- An Audi Q5 with Maryland plates racked up 893 speeding tickets in D.C.
- A new 2024 law lets officials go after drivers from outside the District.
- Since the law took effect, traffic deaths in the city have fallen sharply.
Just under two weeks ago, we told you about a weird loophole centered around Washington, D.C. Drivers who live in surrounding states like Maryland and Virginia can speed through the District without remorse, it would seem. The District doesn’t have a way to enforce speeding camera tickets. Well, it just found one and towed the foremost offender, a driver who racked up hundreds of thousands in fines.
Previously, the Maryland-plated SUV in question, an Audi Q5, had accumulated 891 speeding tickets and more than $259,000 in unpaid fines. Somehow, in the days since we last reported, it managed to collect two more citations before police finally hauled it away. That brings the grand total to 893 tickets and $262,204 in fines.
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According to the D.C. Police Department, the Audi was seized by its Traffic Enforcement Unit and the Department of Public Works. Police said the owner showed a “repeated disregard of traffic law” and promised to keep targeting repeat offenders. That’s cool, and all, but the public response wasn’t exactly a pat on the back for officers.
Most of them can be summed up by one who said, “How did you allow this to go on for so long? You have cameras all over the city to catch this.” No doubt, the city clearly has cameras, that’s how the tickets racked up in the first place… but it seemingly didn’t use them to actually catch the driver until they’d racked up a bill that rivals the cost of a modern supercar.
To be fair, D.C. has made progress. According to Road&Track, the city’s 2024 STEER Act finally gave officials more power to pursue Maryland and Virginia drivers who ignore D.C. tickets. Since the law took effect, officials say traffic deaths in the District have fallen by 52 percent.
The city has also won judgments against multiple repeat offenders and recovered more than $500,000 in unpaid fines. Still, if D.C. wants this crackdown to look serious, it probably shouldn’t wait until a driver hits ticket number 893.
