WASHINGTON, D. C. (Thursday, September 27, 2018) ––Six weeks before election day in the nation’s capital, Mayor Muriel Bowser is fast-tracking proposed legislation crafted to raise 18 traffic fines, create eleven new traffic infractions, target “super-speeders,” and lower the speed limit to 15 miles per hour  in “Safe Zones” near schools, playgrounds, recreational centers, and senior centers across the city. Mayor Bowser only introduced the legislation a week ago. Although it is doubtful many city residents and motorists have seen or are aware of the proposed legislation, the few who have will get a chance to voice their opinions on the legislation this afternoon during a public roundtable conducted by members of the District Council.

If enacted, the “Vision Zero Rulemaking Approval Resolution of 2018 (PR22-1006)” will codify the Bowser Administration’s Vision Zero Initiative. “The objective of Vision Zero is to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries to travelers using the District’s transportation system by 2024 through the more effective use of data, education, enforcement, and engineering,” as Mayor Bowser stated. So far this year, 27 traffic fatalities have been recorded in the District as of September 26, compared to 24 traffic deaths during the same time period in 2017, comprising a 12.5 percent increase. During 2006, the District witnessed 43 traffic fatalities. The Vision Zero Initiative was initially detailed in a controversial rulemaking proposed by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in December 2015. It set off a firestorm in certain quarters after calling for increasing the fine for going 25 miles per hour over the posted speed limit to $1,000.  To defuse the imbroglio over the higher fines, the city retreated, lowered some fines, and added new ones.

“The District’s highest speed camera fine is currently 650 percent higher than in Maryland, where it is only $40. Compared to speed camera tickets in work zones and school zones in Maryland, this resolution would make the District’s tickets 900 percent higher on freeways and interstates in the city, and 1,150 percent higher on local streets,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “There is not a shred of empirical evidence that proves that higher traffic fines deter bad driving behavior. This is about generating revenue under the patina of traffic safety, and to make matters worse, city officials are wittingly or unwittingly doing this at the behest of the city’s speed camera vendor who urges communities to make traffic safety cameras “the technological centerpiece of any Vision Zero initiative.” 

DDOT’s first proposed Vision Zero rulemaking was greeted with howls of criticism from District residents and motorists alike who complained the fine amounts were too high and too focused on drivers and who also feared the proposed high fines would disproportionately affect low-income residents.  Others expressed a lack of confidence in the correlation between fine amounts and compliance. In response to a public blowback and public input, DDOT revised and revamped the contentious proposal in 2017. “DDOT and DMV reduced the proposed amounts of certain fines, and increased or created new infractions for dangerous behaviors for pedestrians and bicyclists,” according to city documents.  The bill calls for establishing 15 mph “safe zones” around schools, parks and in areas with high concentrations of seniors and adolescents.

The Public Roundtable is set for 1:30 this afternoon in the Wilson Building. In a letter to Council Chair Phil Mendelson, Mayor Bowser wrote: “The final rulemaking is responsive to public comments pertaining to the second proposed rulemaking. In particular, the rulemaking addresses concerns raised throughout the public input process regarding income inequality and balance among modes of transportation.” 

However, AAA Mid-Atlantic contends the revised proposal still exacerbates income inequality and existing racial inequities, disproportionately impacts poor residents by “further impeding their ability to pay ticket debts,” and unfairly targets residents of the poorer wards and census tracts in the city, where drivers “receive double the average number of moving violations per capita,” according to a recent study by the D.C. Policy Center. Under provisions of the “Vision Zero Rulemaking Approval Resolution of 2018” (PR22-1006):

• Increases 18 existing fines or imposes 11 new infractions for dangerous behavior by pedestrians and cyclists, as well as upon motorists.

• Targets “super-speeders.” Increases the fine for going 25 mph over the posted speed limit from $300 currently to $400 on freeways and interstates in the District, and to $500 on local streets in the city.

• Imposes speed restrictions. Lowers the speed limit to 15 miles per hour on all roadways adjacent “to school facilities and grounds serving youth.” When no times are indicated on official’s signs, the 15 mile per hour limit is in effect “from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M.”

• Lowers the speed limit to 15 mph on roadways “adjacent to a playground, recreational facility, pool, athletic field, or senior center designated by official signs.” If no times are indicated on the official signs, the 15 mile per hour limit is in effect “from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M.”

• Doubles the fine for overtaking another vehicle stopped at a crosswalk or intersection for a pedestrian from $250 currently to $500, plus three points.

• Proposes new penalties for the failure to yield right of way and failure to proceed with due caution around a stationary authorized emergency vehicle ($100), which also calls for imposing six points on the driver’s record, and adds a fine for the failure to proceed with caution and reduced speed when approaching an incident in the roadway ($100 and 3 points).

Currently, speed camera tickets range from $50 to $300 in the nation’s capital. The District implemented its speed camera program in July 2001. Since then, the District has issued 8.8 million speed camera tickets and raked in $775.1 million in speed camera revenue, AAA Mid-Atlantic calculates. In the period from August 2001 through May 2007, the District government mailed more than 2.2 million photo radar notices of infractions, resulting in fines of more than $128.1 million. Since Fiscal Year 2007, the District has issued 6.6 million photo-enforced speeding citations and generated nearly $647 million in speed camera ticket revenue.

During Fiscal Year 2017, the District DMV Adjudication unit processed 2,687,525 traffic citations, including 1.2 million photo citations and 71,294 moving citations, and collected $306,712,186 in traffic ticket revenue. That compares to 2.7 million citations in FY 2016 valued at $299.2 million. Despite the prodigious ticket output, and mountains of revenue collected, there is no empirical evidence of a link between the amount of speed camera ticket fines and compliance, AAA Mid-Atlantic contends.

The chairs of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment and the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety are holding what is billed as a joint public roundtable this afternoon to hear testimony on the Vision Zero Initiative. The “Vision Zero Rulemaking Approval Resolution of 2018” (PR22-1006) is being expedited. It was introduced at the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser just a week ago, Thursday, September 20. The resolution would be “deemed approved on Friday, December 7, 2018 without Council action.” That is because under D.C. statutory law, “a proposed resolution is treated like a bill, except that only one vote of the Council is required.” Unlike a bill, “it does not require the Mayor’s signature or Congressional review.”    

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