WASHINGTON — The fatal DUI crash that killed a rideshare driver and his two passengers on Rock Creek Parkway in March has prompted a series of legislation aimed at getting dangerous drivers off the roads faster.
Councilmember At-Large Christina Henderson is behind one of the bills 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.
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.
An investigation into the driver behind the fatal Rock Creek Parkway crash showed that 43-year-old Nikita Walker had five prior DUI convictions, three of those were in the District. The vehicle that Walker was driving also had 44 unpaid speed camera tickets at the time of the crash. Despite her extensive record, that included a past felony assault charge, her license was never suspended by the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles.
"The Department of Motor Vehicles is showing far less convictions then what DC Superior courts processed. So what they are going through, DMV, is an audit process going back ten years to check every record to make sure they are accurate and up to date," Henderson said.
Her second bill would assign points to a person's driving record for camera tickets. Currently drivers can only be fined for camera tickets because they are not written by a police officer.
Councilmember Charles Allen who chairs the Committee on Transportation and the Environment has also introduced a series of bills targeting dangerous drivers.
Henderson says they will hold another public hearing in the fall and will likely combine the series of bills and ideas.
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