Photo by billadler

Before the D.C. Council gets things together and creates a souped-up debt collection agency, it may behoove those of you that have unpaid and overdue parking tickets or other driving-related fines to pay them before the end of January.

Since last August, the D.C. DMV has been running an amnesty on outstanding tickets, allowing scofflaws to pay only the value of the original ticket and not all the additional charges that get slapped on after 30 days. The amnesty will continue through January 27, and applies to any ticket given before January 2010.

As of October, the DMV reported that it had received close to $2 million from 35,000 overdue tickets, the majority from Maryland drivers. All told, the agency estimates that it will get $6 million during the amnesty, a mere drop in the bucket when compared to the close to $300 million it is owed by deadbeat motorists.