DC Council

DC Bill Would Target Delivery Drivers Who Block Traffic

If passed, the new legislation would fine food delivery drivers who block lanes

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The D.C. Council voted Tuesday on temporary legislation that would fine food delivery drivers for blocking lanes.

D.C. councilmember Charles Allen led the effort to crackdown on double-parking delivery drivers who often block traffic.

“This started off from a conversation that was trying to address a lot of transportation challenges in Southwest, but very quickly morphed into seeing this take place on many of our commercial corridors, where the roadways get choked off by people that are just leaving the cars in the middle of the road,” Allen said.

The new temporary legislation would allow the Department of For-Hire Vehicles to give a citation to delivery drivers. Currently, the department can only fine passenger-carrying vehicles like Uber, Lyft or taxis. 

The fines would not apply to delivery services like UPS, FedEx or Amazon. 

Councilmember Trayon White said he is concerned the legislation would hurt the everyday worker.

“Most of these workers are trying to hustle to make ends meet in an economy that's becoming wider between the have and have nots and we are setting a precedent yet again, for giving tickets to penalize people who are trying to earn a living,” White said.

Northwest Resident Lisa Doogan said she feels the bill would not necessarily fix the issue of blocked roads.

“The idea of fining them as a way to address this issue, I wouldn’t be supportive of it I think that there are other creative solutions to find, that don’t put the burden on the average worker,” Doogan said.

D.C. Commuter Enrique Ruiz Seven said he sees how the fines could help keep more roads clear.

“I’m generally opposed against fines for workers however, I understand the need to keep some areas safe, so I don’t know if there’s a way to make it just by zones, just the main streets,” Ruiz said. “And also, another thing to protect the safety of bikers for example, when there’s a parked car, make sure that they don’t run into them.”

The D.C. council was in session Monday for the final vote on the temporary legislation.  If approved, it would go to the mayor for approval before it goes into effect.

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