Photo by sciascia

Starting today, fines for some traffic violations are doubling or even quadrupling. As a budget balancing measure, Mayor Adrian Fenty approved raising the fines for 71 violations, from speeding to not having windshield wipers. The Examiner has a handy chart for some of these: speeding 11-15 mph over the limit goes from $50 to $125, while passing a stopped school bus goes from $50 to a whopping $500. The fines are expected to pull in over $7 million through the rest of fiscal 2010.

The mayor originally put the fine increases — along with fees for various business permits and other city fees — in the budget to be voted on by the D.C. Council in May, but the council members refused, according to the Post, with Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) calling it a “tax increase” and Kwame Brown (D-At Large) declaring some of the increases “astronomical.” Instead, Fenty enacted most of the fines through emergency rule-making last Friday.