Skip to main content

Foreign drivers cannot avoid paying Dart Charge, says RHA

The news that over one million non-UK drivers have managed to avoid paying the Dart Charge when travelling over the Dartford Crossing comes as little surprise to the Road Haulage Association *RHA). Speaking to BBC Kent, RHA policy director Duncan Buchanan said: “This issue was identified from the moment the Freeflow system was introduced, and it is still a problem. Foreign drivers should pay: it’s as simple as that. It is very concerning that there are still hauliers making the crossing for free.” Fin
August 22, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The news that over one million non-UK drivers have managed to avoid paying the Dart Charge when travelling over the Dartford Crossing comes as little surprise to the 6985 Road Haulage Association *RHA).


Speaking to BBC Kent, RHA policy director Duncan Buchanan said: “This issue was identified from the moment the Freeflow system was introduced, and it is still a problem. Foreign drivers should pay: it’s as simple as that. It is very concerning that there are still hauliers making the crossing for free.”

Fines totalling more than US$104 million (£81 million) have been passed on to a European debt recovery agency since the Dart Charge began in 2014.

Speaking to BBC Radio, celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman said it ‘sent out a bad message’. He claimed it could be sorted without too much difficulty. "The government need to grasp this because the amount of money is exorbitant and it's totally unfair," he added.

"The point is there are millions and millions of foreign drivers who come over to this country and they pay nothing to use our roads. We go abroad, we have to pay."

A 8101 Highways England spokesman told the BBC: "The vast majority of drivers are paying their Dart Charge correctly, and the number of foreign drivers not paying on time makes up less than one per of total crossings. Non-payment is being followed up fairly and appropriately, using all legal means, both in the UK and abroad."

Buchanan concluded, “We need enforcement to ensure that the appropriate Dart Charge is collected from all crossing users and the RHA considers it to be totally unfair that there are still many who are making the crossing free of charge. It is a great concern that we just don’t know just how many crossing users are dodging the charge.”

Related Content

  • January 25, 2012
    Evolving technology - debating the future of the ITS industry
    Harry Voccola talks to ITS International about where he sees the intelligent transportation industry heading
  • January 10, 2012
    Robust enforcement strategy needed for free flow toll roads
    Timidity has no place in effective enforcement operations on free-flow toll roads, says the NRA's Cathal Masteron. What's needed is a robust strategy which starts big and reduces in size over time, rather than starts small and gains a reputation for being easy to avoid
  • October 22, 2018
    The long road to Spanish enlightenment
    Julián Núñez, immediate past president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid. Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth: people want to avoid the pain. But pain is something that Spanish operators, including Abertis, OHL, ACS, FCC and Acciona, have been going through for the past decade. The country has
  • May 5, 2022
    Nothing basic about universal basic mobility
    The concept of universal basic mobility is here: but Shared-Use Mobility Center CEO Benjamin de la Peña tells Ben Spencer that such schemes may not be looking at the right targets