DC Issues $1.4 Million Worth of Parking Tickets After Blizzard

Editor's Note: This story has been updated..

In the Blizzard of 2016, the District issued $1,369,750 in fines for cars left on snow emergency routes -- and towed almost 700 of them, the city said.

Cars were towed if they were parked or abandoned on the city's snow emergency routes (.pdf) during the District's 129-hour snow emergency.

Of the cars towed, 259 were relocated to side streets; those drivers face $250 parking tickets and a $100 tow fee.

Another 431 cars were impounded by private tow companies and were issued $250 parking tickets and the $100 tow fee, plus a $20 per day storage fee.

A few of those drivers caught a break this week: Thursday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she would void any snow emergency parking tickets issued Friday. "I understand that some who received citations that Friday may not have known about the parking restriction, or may have been running errands in preparation for the storm," she said.

But those drivers still face the towing and storage fees.

It was important to move cars so that the city could plow streets, officials said.

"Don't park your car illegally, and that includes parking it kind of in the middle of the street next to the snow bank,"Bowser said Tuesday. Cars should be parked no more than 12 inches from a curb, not a snow bank, or drivers risk a ticket, she said.

This storm will easily rank among the region's five worst, Storm Team4 said, and the cleanup is taking days. Temperatures across the area are expected to drop again overnight, creating icy conditions on many of the region's roads Thursday.

Contact Us