Facing a rising number of deaths on its roads and a mounting pile of unpaid speeding tickets, the District has taken a first step toward significantly strengthening enforcement against speeding drivers.
In a 12-0 first vote, the D.C. Council has said yes to an amendment that would allow more booting and more towing of vehicles repeatedly involved in speeding — even when the tickets are paid.
The bill called the STEER Amendment Act — for Strengthening Traffic Enforcement, Education and Responsibility — would also give the D.C. Attorney General the right to sue drivers, inside and outside the District, not just for unpaid speeding tickets but also to suspend their driving privileges.
“I think this bill represents a package of reforms that will establish true accountability, regardless of ability to pay, for dangerous driving and make streets safer for all roadway users,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, chair of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment.
Before Tuesday’s unanimous vote, Allen told members of the council there were 52 traffic deaths in DC in 2023 — 17 more than the year before and twice the number of deaths in 2014, when the DC Mayor launched Vision Zero, which was aimed at eliminating all traffic deaths.
“This level of traffic violence is due, in part, to the sheer volume of speeding and dangerous driving that is happening in the District. For example, the automated traffic enforcement or ATS system alone captured 1.2 million instances of speeding last year,” Allen said.
Not all drivers cited for violating speed limits by photo enforcement pay their fines.
When a driver slammed into a car on Rock Creek Parkway near P Street NW, while fleeing a traffic stop, killing three people last March, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles revealed the fleeing car with D.C. tags had 44 unpaid tickets including those for speeding and red light running totaling $12,300.
But Allen told members of the council of other drivers who are repeatedly speeding and failing to pay the fines.
“Data from the DMV shows there are over 27,000 people who owe more than $5,000 in unpaid citations. There’s nearly 400 people that owe more than $25,000 in unpaid citations. There’s one driver from Maryland that owes a mind boggling $186,000 in unpaid fines. Important to note here that all told less than 10% of all outstanding citations were issued to vehicles with District of Columbia tags,” said Allen.
Allen said the proposed law will not require any reciprocity agreement with neighboring Maryland and Virginia.
Another provision of the measure would create a pilot program in which speed governors would be installed in the vehicles of drivers who commit serious speed crimes. The safety devices would prevent the vehicle from exceeding certain pre-set speed limits.
On the social media platform X, DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb called the first round passage of the bill “a critical step towards making our streets, and our city, safer for everyone who lives, works and visits here.”
The STEER amendment is expected to face a second vote by the council in 2 weeks before being sent to the mayor for approval.
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