Washington DC Parking and Towing
Introduction
Recently, I travelled to our Capital for a few days by car. I stayed in a hotel downtown and needed to park my car on the street over night. This is my experience. Needless to say, I plan to dispute the ticket.
- Sept. 2018
Background
If you never been to our Capital, driving around town is a new experience. The streets are not your typical rectangular grids. In fact, the streets and avenues is shaped like a masonic star. There are numerous circles and tunnels throughout the city. Driving around town is not a picnic. Parking on the streets is also a challenge.
A Warning About Towing
If you decide to park on the main streets, be aware that your car will be towed. The sign say no parking from 7 am-9:30 am. If you leave the car overnight and forget to move it by 7am, it will be towed away. Not only that, it will be moved to another location where you will be ticketed for illegal parking. The fine is $100 for each offense. This is the only city I know of that does this. Even NYC will tow you to a pound where you can go and retrieve your car after paying the fine.
In DC, they just tow you 10 blocks away on a quiet street. Within minutes, another ticket is applied to your windshield.
When you discover your car was towed, you only have to call a designated number. They will inform you the exact location where you can locate your vehicle. It is very efficient. It is designed to separate you from your money. Here are the photos...
The No Parking Sign
The Distance My Car Was Towed
The Two Tickets...
DC 8 Parking Zones
Summary
As you can gleam from the tickets, the car was towed at 7:02 am, two minutes after the time on the sign, and a second tickets was issued at 7:22 am, approx. 10 blocks away by a different traffic agent.
The phone number to call is clearly show on the street sign.
I clearly parked illegally. My complaint is that my car was towed to a spot where it was illegal to park thus creating two tickets for one infraction. Isn’t this something like double jeopardy?
Like clockwork, this is so efficient. You have to wonder why doesn’t some of our other government agencies work this way? The postal office and DMV comes to mind.
Some Related Info
- DC parking nightmares: Towed, ticketed & ticketed again
WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- By law the District of Columbia can decide to tow your vehicle even if you've parked legally. That doesn't mean they don't have - DC Parking Zones
- Out-of-State Vehicle Owners Can Be Out of Luck on D.C.'s Zoned Streets
Ingleside Terrace used to be good, but it went zoned a few weeks ago, which sent parkers to duke it out on other nearby unzoned streets, like the little half-block somewhere around Kenyon. There's a weird haven off of Adams Mill, with license plates
© 2018 Jack Lee
