Dart Tag

I have been using the Dartford Crossing recently and noticed that have a thing called “Dart Tag” posted over the lanes on the motor near the toll booths. I thought I’d look it up and eventually found it. It uses wireless frequency to pick up tags mounted on a vehicle windscreen and automatically deducts the amount from your account.

The benefit is you don’t need to get your money out to cross and it is actually cheaper than the standard rate.

How To Get One

I chose to do it online. The process was simple and similar to any other online shopping site.

The Unit

I received the unit in a few days, less than a week from when I submitted my online application. It came in a Jiffy envelope with:

How It Works

The unit has comes with a 3M adhesive pad on a detachable holding clip. The idea is good because you can take the unit with you and it’s small enough to fit into a top shirt pocket. It’s not every heavy either. I would argue whether it’s water proof.

The unit is encased in 100% plastic and has a built in buzzer. The buzzer sounds when the unit is activated at the Dartford Crossing. The instructions says to mount the Dart Tag under the rear-view-mirror and the unit has to be mounted straight. I’m not 100% sure what the implications are. According to the instructions, the reason for the mounting point is because cars with UV protection on the front windscreen usually has a gap for devices such as the Dart Tag and probably GPS to get a signal. You can tell where the gap is because it is shaded (that’s what they are!).

You can drive to any toll both and it should deduct money from your account and let you through. It buzzes to let you know that it has picked it up. The big pro for this method is that it costs less than if you went to pay at the toll booth by cash or card. In November 2008 the crossing will raise it’s prices. Whilst the Dart Tag prices also increase with the new price plan, it cost

Account Management

You can manage your account online. It can send you monthly email and paper statements. I have opted for neither. There is a low balance warning at the crossing. You can set this value with a minimum of £5. Nice customizable feature but I would like the option to set lower or set whether I want it to display the balance or just a warning message or even both.

The site allows you to top up you account online, setup direct debits and change your personal details like address, etc. The website may allow you to manage multiple Dart Tags as well as see when it was last used, statements and order more Dart Tags

My Experience

The unit was smaller than what I expected and I had no idea how the unit would stick to the windscreen. I have seen similar devices before where people had a box in the corner of the windscreen. These confusion should have been answered on the website somewhere.

I was going to put the unit in a Honda Civic EP3 and the way Honda has the rear view mirror mounted is clever. The arm holding the mirror is directly behind the mirror so the all the driver have see is a floating mirror where as normal vehicles you can see the arm above the mirror. This also meant if I mounted it below the rear view mirror the Dart Tags would be sitting quite low, which I did not want.

I contacted Dart Tag by email and their support is fantastic. All my queries were answered on the same business day. I was originally dealing with Jo on my first email but subsequent emails ended the emails with a generic “Customer Care” line.

The benefit I got from the sun strip is that people looking in from the front won’t see the unit and the colour of the Dart Tag matches the fabric on the roof. It’s only aesthetics but it counts.

When I got to the toll booth I thought
“would it scan my tag and let the person in front go?” Luckily it didn’t and that’s probably the reason why they say to mount it under the rear view mirror because it’s the almost the nearest point on the windscreen to the driver. When I pulled up along side the infamous basket coin collector the unit beeped and the barrier went up. The beep is fairly loud.

I used the alcohol wipe and almost choked on the fumes. Make sure the door or at least the window is open! It dried pretty quickly. I removed the protective strip on the adhesive and stuck it where I wanted it. It instantly bonded with the glass. The instructions said to hold it there for one minute but it’s so strong! The holder clips into the Dart Tag very securly and the strength of the adhesive manages to holder it there when you remove the tag.

Summary

It is annoying that they assign you an account number which means nothing to me. I’d rather create a user name but their online statistic like ability and functions more than makes up for it.

I would like a more re-usable holder but the suction cup type do suffer from heat warp and the spring loaded versions do wear after use but it makes it less permanent and less likely to leave glue residue (speculation). It does have a phone to call on the instructions before removing the adhesive holder.

It can’t see a battery compartment and I’m not sure if it’s passive radio technology (like RFID / when you steal clothes from the shop and the alarm sounds when you walk through the door).

There is no volume control for the buzzer and it may benefit from a light / LED as a visual alert for the hard of hearing but if it doesn’t use a battery then I can see the justification for it.

The holder uses 3M adhesive which is extremely strong and they give you a free replacement.

Overall the device worked well and I would guess it would work pretty well for an average user. However, I’d like to see an FAQ page as well as more specification / pictures of the Dart Tag. The FAQ should list questions like I had to ask about getting additional mounts and whether it would work through sun strips and more questions people may have asked.

11 Responses to Dart Tag

Tim says:

23 November 2008 at 14:37

Regarding prices increases, it looks like the tag charge hasn’t gone up. So even more reason to get one!

I’m interested in how it works. Would it be possible to just place the tag on top of the dash? Or maybe in a compartment or somewhere else out of the way? If it’s radio based in theory it should work. Something to experiment with when I get mine 😀

Reply
Danny says:

24 November 2008 at 22:57

Hi Tim,

I would suggest a passenger to hold the unit in different places rather than getting you / the driver to do it. My girlfriend has one too which is on the same account as mine and she hasn’t attached it to her windscreen but left it on top of the dash. It worked one way but it failed to pick it up on the way back.

It uses Near Field Communication so not sure how thick it can penetrate but when I had my girl friends tag in the boot in the anti-static bag it came with didn’t activate when I went through the crossing.

Let me know how your testing goes because I would be interested too.

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Lea says:

27 October 2010 at 19:46

Netter Beitrag, weiter so.

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Big Dave says:

24 November 2010 at 16:05

I have my dart-tag mounted vertically and stuck to the bottom right-hand side of my windscreen.
It works fine – so there is no need to to mount it horizontal at all.

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Kidsan says:

27 June 2011 at 21:55

I have used my Dart-Tag with no problems, but when I went to put more money on my account I realised I lost my ‘Account Number’ I cant see how I can get it back. I lost the letter and deleted the email with it on, its not looking good so far. Any suggestions??

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- Danny says:
  
  27 June 2011 at 22:01
  
  I’m sorry to hear that. I know you have looked for it in your email but if you have Gmail it’s worth a try looking into the label “All Mail” if you haven’t done so which goes quite far back.
  
  The only other thing I could suggest is contact them directly. Their details are on their contact us page:
  
  http://www.dart-tag.co.uk/nossl/index.php?page=contacts
  
  Good luck.
  
  Reply
Danny says:

27 June 2011 at 22:03

As a side note I think the account number is an obsolete and stupid concept. Nowadays it’s more acceptable to use email address or username to identify an account.

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Drynet says:

28 June 2011 at 18:45

Hi all. I’ve been using a Dart Tag for about 4 years (I still have one of the old school half brick types).

In response to the query on how it works, this is a very similar process to the alarm tags used in many shops.

The ‘Tag’ is activated when you pass through the sensor field at each booth. The sensors are mounted high in the canopy above the barrier. This is why they recommend mounting it at the top of your windscreen, though on the dashboard should work too, as long as the Tag has a clear line to the sensor in the canopy.
If you go through a manned (or womaned) booth I think the operator still has to punch a button to activate the sensor field. This is why, if you leave your tag in the boot and pay cash, it doesn’t debit you as you pass (speaking from experience). If you use the automatic booths, my guess is the sensor field is always active and you might get charged.

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- Danny says:
  
  28 June 2011 at 22:24
  
  I have always wondered what happened if you went to the change (manned/wommed) booth but never ventured down that route.
  
  Thanks for the information.
  
  Reply
cathy says:

16 April 2012 at 5:37

i applied for the dart tag and got one, i requested for direct debit but the amount on the tag finished before the date stipulated for the direct debit to go out. i tried unsuccessfully to top up on line and had to call the office to top up. it was frustrating and there should be a simple link to top up on line.

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Andrew says:

29 April 2014 at 14:32

Just a couple notes to add.

Yes, you can use any lane with the dart tag.
If you really stuck with problems, there is an office next to the toll booth’s you can get to via off ramp. They will sort you out any problems.

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