or put in cuffs for non payment though?

Just my 2 cents, but I would pay the fine.

You have to know the laws and traffic rules of the country you are in. I once asked a American relative what happens if you dont pay or cant pay at the tolls. His answer, was if you live here you KNOW you have to pay money at tolls, so you either dont take the toll highway or you make sure to take money to pay your toll.

"I-PASS is a prepaid toll collection system that saves motorists time and money. Every toll lane on the Illinois Tollway is equipped to accept I-PASS, which can also be used on the Chicago Skyway, the Indiana Toll Road, and in 15 states by more than 25 toll agencies where E-ZPass is accepted."