DC blizzard parking tickets soar
If you live in D.C.’ the city wants you to know it’s serious about enforcing the parking bans.
Since the blizzard began last week, the District has issued $1,078,000 worth of parking tickets and $65,600 in fines so far. It has towed 656 cars.
According to reports, until the snow emergency expires, the District will continue to ticket and tow vehicles parked or abandoned on any snow emergency route (PDF), or considered to be road hazards. Crews are trying to plow streets from curb to curb, officials said, and vehicles parked in the way of plows will have to be removed.
Cars parked in a traffic lane on any road that are deemed a hazard or a barrier to snow removal may also be towed.
Vehicles are being towed at the owners’ expense. Violators face $250 tickets, $100 tow charges and a $25-per-day fee until they pick up their vehicles.
“Don’t park your car illegally, and that includes parking it kind of in the middle of the street next to the snow bank,” D.C. Mayor Muriel 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.
But many drivers said they simply couldn’t move their cars from emergency routes after the blizzard dropped two feet of snow on the District.
“They gave me a $250 ticket just for being snowed in. I couldn’t get no help,” driver Danielle Smith 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.
The idea is that these cars are parked in snow emergency routes and were hindering the removal of snow and the movement of emergency vehicles. It is not like every idiot in the capital did not know this storm was comming. They should have garaged their vehicles before the snow fell. I do not have any sympathy for idiots that block emergency routes with their vehicles.
Everyone was warned, you live on a street that has snow bans , you know not to have the car parked, They warned of the storm days in advance.. It sucks but I lived on a snow ban street.for 10 years You adapt when the time comes and suck it up. Better to be stuck in a parking lot than towed or trashed or buried deeper by a snow plow.
there is no excuse for this, the city just wants more money, and poor city planning. Buffalo NY has way more snow and smaller streets and if the plows cant fit because of a car, the don’t go down, it saves the city money and time.. it is the citizens that loose out because another citizen was bad
Screwed up is my opinion! They are snowed in as you can see. Where were they suppose to park? It’s Mother Nature’s sending the over abundance of snow not the people’s negligence. Why is it the people always pay & city government never gives anyone a break! They don’t have a problem yelling for Washington to send them money to cover for devastating problems. That way they get paid twice! Not at all fair…
I can get the drivers side of things, they are snowed in, tons of snow, all that , BUT the storm did not come out of nowhere. They were warned with plenty of time to move cars, about the storm. If they chose not to listen to warnings, or believe a blizzard is coming that is their own fault. also most snow routs have signs, saying snow rout. They need to learn to read before they park their cars. As to a previous remark about where were they supposed to park… you cant tell me there are not parking lots/ garages in new York. Yes you might have to walk a bit after but better safe than sorry. besides walking is good for you.
How are the elderly and disabled supposed to move their cars when they can barely walk. Many of those streets were not snow routes when people bought their houses. They are being victimized because of a natural catastrophe and a greedy city.
I live in DC. Before you guys start commenting you need to read the article. A lot of your comments have nothing to do with the article itself. It’s NOT about cleaning your car off. The tickets have been handed it to people who parked along certain roads. These roads are clearly marked as emergency routes and there are signs all over the place telling people it’s a snow emergency route. If you parked along any of these routes you deserve the tickets and to get your car towed. They also ticket homeowners and business owners for not clearing sidewalks.
It would probably help if y’all actually read the article about DC blizzard parking tickets
BEFORE commenting. It isn’t cars parked in front of people’s home. It’s the cars in emergency lanes or blocking traffic!
“The District will continue to ticket and tow vehicles parked or abandoned on any snow emergency route (PDF), or considered to be road hazards. Crews are trying to plow streets from curb to curb, officials said, and vehicles parked in the way of plows will have to be removed.”
With all the NEW fines AND fees that Mayor has created, it seems like the new business model for D.C. government is fleece the residents.