Fenty budget raises some traffic fines and not others
Photo by Wayan Vota.
Looking through the traffic fine list, it’s not immediately clear why they chose some fines and not others. Some are consistent; most truck infractions, like being over size or driving with hazardous materials in tunnels, all go up to $200. All speeding fines rise as well.
In other cases, it’s less clear; the fine is doubled from $50 to $100 for turning right on red without coming to a complete stop, but left at $50 for turning right on red when another vehicle or pedestrian is coming and has the right of way. Not having a speedometer would cost $75 instead of $25, but a defective speedometer still only carries a $25 fine.
Can you spot some patterns? Are there fines that seem to go up inappropriately, or ones that seem left out? Below is a list, in the same order as in the DC regulations (MS Word); the changes begin on page 202 of the Budget Support Act (large PDF).
I’ve paraphrased the names of the fines to be clearer. If you want to see them in more detail, look up the code section number in this list, then read that section of code here.
Post your reactions in the comments.
| Infraction | Fine now | New fine |
|---|---|---|
| Failing to stop when exiting an alley | $25 | |
| Failing to give “full time and attention” when driving | $25 | |
| Riding on parts of vehicle not intended for riding | $25 | $100 |
| Letting passengers ride on improper parts of vehicle | $25 | |
| Driving with doors open | $25 | |
| Backing up without caution | $25 | $100 |
| Driving through a barricaded or closed street | $25 | $100 |
| Bad foot brakes | $25 | $75 |
| Bad hand brakes (“emergency brake”) | $50 | $75 |
| Improper bumper on ice cream/soft drink truck | $25 | |
| Missing front or rear bumper | $25 | |
| Unsafe bumper | $25 | $75 |
| Violating child restraint rules | $25 | |
| Coasting downhill with gears in neutral | $15 | $75 |
| Failing to control speed to avoid collision with another vehicle | $50 | $150 |
| Failing to control speed to avoid collision with ped or bike | $500 | |
| Failing to control speed to avoid collision with fixed object | $50 | |
| Commercial vehicle spilling load | $75 | $150 |
| Commercial vehicle covering license tags | $500 | |
| Interfering with traffic when pulling from curb | $25 | $100 |
| Failure to pull over for emergency vehicle | $150 | |
| Failure to yield to emergency vehicle | $150 | |
| Torn fenders | $25 | |
| No fenders | $25 | |
| Entering block where fire truck is parked for fire alarm | $50 | |
| Following within 500 feet of fire truck | $50 | $100 |
| Passing or approaching within prohibited distance of fire truck | $50 | $100 |
| Driving over fire hose | $50 | |
| Following another vehicle too closely | $25 | $100 |
| Driving through funeral or other procession | $25 | |
| Failing to keep to the right while driving in procession | $15 | |
| Vehicle over allowed height | $50 | $250 |
| Failure to display inspection sticker | $50 | |
| Failure to replace lost or mutilated sticker | $50 | |
| Failure to get inspection | $50 | |
| Operating a condemned vehicle | $100 | |
| Operating with expired sticker or rejection sticker after grace period | $50 | |
| Failure to register with IRP for interstate trucking | $500 | |
| Failure to obtain trip permit for IRP | $500 | |
| Exceeding registered gross weight on IRP permit | $500 | |
| Failure to slow down for an intersection | $50 | $100 |
| Failure to clear intersection and crosswalks (blocking the box) | $50 | $100 |
| Changing lanes without caution | $25 | $100 |
| Failure to stay in proper lane | $25 | $100 |
| Driving in a restricted lane (bike lane, bus lane) | $100 | |
| Not complying with directions of police officer | $50 | |
| Vehicle over length limit | $50 | $250 |
| Failure to change address on license after moving | $10 | $50 |
| Allowing unauthorized person to drive | $75 | $150 |
| Permitting unlawful use of a license | $50 | |
| Displaying or using canceled, revoked, fraudulent, etc. license | $50 | |
| Displaying or using someone else’s license | $50 | |
| Failure to display license when asked by officer | $10 | $50 |
| Driving extra passengers with learner’s permit | $25 | $100 |
| Loaning license to another person | $50 | |
| Driving in violation of license restriction | $50 | $100 |
| Illegal headlights (flashing, red, too many) | $25 | $75 |
| Improper lights | $25 | $75 |
| Not using headlights when necessary | $25 | $75 |
| No rear lights | $25 | $75 |
| No stopping lights | $25 | $75 |
| Only one headlight | $25 | $75 |
| Operating with high beams when not allowed | $25 | $75 |
| Littering from a vehicle | $100 | |
| Load extending beyond body of a vehicle | $50 | $250 |
| Failure to keep open load tightly covered | $50 | $250 |
| Failure to secure load | $50 | $150 |
| Load more than 8 feet wide | $50 | $250 |
| No red flag on end of long load | $50 | $250 |
| Operating vehicle in unsafe mechanical condition | $50 | $100 |
| Driving on median strip or raised curb area | $100 | |
| Operating unregistered minibike or motorized bicycle | $50 | |
| No rearview mirror | $25 | $75 |
| Riding motorcycle without helmet, goggles and windshield | $25 | $100 |
| Riding on part of motorcycle not designed for riding | $25 | |
| Driving bus on street where buses not allowed | $75 | $150 |
| Unnecessary or disturbing noise | $25 | |
| Driving wrong way on one-way street | $50 | $100 |
| Opening door on traffic side without looking (creating risk of dooring bicyclists), or leaving door open longer than necessary | $25 | |
| Driving with open container of alcohol | $100 | |
| Parade or procession without a permit | $25 | |
| Parallel parking without backing into 1-car long space | $10 | |
| Violating rules for passing another vehicle using oncoming lane | $25 | $100 |
| Passing in an intersection | $25 | |
| Speeding up to prevent someone else from passing | $50 | |
| Passing on the curb | $25 | |
| Passing to the right when not safe or not allowed | $25 | |
| Passing without enough visibility ahead | $25 | |
| Failure to change address on registration after moving | $10 | |
| Failure to show registration to officer on demand | $10 | $50 |
| Failure to stay on right half of two-way street (with exceptions) | $50 | |
| Turning right on red without coming to complete stop | $50 | $100 |
| Turning right on red without yielding to vehicle or ped | $50 | |
| Turning right on red when “no turn on red” sign present | $50 | $100 |
| Failure to yield to pedestrian that has right of way | $250 | |
| Failure to yield to another vehicle that has right of way | $50 | $100 |
| Failure to yield to pedestrian in the sidewalk | $250 | |
| Not stopping when adjacent vehicle is stopped for a pedestrian | $250 | |
| Stopping, standing, or parking in a bicycle lane | $65 | |
| Driving through a safety zone (pedestrian refuge) | $35 | $75 |
| Passing a school bus with lights flashing | $50 | $500 |
| Driving on sidewalk | $50 | |
| Failure to signal for turn or stop | $25 | $100 |
| Disobeying green arrow signal | $50 | |
| Disobeying an official signal (like a construction sign) | $50 | $100 |
| Not stopping at a flashing red light | $50 | |
| Driving through a red light | $75 | $150 |
| Entering intersection on yellow light with time to safely stop | $50 | |
| Unauthorized use or possession of siren | $50 | |
| Visible exhaust or smoke for more than 10 seconds | $50 | |
| Driving in snow without effective snow tires or chains | $250 | |
| Violating snow emergency rules | $250 | |
| Speeding up to 10 mph over limit | $30 | $75 |
| Speeding 11-15 mph over limit | $50 | $125 |
| Speeding 16-20 mph over limit | $100 | $150 |
| Speeding 21-25 mph over limit | $150 | $200 |
| Speeding over 25 mph over limit | $200 | $250 |
| Speed beyond what is “reasonable and prudent” | $25 | $100 |
| Driving too slowly, except as necessary | $15 | $50 |
| Defective speedometer | $25 | |
| Failure to have speedometer | $25 | $75 |
| No or defective speedometer on minibike | $15 | |
| Sign or other object stuck to windows or mirrors | $15 | |
| Not stopping for stop sign | $50 | |
| Driving on wrong side of the street | $50 | |
| Altering license plate | $100 | |
| Covering license plate | $500 | |
| Driving with expired registration | $100 | |
| Failure to register car in DC | $100 | |
| Failure to turn in plates when ending registration of vehicle | $50 | $100 |
| Failure to affix registration stickers | $50 | |
| Failure to have or display current plates | $100 | |
| Illegible license plates | $50 | |
| Improper display of license plates | $50 | |
| Improper use of dealer’s plates | $50 | |
| Inadequate illumination of plates | $50 | |
| Loaning license plates | $50 | |
| No front plate | $50 | |
| No rear plate | $50 | |
| License plates covered up | $50 | |
| Permitting someone to use expired plates | $100 | |
| Having a TV in a vehicle visible to the driver | $100 | |
| Unsafe tires | $25 | $100 |
| Failure to transfer car title after purchasing vehicle | $25 | |
| Towing without complying with regulations | $100 | |
| Interfering with a traffic control device | $50 | $100 |
| Unauthorized traffic control device | $50 | |
| Driving truck on street where trucks not allowed | $75 | $150 |
| Violating restrictions of a special truck permit | $50 | |
| Transporting hazardous materials in prohibited tunnels | $100 | $250 |
| Turning from wrong lane | $25 | $100 |
| Illegal turn | $25 | $100 |
| Turning when prohibited by a sign | $25 | |
| Driving with obstructed front or side view | $25 | $75 |
| Hanging objects obstructing view | $15 | $75 |
| Up to $5,000 lbs over weight limit | $100 | |
| Over $5,000 lbs over weight limit | $100 | |
| Every additional 100 lbs over weight limit beyond 5,000 | $6 | |
| Vehicle wider than permitted | $50 | |
| Defective or obstructed windshield | $25 | $75 |
| No windshield wipers | $25 | $75 |
| Windshield wipers not functioning | $25 |