Photo by Wayan Vota.

Mayor Fenty has touted his proposed FY2011 budget for avoiding raising taxes. But it instead raises many individual traffic fines as well as many other fees.

Looking through the traffic fine list, it’s not immediately clear why they chose some fines and not others. Some are consistent; most truck infractions, like being over size or driving with hazardous materials in tunnels, all go up to $200. All speeding fines rise as well.

In other cases, it’s less clear; the fine is doubled from $50 to $100 for turning right on red without coming to a complete stop, but left at $50 for turning right on red when another vehicle or pedestrian is coming and has the right of way. Not having a speedometer would cost $75 instead of $25, but a defective speedometer still only carries a $25 fine.

Can you spot some patterns? Are there fines that seem to go up inappropriately, or ones that seem left out? Below is a list, in the same order as in the DC regulations (MS Word); the changes begin on page 202 of the Budget Support Act (large PDF).

I’ve paraphrased the names of the fines to be clearer. If you want to see them in more detail, look up the code section number in this list, then read that section of code here.

Post your reactions in the comments.

Infraction Fine now New fine
Failing to stop when exiting an alley $25
Failing to give “full time and attention” when driving $25
Riding on parts of vehicle not intended for riding $25 $100
Letting passengers ride on improper parts of vehicle $25
Driving with doors open $25
Backing up without caution $25 $100
Driving through a barricaded or closed street $25 $100
Bad foot brakes $25 $75
Bad hand brakes (“emergency brake”) $50 $75
Improper bumper on ice cream/soft drink truck $25
Missing front or rear bumper $25
Unsafe bumper $25 $75
Violating child restraint rules $25
Coasting downhill with gears in neutral $15 $75
Failing to control speed to avoid collision with another vehicle $50 $150
Failing to control speed to avoid collision with ped or bike $500
Failing to control speed to avoid collision with fixed object $50
Commercial vehicle spilling load $75 $150
Commercial vehicle covering license tags $500
Interfering with traffic when pulling from curb $25 $100
Failure to pull over for emergency vehicle $150
Failure to yield to emergency vehicle $150
Torn fenders $25
No fenders $25
Entering block where fire truck is parked for fire alarm $50
Following within 500 feet of fire truck $50 $100
Passing or approaching within prohibited distance of fire truck $50 $100
Driving over fire hose $50
Following another vehicle too closely $25 $100
Driving through funeral or other procession $25
Failing to keep to the right while driving in procession $15
Vehicle over allowed height $50 $250
Failure to display inspection sticker $50
Failure to replace lost or mutilated sticker $50
Failure to get inspection $50
Operating a condemned vehicle $100
Operating with expired sticker or rejection sticker after grace period $50
Failure to register with IRP for interstate trucking $500
Failure to obtain trip permit for IRP $500
Exceeding registered gross weight on IRP permit $500
Failure to slow down for an intersection $50 $100
Failure to clear intersection and crosswalks (blocking the box) $50 $100
Changing lanes without caution $25 $100
Failure to stay in proper lane $25 $100
Driving in a restricted lane (bike lane, bus lane) $100
Not complying with directions of police officer $50
Vehicle over length limit $50 $250
Failure to change address on license after moving $10 $50
Allowing unauthorized person to drive $75 $150
Permitting unlawful use of a license $50
Displaying or using canceled, revoked, fraudulent, etc. license $50
Displaying or using someone else’s license $50
Failure to display license when asked by officer $10 $50
Driving extra passengers with learner’s permit $25 $100
Loaning license to another person $50
Driving in violation of license restriction $50 $100
Illegal headlights (flashing, red, too many) $25 $75
Improper lights $25 $75
Not using headlights when necessary $25 $75
No rear lights $25 $75
No stopping lights $25 $75
Only one headlight $25 $75
Operating with high beams when not allowed $25 $75
Littering from a vehicle $100
Load extending beyond body of a vehicle $50 $250
Failure to keep open load tightly covered $50 $250
Failure to secure load $50 $150
Load more than 8 feet wide $50 $250
No red flag on end of long load $50 $250
Operating vehicle in unsafe mechanical condition $50 $100
Driving on median strip or raised curb area $100
Operating unregistered minibike or motorized bicycle $50
No rearview mirror $25 $75
Riding motorcycle without helmet, goggles and windshield $25 $100
Riding on part of motorcycle not designed for riding $25
Driving bus on street where buses not allowed $75 $150
Unnecessary or disturbing noise $25
Driving wrong way on one-way street $50 $100
Opening door on traffic side without looking (creating risk of dooring bicyclists), or leaving door open longer than necessary $25
Driving with open container of alcohol $100
Parade or procession without a permit $25
Parallel parking without backing into 1-car long space $10
Violating rules for passing another vehicle using oncoming lane $25 $100
Passing in an intersection $25
Speeding up to prevent someone else from passing $50
Passing on the curb $25
Passing to the right when not safe or not allowed $25
Passing without enough visibility ahead $25
Failure to change address on registration after moving $10
Failure to show registration to officer on demand $10 $50
Failure to stay on right half of two-way street (with exceptions) $50
Turning right on red without coming to complete stop $50 $100
Turning right on red without yielding to vehicle or ped $50
Turning right on red when “no turn on red” sign present $50 $100
Failure to yield to pedestrian that has right of way $250
Failure to yield to another vehicle that has right of way $50 $100
Failure to yield to pedestrian in the sidewalk $250
Not stopping when adjacent vehicle is stopped for a pedestrian $250
Stopping, standing, or parking in a bicycle lane $65
Driving through a safety zone (pedestrian refuge) $35 $75
Passing a school bus with lights flashing $50 $500
Driving on sidewalk $50
Failure to signal for turn or stop $25 $100
Disobeying green arrow signal $50
Disobeying an official signal (like a construction sign) $50 $100
Not stopping at a flashing red light $50
Driving through a red light $75 $150
Entering intersection on yellow light with time to safely stop $50
Unauthorized use or possession of siren $50
Visible exhaust or smoke for more than 10 seconds $50
Driving in snow without effective snow tires or chains $250
Violating snow emergency rules $250
Speeding up to 10 mph over limit $30 $75
Speeding 11-15 mph over limit $50 $125
Speeding 16-20 mph over limit $100 $150
Speeding 21-25 mph over limit $150 $200
Speeding over 25 mph over limit $200 $250
Speed beyond what is “reasonable and prudent” $25 $100
Driving too slowly, except as necessary $15 $50
Defective speedometer $25
Failure to have speedometer $25 $75
No or defective speedometer on minibike $15
Sign or other object stuck to windows or mirrors $15
Not stopping for stop sign $50
Driving on wrong side of the street $50
Altering license plate $100
Covering license plate $500
Driving with expired registration $100
Failure to register car in DC $100
Failure to turn in plates when ending registration of vehicle $50 $100
Failure to affix registration stickers $50
Failure to have or display current plates $100
Illegible license plates $50
Improper display of license plates $50
Improper use of dealer’s plates $50
Inadequate illumination of plates $50
Loaning license plates $50
No front plate $50
No rear plate $50
License plates covered up $50
Permitting someone to use expired plates $100
Having a TV in a vehicle visible to the driver $100
Unsafe tires $25 $100
Failure to transfer car title after purchasing vehicle $25
Towing without complying with regulations $100
Interfering with a traffic control device $50 $100
Unauthorized traffic control device $50
Driving truck on street where trucks not allowed $75 $150
Violating restrictions of a special truck permit $50
Transporting hazardous materials in prohibited tunnels $100 $250
Turning from wrong lane $25 $100
Illegal turn $25 $100
Turning when prohibited by a sign $25
Driving with obstructed front or side view $25 $75
Hanging objects obstructing view $15 $75
Up to $5,000 lbs over weight limit $100
Over $5,000 lbs over weight limit $100
Every additional 100 lbs over weight limit beyond 5,000 $6
Vehicle wider than permitted $50
Defective or obstructed windshield $25 $75
No windshield wipers $25 $75
Windshield wipers not functioning $25

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.