GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A driver is warning others after she received a toll violation for a vehicle that she doesn’t even own. She reached out to Channel 2 Action News after learning there may be others dealing with the toll trouble.
“I’m not a Peach Pass holder at all,” Natalie Carpenter told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln.
That’s why Carpenter says she was confused when she received a bill for a toll violation.
“The toll violation occurred in September of 2024. I didn’t get the notice until April of 2025,” she said.
Carpenter says she started retracing her steps and realized she didn’t even own the vehicle at the time of the offense.
“I was like, wait a minute, I don’t own that car anymore,” she said.
Carpenter traded in her 2010 Honda Odyssey at the end of March 2024. She says by the time of the violation, the dealership had already sold the vehicle — and it was driving on temporary tags.
“So I’m still unsure how Peach Pass was able to connect it with me, because the temporary tag’s not registered to me,” she told Lincoln.
Peach Pass had already sent her bill to collections and told her she would need to prove she was no longer the owner by obtaining the vehicle’s tag history.
But the tag office told her since she no longer owned the vehicle, the information was private — and releasing it would be illegal. Carpenter says had she been notified sooner, this could’ve been cleared up easily.
“I was like, I cannot be the only one who’s experienced this,” she said.
Channel 2 Action News has reported on other issues drivers have experienced with Peach Pass violations.
“My issue was — hey, you’re sending me a bill six months later," Justin Padden said.
Padden says he’s now fighting more than $5,000 in tolls and fees — all because of delayed notifications.
“Then I’m being told, ‘Sorry, there’s nothing we can do. You have to deal with the collection agency.’”
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Padden says he received a violation for using the express lanes despite being a Peach Pass user. In 2024, he updated his account when the new app launched.
But later that year he says the account was closed — without any notification. That allowed Peach Pass to rack up five months’ worth of tolls and violation fees.
“I have no problem paying for a toll that I’m supposed to pay for, right? But it’s when you didn’t do anything wrong, you provide everything, and then all of a sudden, you get charged this astronomical bill for something that you didn’t even do,” Padden told Lincoln.
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Lincoln reached out to the State Road and Tollway Authority about Carpenter and Padden’s accounts.
It said in a statement due to “restrictions imposed upon us by law and our desire to maintain our customers’ privacy, SRTA is unable to provide details about these specific matters.”
Carpenter said a customer service representative called to apologize and remove her charge from collections after we reached out to SRTA.
“If it’s happening to lots of people, then I feel like they’re collecting money inappropriately and that’s not fair,” Carpenter said.
“Once it gets clarified, I don’t know if I’ll use it because. I’m so scared to drive through a lane because there’s nothing you can do,” Padden said.
Peach Pass launched a new app designed to prevent these delayed notifications like the ones Carpenter and Padden received. But more customers say they are still learning about these fees months later.
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