HOV lane confusion sets driver back more than $1,000

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Commuters got a big break in congestion when the Harris County Toll Road Authority opened the Katy Managed Lanes a few years back. It works like this: If single riders wants to use the lanes, they have to pay a toll. But HOV drivers, or those with more than one person in the car, can ride for free during peak times. So why is one Houston mom being slapped with fines, even though she says her daughter was in the car?

When Juilet Davidson moved her family to Katy last year, she allowed her daughter to finish out the school year in Houston.

"Started using the HOV lane during the hours in which it's free. So we would get into the HOV lane around 6:45, and I would take her to school," she said.

But soon after, Davidson says she started receiving violations in the mail.

Initially, I thought it just had to be a mistake. Because I was using the HOV lanes during the times in which it was free," she said.

Davidson says she called the Harris County Toll Road Authority to explain her situation and even hired an attorney to help her dispute the violations. She tells us she was shocked to hear the final bill -- $1,645 dollars.

Davidson says she spent months fighting this and did not want to incur any more legal fees. So to make it go away, she setup a payment plan with HCTRA and signed this agreed order document. At the same time, she called Action 13 for help.

During our investigation, we reached out to HCTRA who agreed to speak with us on camera.

"She was driving every time on the EZ Tag lane without an EZ Tag registered to her vehicle," said Mary Benton with HCTRA.

Benton says it turns out Davidson was in the HOT toll lane, and not the HOV lane. That's why she was cited for multiple violations. On top of that, she signed that agreed order.

"She signed a payment plan on July 31, and on August 1, she made her first down payment," Benton said.

Benton says had Davidson appeared for her hearing and explained to the judge her situation, maybe something could have been done to make the charges go way. But since she signed the agreed order, she admitted guilt for the violations.

Benton has advice for other drivers who feel they've made a similar mistake with the toll lanes.

"We do have an affidavit they can sign saying they did make that mistake and as long as they sign it, there is no problem after that, and we won't charge them for that violation," she said.

In any situation, make sure you know what you're signing. In Davidson's case, had she not signed that document and met with a judge, her outcome might have been a lot different.

HCTRA says at this point, her settlement was approved by a hearing officer.