News
DMV To Dismiss Old, Handwritten Tickets
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alan Heymann
(202) 724-8031
July 6, 2006
Washington, DC - Drivers will no longer be held liable for handwritten parking tickets that don’t appear in the District’s online payment system within two weeks.
Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward One) welcomes this policy change. He has received numerous complaints from his constituents and long decried the unfairness of penalizing citizens when government performs inadequately.
“The District government has been punishing drivers for its own poor recordkeeping,” said Councilmember Graham. “It shouldn’t take weeks for an agency to forward a ticket for collection when the driver only has 30 days to pay it. I’m glad to see we’ve fixed this.”
The Department of Public Works issues parking tickets with handheld computers. These tickets are linked overnight to the Department of Motor Vehicles online payment system. Other local enforcement agencies, including the Metropolitan Police Department, issue handwritten tickets that must be manually forwarded to the DMV for collection.
In the past, there would be instances when agencies would take weeks to forward their handwritten tickets. But tickets not paid within 30 days are subject to a late fee - which often doubles the fine. Effective June 1, the DMV will simply invalidate tickets it doesn’t receive within two weeks.
Residents may check the status of their tickets and pay them on-line at www.dmv.dc.gov.
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