WASHINGTON — One D.C. neighbor is fed up with dangerous drivers who rack up thousands in fines, hidden behind fake tags. So, they started an X account to bring awareness — and a healthy dose of public shaming — to District leaders.
It's called @FakeTagsDC, and the account holder started it about a week and a half ago, posting:
"Dear friends and fellow DC/DMV residents: Crime is out of control in our nation's capital. Criminals often take advantage of lax vehicle registration laws/enforcement and use fake/expired tags or fake/expired temp tags (or no tags at all) to commit crimes without detection.
This new account (@FakeTagsDC) seeks to expose how widespread this issue is with the goal of pressuring gov't officials to take this issue seriously and help make Washington, DC once again a safe place for people of all backgrounds to live and thrive, together."
In just that first week, they said they have documented more than $75,000 in citations and nearly three dozen incidents of fake or expired tags in D.C.
For example, a tipster sent in a picture of a car they said they saw running three red lights going down New Jersey Avenue. It shows a Maryland tag that expired in December 2020, which is associated with close to $12,000 in unpaid DC fines.
Another post shows a vehicle with a Virginia temporary tag that expired nearly two years ago with more than $22,000 in citations.
The account originally posted this vehicle a week and a half ago. As of Monday, someone shared that the car had yet to be towed.
"It’s clear that the DC gov't and DC police do not care about this issue. It’s so widespread. You can basically do whatever you want and it doesn’t matter," the account holder said. "Fake tag? No problem. Full tint windows? Walk on by. Thousands of dollars in traffic violation fines? Who cares? It really makes me, and the rest of us law abiding citizens, I’m guessing, feel like suckers."
These drivers and cars aren't just nuisances. They're dangerous to everyone around them.
In March 2023, a woman who had multiple DUIs and speeding tickets killed three people when she crashed into their car on Rock Creek Parkway at a high rate of speed.
It's people like this that the owner of @FakeTagsDC wants to get off the road.
The DC Council is working to enact change.
On Tuesday, it unanimously voted to make the STEER Amendment Act law.
It targets chronic speeders with a new point system, shown in posts from Councilmember Charles Allen, who crafted the bill. The points will be assigned to vehicles through Automated Traffic Enforcement Cameras.
It starts at two points for speeding 11 to 15 miles per hour over the limit and increases from there.
If a driver receives 10 or more points within a 6 month period, their car could be booted or towed -- regardless of if they have paid their fines or not.
Another provision in the law includes giving the DC Attorney General authority to sue drivers with multiple dangerous driving violations, no matter where they live.
Reciprocity has long been an in issue, since so many drivers who pass through DC travel in from Maryland and Virginia, However, there hasn't been a way for DC to hold them accountable and make them pay these fines and drive more safely.
The bill also grants DC judges more authority to get drunk drivers off the road, requiring them to order a suspension of a defendant's driving privileges if they're facing a charge of negligent vehicular homicide and upon conviction of three DUI offenses within five years.
Furthermore, it creates an Intelligent Speed Assistance Pilot Program to install speed governors on cars of people who commit serious speeding crimes to prevent them from driving over a certain limit in the future.
For people who maybe cannot afford to pay their driving citations, the legislation also requires the DMV to establish a safe driving program that drivers could take to waive up to $500 in fines.
While the Council has approved the law, it doesn't become official until the Mayor and Congress sign off on it.
In the meantime, @FakeTagsDC will continue posting photos of dangerous drivers in the hopes of making government leaders "feel ashamed." They want you to DM them with any fake or expired tags you find.
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