D.C. Council members are looking to crack down on fake temporary vehicle tags, proposing new legislation that allows city workers to immediately tow and impound vehicles in the District that display counterfeits.
The Fraudulent Vehicle Tag Enforcement Amendment Act of 2023, introduced by Council member Brianne Nadeau on July 14, expands the authority of the D.C. Department of Public Works and other enforcement agencies to tow vehicles.
“Right now, we have way too many fake or expired tags on vehicles across the city, and we’ve really seen a correlation between those fake tags and reckless driving,” Nadeau told WTOP in an interview. “My legislation gives the Department of Public Works the power to boot and tow these vehicles and get them off the streets, which is what we need. We can’t stand by with the status quo.”
Under the current law, vehicles can only be towed by D.C. if they have two or more, 61-day-old unpaid parking tickets — and it’s difficult to issue a ticket to a car with a fake tag. Under Nadeau’s bill, D.C. could tow vehicles for simply displaying fake tags, or vehicles that have temporary tags that have been expired for more than 60 days.
“The legislation goes straight to the booting and towing, no tickets needed,” Nadeau said.
Nadeau’s bill would also require D.C. to compile a directory of permanent and temporary vehicle tags issued by all U.S. states and territories to make sure that traffic enforcement workers are properly trained to identify fake ones.
She said it’s no different from requiring bars to check for proper identification.
“Similar to the way that a bouncer at a bar might have the directory of driver’s licenses so they can see what’s fake, and what’s real, this allows our enforcement agencies to understand what legitimate temporary tags look like in other states,” she said.
The measure is co-sponsored by Council members Charles Allen, Christina Henderson, Matthew Frumin, Brooke Pinto and Janeese Lewis George.
Nadeau’s bill also targets the online marketplace for fake tags.
“Right now, you can go on Facebook Marketplace, and buy yourself a nice little temp tag in five minutes,” Nadeau said. “That is a huge part of the problem.”
Her bill would allow the D.C. government to proactively investigate and shut down dealers and distributors of bogus tags, which, under the legislation, would be considered acts of forgery.
Fake temporary tags have long been seen as a problem on D.C. streets, but have proliferated in recent years.
A task force convened by Mayor Muriel Bowser last year to come up with strategies for combating expired and counterfeit tags resulted in temporary rules that allowed traffic enforcement to tow vehicles with fake tags. However, those emergency measures expired last November.
Nadeau said her fake tag bill is part of a comprehensive approach to traffic safety and is aligned with legislation recently introduced by other council members. She cited a measure from Allen that would prioritize enforcing reckless driving in D.C. and another bill from Henderson that would assign points on driver’s licenses for traffic camera tickets and immediately suspend drivers charged with crimes involving traffic deaths.
“This is one more tool that I’d like to add in addressing dangerous and reckless driving here in the District of Columbia,” Nadeau said.
The D.C. Council is currently on summer recess, but Nadeau’s office said she expects the bill to be considered when lawmakers return in mid-September.
