A new set of bills is trying to tackle the ongoing problem of dangerous driving in the District by getting bad drivers off the road faster.

The bills from Councilmembers Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) and Christina Henderson (D-At-Large) come after a six-hour-long hearing in May on the problem.

The District has struggled to limit the number of traffic fatalities in recent years despite adopting the principles and goals of Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2024. Twenty-eight people have been killed in traffic so far this year — eight more people compared to this time last year.

“(The increases) tells me that our traffic enforcement system is just not working right now,” Allen told DCist/WAMU. “So the legislation from myself and from my colleagues, I think is really squarely aimed at how do we reform and change this to do a better job and keep people safe on the streets in D.C.”

Since the pandemic, drivers’ speeds have increased, patience decreased, and there has been increasingly reckless behavior like swerving around a slowing vehicle at a stop sign. Pedestrian deaths across the country are at a 40-year high.

The bills next head to the transportation committee for a public hearing.

Changes To License Suspensions

Allen’s bill, which contains multiple parts, would aim at creating more consequences for numerous offenses.

Current law says that D.C. can boot vehicles that have two or more unpaid tickets. Allen’s new addition would include license suspensions for accumulating tickets within six months.

A license can be suspended if

• 8 or more tickets for going 1-10 mph over the limit
• 6 or more tickets for going 11-20 mph over the limit
• 2 or more tickets for 20 mph or more over the limit, which is defined as reckless driving
• 1 or more tickets for 30 mph or more over the limit or 20 mph or more over the limit with a crash, which is defined as aggravated reckless driving
• You have fake temporary tags on your vehicle

You would get your car back and your license reinstated once you take a safe driving course.

“I think that what we’ve seen is that when you build a system only on unpaid tickets, you actually end up creating a fairly inequitable system which says, listen, you can drive dangerously as much as you want as long as you just pay those tickets and we’re going to let you keep driving,” Allen said. “I don’t frankly care whether you paid the ticket or you didn’t pay the ticket. If you’re a dangerous driver, we need to have accountability and you shouldn’t be on our streets.

“And so we’re really trying to rethink the whole fundamental assumption here about the privilege to drive on streets.”

A second bill from Councilmember Henderson would suspend licenses before conviction in certain circumstances.

Henderson wants to immediately suspend licenses for people who negligently kill someone with a car, leave the scene of a crash, or drive under the influence. She says the bill streamlines the process and promotes accountability and safe driving in the District. 

Current law mandates that a driver’s license be suspended following conviction of certain traffic violations, but Henderson says that the court procedures take too long and “certain traffic violations are so egregious and devastating that a scofflaw driver should not be allowed to operate a vehicle while waiting for a conviction to be handed down.”

“If someone is driving under the influence and seriously injures another person as a result of their negligence, they shouldn’t be able to continue with their driving privileges for untold months while a case is being adjudicated. This is a gap in the law we should address,” Henderson said.

The License Suspension Reform Amendment Act has five co-sponsors: Councilmembers Charles Allen, Brianne Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, Zachary Parker, and Brooke Pinto.

Suing Out Of State Drivers

Allen’s bill would allow the D.C. attorney general to sue the most egregious out-of-state drivers in civil court. The city has had trouble getting some Maryland and Virginia residents to drive more responsibly because they don’t have to pay District camera tickets.

“We know we’ve got folks that are carrying tens and tens of thousands of dollars of speeding violations, dangerous driving on our city, putting D.C. residents at risk right now.”

It’s Allen’s idea to get at ticket reciprocity without the nearby state’s cooperation. Virginia and Maryland do not want to enter into an agreement with the District to put holds on their drivers if they have outstanding camera tickets in D.C. They do so for officer-written tickets, however. The state DMV agencies told D.C. officials that enforcing so many of D.C.’s fines would clog up their capacity too much.

“It’s a creative solution that I want to pursue to be able to kind of try to break through this logjam where we know we’ve got folks that are carrying tens and tens of thousands of dollars of speeding violations, driving dangerously in our city,” Allen said. “They’re putting D.C. residents at risk right now and if we can’t get reciprocity, let’s try a different way that we can help hold dangerous drivers accountable.”

The bill would allow the attorney general to sue in D.C. Superior Court, targeting drivers with a large number of tickets. It would basically work like other civil situations that can cross state lines like child support payments. Courts in other states honor orders originating from another state. It’s unclear if any state has tried to use this method for camera tickets.

Drivers would get summoned or served to pay the outstanding fines. If the specific driver can’t be identified, the courts can go after the vehicle itself. Allen’s office says the intention is to not bog down the courts by focusing on the worst offenders.

Adding License Points For Camera Tickets

Another bill from Henderson would assign points to your driving record for camera tickets. Currently, you can only be fined for camera tickets since they are not written by a law enforcement officer, and speed and red light tickets don’t usually capture the face of the driver, just the vehicle and license plate.

“Moving violations should be treated as moving violations regardless of if they were detected by a camera or a law enforcement officer,” Henderson said. “If we are moving away from having law enforcement conducted routine traffic stops, then we must strengthen the other accountability tools at our disposal.

“If this isn’t the solution, I look forward to a robust discussion of what we should do next.”

A few states, like Arizona, have implemented points for licenses since most camera tickets states do not record the front of the vehicle.

The Automated Traffic Enforcement Effectiveness Amendment Act requires DDOT to make some speed camera capture footage of the front of the vehicle by 2025. It also requires the towing or booting of a parked vehicle with five or more unpaid moving violations or a vehicle that has counterfeit, stolen, or otherwise fraudulent temporary tags.

The bill also comes with new requirements for DDOT, like posting copies of assessments that determine where automated traffic enforcement cameras go and sending a biannual report to insurance companies with drivers that have five tickets or more. Henderson says involving the private insurance market could increase compliance with traffic laws, especially for drivers with out-of-state tags who do not have the same enforcement mechanism to make them pay traffic tickets.

The bill has four co-introducers including Councilmembers Charles Allen, Brianne K. Nadeau, Brooke Pinto, and Janeese Lewis George.

DUI Suspension Reform

Allen’s bill aims to streamline license suspension for DUIs as well.

A breakdown in processing and a decades-old computer system at the DMV allowed a driver with multiple DUI convictions to continue driving. That driver killed three people in a high-speed crash in March.

The bill mandates that the courts, not the DMV, would immediately suspend licenses as part of convictions.

The DMV would then have to send a monthly report to the D.C. Attorney General and the courts on license suspensions. It would be an effort to catch those who have slipped through the cracks before tragedy strikes again.