Tens of thousands of car owners each have dozens — in some cases hundreds — of unpaid D.C. traffic tickets. Data obtained by News4 shows one Maryland driver has more than $186,000 in unpaid fines.
After a crash on Rock Creek Parkway killed three people earlier this year, News4 learned the car involved in the crash had more than 40 outstanding photo-enforced tickets totaling more than $20,000.
News4 took a deep dive into the data to see how many other drivers are racking up huge numbers of unpaid tickets. It’s not uncommon for car owners to have up to 300 unpaid tickets from speed, red light and stop sign cameras. Many of these drivers are still on the road.
Nearly 18,000 vehicles have 10 or more outstanding photo-enforced tickets, News4 learned through a Freedom of Information Act request.
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More than 13,000 vehicles have at least $5,000 in outstanding photo-enforced fines. The worst offender is a Maryland car with $186,600 in unpaid fines for 339 tickets — many for going 25 mph over the speed limit.
“I don’t take the situation lightly,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “[…] We have to hold the people accountable for following the law.”
Holding offenders accountable isn’t as easy as you might think. Once a vehicle has two or more unpaid tickets more than 60 days old, they can be booted or impounded. D.C. currently has more than 38,000 vehicles eligible to be booted or impounded.
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Photo-enforced tickets cite the vehicle, not the driver. That’s why tickets are the responsibility of the vehicle owner. Your driver’s license cannot be revoked for unpaid photo tickets.
D.C. tries to collect fines through the normal collections process, like for any overdue bill. They can prevent the owner of the car from re-registering the tags or any new tags, but they can’t revoke a driver’s license.
Maryland is the state with the most outstanding tickets, with three times as many as D.C. Virginia is a close second.
The top 200 vehicles owe a collective $7,659,005.
- Maryland has 89 vehicles in the top 200
- Virginia has 77
- D.C. has 24
Number of vehicles eligible to get boots:
- Maryland: 17,758
- Virginia: 12,768
- D.C.: 5,456
Vehicles with $5,000 in tickets:
- Maryland: 6,590
- Virginia: 4,305
- D.C.: 1,779
Number of drivers who owe $5,000 or more:
- D.C.: 38
- Maryland: 10
- Virginia: 3
Vehicles with 10 or more outstanding photo tickets:
- Maryland: 8,771
- Virginia: 5,691
- D.C.: 2,435
