DC voids 2,800 tickets issued for parking on snow emergency routes last Friday
WASHINGTON - If you're one of the many drivers who was slapped with a $250 ticket for parking along a snow emergency route in the District last Friday as the blizzard approached, take a moment to rejoice. You're getting a break.
After a furry of complaints from residents since the blizzard, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Thursday that all citations issued for parking along snow emergency routes on Friday, January 22 will be voided.
"The Blizzard of 2016 was one of the largest snow events in recent history and we are all working together to dig the District out from this storm," Mayor Bowser said in a statement. "Despite that drivers were advised last Thursday to remove their vehicles from snow routes, I understand that some who received citations that Friday may not have known about the parking restriction, or may have been running errands in preparation for the storm. This ticket dismissal is one small way that we can continue to help each other recover from the storm."
The city declared a snow emergency that went into effect at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, which required drivers to move their cars from all snow emergency routes by that time-- and preventing them from parking along the routes until the snow emergency ended-- which happened Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. In all, 2,800 citations were issued around the city on Friday-- each of them carrying a fine of $250, along with fees for towing and vehicle storage for those cars that were moved before their owners could do it.
Bowser said unpaid citations that had been issued will be voided administratively, while those who have already paid the ticket will get a refund. The towing and storage charges will still apply, however.
Residents who have questions about the tickets they received should call 311 for help.