WASHINGTON — The D.C. Council has four bills in front of them that seek to address traffic safety concerns prompted in part by a high-speed crash on Rock Creek Parkway that killed a rideshare driver and his two passengers in mid-March.
The Committee on Transportation and the Environment held a joint hearing session with the Committee on Public Works and Operations Wednesday to get feedback on the legislation that was presented during the last legislative session.
The bills stemmed from the deadly crash that killed Maryland Lyft driver Mohamed Kamara, 42, and Virginia passengers Olvin Torres Velasquez, 23, and Jonathan Cabrera Mendez, 23. Investigators say the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision.
The four proposals focus on license suspension, strengthening traffic enforcement, targeting fraudulent tags and adding penalties for infractions caught on traffic cameras.
"I hear a lot of frustration, I hear a lot of urgency, and we got legislation in front of us," Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who chairs the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, told WUSA9.
Allen launched an investigation into the Rock Creek Parkway crash after the driver's criminal history raised questions about her driving privileges.
The D.C. court database shows that 43-year-old Nakita Walker had been arrested and pleaded guilty to three DUIs in the District and that the courts had ordered her license to be suspended. In the wake of the crash, the D.C. ticket database revealed that the Lexus she was driving had accrued nearly 40 traffic camera tickets in the District that amounted to an estimated $12,000. The majority of the citations were for speeding.
Allen says the probe into Walker's criminal traffic history led to the legislation that seeks to close some of the loopholes that allow dangerous drivers to continue driving in D.C.
"The legislation in front of us today would have a court be able to order, not just rely on DMV, but order the suspension and removal of that license, clean up and improve the communication between them to hold the driver accountable," he said.
Councilmembers heard from ANC commissioners in all eight wards, activist groups and District residents who resoundingly supported the legislation as D.C. faces a higher number of traffic related deaths compared to last year.
Thirty-eight people have died in car crashes in the District so far this year, which is three more fatalities than the total number of traffic deaths all last year, according to D.C. police data.
Jessica Hart was among the speakers who said the urgency of the changes is personal.
"I do it so you can carry even an ounce of the heartache I will carry for the rest of my life," she told the council.
Hart's 5-year-old daughter Allison was run over as she was riding her bike in Northeast D.C. back in 2021. She expressed her support for a bill that would add points to a driver's license if the traffic infractions are caught on camera.
"We suggest that additional points be assessed for driving at faster and more dangerous speeds," Hart said. "We wholeheartedly support an additional point for a violation at school zones."
Dozens of other speakers, like cycling activist Leron Douglas, expressed their support for increasing the severity of penalties for traffic violations.
"I got tickets in the mail, and it was easy for me to ignore them," he told the council as he discussed his experience of driving when he was younger.
Douglas says that having penalties on his driving record forced him to make changes in his bad driving habits.
"The frequency of penalties helped me correct my driving habits," he added.
Councilmember At-Large Christina Henderson also spoke on behalf of her bill that seeks to suspend licenses and registration before a conviction in certain situations.
"This is happening across the region. I think this is just a small slice, but I think it's something that we can tighten up, and also double down on the idea and belief that driving is a privilege," Henderson told WUSA9 in July when she introduced the legislation.
The License Suspension Amendment Act of 2023 seeks to immediately suspend licenses before conviction in cases where the driver kills someone, leaves the scene of a crash, or drives under the influence.
Under current D.C. laws, a driver's license is suspended following a conviction of certain traffic violations.
"Knowing what the backlog at the courts look like, it could be several months until someone could have a case adjudicated, and technically during that time, an individual that is not detained pretrial can continue to drive; and I thought that was a loop hole in the system," Henderson added.
Councilmember Allen said he plans to take the best ideas from the hearing and have legislation passed by the end of 2023.