A toll is a charge for using one road, bridge or tunnel. How you pay depends on the system, and most fall into four: a barrier where you take a ticket and pay by card, cash or badge, plate cameras that bill you afterwards, a vignette that covers a period, and a charge for the distance or stretch you drive. For a car, the Dartford Crossing in the UK uses plate cameras, French and Italian motorways use barriers, Switzerland and Austria sell vignettes, and the federal toll in Germany does not apply to cars. Every example comes from the road's government or operator, read on 16 October 2026.
Four ways a toll is charged
| System | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Barrier toll | You take a ticket or pay on entry or exit, by card, cash or badge | Motorways in France and Italy |
| Plate cameras | No barrier; cameras read the plate and you pay within a set time | Dartford Crossing, Dutch A24, some French motorways |
| Vignette | You pay for a period and the vehicle is covered on the roads it names | Switzerland, Austria |
| Distance charge | The price follows the stretch driven | Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes in Germany |
Italy's barrier toll is itself priced per kilometre, so the systems overlap.
Tolls in the UK
GOV.UK's toll road page (last updated in 2015, so check the operator for today's list) names the M6 Toll and the Dartford Crossing on motorways, then bridges and tunnels such as the Humber Bridge, the Tyne Tunnels and the Mersey Gateway. The Severn Crossings are toll-free: the government announced in October 2018 that their tolls would be abolished on 17 December 2018.
The Dartford Crossing shows the plate-camera model. A ministerial statement says the tollbooths were removed in 2014. GOV.UK says you cannot pay at the crossing barriers any more and must pay by midnight the day after you cross, online, by phone or with cash at a Payzone store. For a car the one-off payment is 3.50 pounds, or 2.80 with a pre-pay account, under the tariff that started on 1 September 2025; crossing between 22:00 and 06:00 is free. A missed payment brings a 70 pound fine, cut to 35 pounds within 14 days and raised to 105 pounds if it goes unpaid.
Tolls in France and Italy
On French motorways Vinci Autoroutes lists three ways to pay at a barrier: a télépéage badge, a bank card (CB, Visa, Mastercard) and cash, with contactless at all its tolls. On a few stretches there is no barrier, and the ministry says you have 72 hours to pay online, at a Nirio shop or by badge. French tolls explained covers lanes, vehicle classes and unpaid tolls, and the guide to the official price tools shows where to work out a bill before you go. The France requirements are in driving in France.
Autostrade per l'Italia says its toll is the unit tariff multiplied by the kilometres driven, plus 22 per cent VAT, rounded to the nearest 10 cents. It says you can pay cash at lanes with an attendant and at automatic tills, and that the payment signs at every entry and exit follow national colours and symbols, so you should be in the lane for your payment method from the approach.
Vignettes in Switzerland and Austria
Switzerland charges CHF 40 for a vignette that the FOCBS says is valid from 1 December of the previous year to 31 January of the following year, sold as a sticker or as an e-vignette linked to the plate. The Swiss vignette guide has the details and the fine.
ASFINAG says a vignette is compulsory for cars up to 3.5 tonnes on Austria's motorways and expressways. For a car it lists, for 2026, 106.80 euros for a year, 32.00 euros for two months, 12.80 euros for ten days and 9.60 euros for one day, valid as of 1 December 2025. It adds that two-month and annual vignettes bought online are valid from the 18th day after purchase at the earliest, and that the sticker is sold for the last time in 2026, with only the digital vignette from 2027. Driving on to Hungary? See the Hungary vignette guide.
Netherlands and Germany
The Dutch A24 (Blankenburgverbinding), a 4.2 kilometre motorway in the Rotterdam region, has no toll gates. The Rijksoverheid says cameras record the plate, a car pays 1.57 euros per trip since 1 January 2026, foreign plates pay too, and you can pay online from 7 days before to 3 days after the trip.
In Germany, section 1 of the federal trunk road toll law (Bundesfernstraßenmautgesetz) charges the toll on federal motorways and federal roads only to vehicles intended or used for goods transport with a technically permissible mass above 3.5 tonnes. A car does not pay that toll. Paragraph 3 of the same section names stretches of federal road with their own toll under another law, the Fernstraßenbauprivatfinanzierungsgesetz, so check the operator of any such stretch.
Pay only the operator
Three of the sources above carry a warning. ASFINAG warns of fake SMS messages, emails and shops. The FOCBS warns of fake e-vignette sites and of emails that ask you to re-enter payment details. The French ministry warns that fraudsters send messages demanding an urgent toll payment, and says free-flow tolls are paid only on the official sites of Sanef or Aliaé, at Nirio shops or by badge.
What BlitzBuddy does
BlitzBuddy does not sell, calculate or pay tolls. Its speed camera warnings run in five countries and switch on by themselves on arrival; in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria and every other country you get none, while your speed, your trips and reports from other drivers still work. In France, article R413-15 of the Code de la route punishes holding, carrying or using a device that can detect or disturb the equipment used to record traffic offences with a fifth-class fine and the loss of six points, and its paragraph V, added by a decree of 3 January 2012, extends this to devices or products meant to warn of or inform about the location of that equipment; using these warnings is the driver's own responsibility. Where speed camera warnings are allowed compares the countries. BlitzBuddy is free, with no ads and no subscription. It is available for iPhone; the Android version is coming soon. All tolls, vignettes and zone guides are under driving abroad.
Sources
- Pay the Dartford Crossing charge (Dart Charge), GOV.UK
- Dartford Crossing charge update, GOV.UK
- Toll road charges, GOV.UK (last updated 28 April 2015)
- Severn Crossings to go toll-free on 17 December 2018, GOV.UK
- Péage en flux libre, Ministry of Ecological Transition (in French, updated 20 October 2025)
- Moyens de paiement, Vinci Autoroutes (in French)
- Come si calcola il pedaggio, Autostrade per l'Italia (in Italian)
- Pagamento in contanti, Autostrade per l'Italia (in Italian)
- Toll Sticker and Digital Vignette, ASFINAG
- E-vignette and adhesive vignette, Federal Office for Customs and Border Security
- Electronic vignette via Via Portal, Federal Office for Customs and Border Security
- Tijdelijke tolheffing op de Blankenburgverbinding en de ViA15, Rijksoverheid (in Dutch)
- Bundesfernstraßenmautgesetz, § 1, Federal Ministry of Justice (in German)
- Permis de conduire : barème des points retirés par infraction, Service-Public (in French, verified 27 February 2026)
- Commentaire de la décision n° 2021-948 QPC, Conseil constitutionnel (in French; quotes article R413-15)
Sources read on 16 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is a toll?
A charge for using a particular road, bridge or tunnel, paid per passage or for the stretch you drive. A vignette is related but different: you pay for a period, such as ten days or a year, and then use the roads it covers.
Do I pay the Dartford Crossing at the barrier?
No. GOV.UK says you cannot pay at the Dartford Crossing barriers any more: you pay online, by phone or with cash at a Payzone store, by midnight the day after you cross. A car costs 3.50 pounds as a one-off payment under the tariff in force since 1 September 2025.
Is there a vignette for Italy or France?
No. Autostrade per l'Italia prices its toll by the kilometres you drive and Vinci Autoroutes takes payment at the barrier; on the few French roads without a barrier, the ministry gives you 72 hours to pay. Vignettes are sold for Switzerland and Austria, among others.
Do I pay motorway tolls in Germany in a car?
Not the federal toll. Section 1 of the federal trunk road toll law charges only vehicles intended or used for goods transport with a technically permissible mass above 3.5 tonnes. Stretches tolled under a separate law are named in the same section.
