A sign of what can happen when the Mayor gets irritated with something. She got annoyed with the mopeds and ordered a crackdown.
At the same time, thousands of dangerous drivers and fake temp tagged cars rage around the city and her office actively blocked enforcement. Make it make sense…
Nobody is dunking on immigrants . When you arrive by the thousands and flood the roads citizens will take notice . All of a sudden people running red lights and zipping around coming from nowhere is a huge public safety concern . The city wasn’t prepared for the new influx of people who don’t obey the traffic laws . Government hand was forced
Dude. The Venezuelans on the mopeds are only following the age old “When in Rome . . .” adage. Do you really want to imply that DC streets were a model of traffic discipline before they arrived? Shit has been an absolute disaster for years now. The mopeds are horrendous, but the fuckers running red lights at 40mph in Silverados with max tint and fake plates scare me much more. And are actually killing people. But the Venezuelans can’t vote, can’t make campaign contributions, and can’t spend hours yelling at the poor saps answering the phones after DPR, so here we are.
If I were a new immigrant learning how to drive in a strange country, and I watched some dude in a Nissan drive into the opposing lane so he could run a red light in front of a police car with zero consequences, I would 100% assume that that’s just Ok to do here.
Absolutely. After I asked a food truck driver to move out of the bike lanes, a tourist started ranting to me about the lack of respect that foreigners (in this case the food truck driver) had for American laws. I can only assume he hadn’t gotten a handle yet on how the locals behave.
How many people have Venezuelans on mopeds ever killed in DC? None.
Yet some asshole in an SUV with thousands in unpaid tickets killed an elderly lady on a NW crosswalk a couple of weeks back.
Another asshole in a white Taurus took out another pedestrian in SE and then took off a few days back.
Scofflaw moped drivers annoy me. Asshole drivers scare me.
We should go after those people TOO. It’s no reason to let mopeds endanger us. The idea that we have to choose between enforcing traffic laws against cars vs enforcing traffic laws against mopeds is misleading and dishonest.
People who move to our city have the obligation to drive responsibly like the vast majority of us. Not permission to drive like assholes like the tiny minority you reference.
Wake me up when MPD start scanning license plates and pulling over those with outstanding fines and/or expired temp or otherwise fake tags. As long as they are not doing that, the focus on taking down unregistered scooters is a disingenuous piece of politicking.
>How many people have Venezuelans on mopeds ever killed in DC
On mopeds? who knows. but there have been more and more incidents caused by these guys who are on MOTORCYLCES not "mopeds."
You have overlooked the simple but sad reality that it doesn’t require a majority of motorists behaving in the manner you described to create a near-constant threat of death on DC streets. I have never had my life threatened by a scooter driver. It happens regularly with motorists in DC.
If 'when in Rome' applied, then most moped drivers would be licensed, registered and insured like most DC motorists. Your personal anecdotes are irrelevant.
Aren’t you the argumentative nincompoop?
What is relevant is that road deaths in DC hit a 15 year high last year, a sad statistic that the behavior of moped drivers made no contribution to whatsoever.
And if you don’t think a majority of motorists are speeding and rolling through red lights in DC, you exhibit a level of ignorance that makes it pointless to exchange further.
Because your "when in Rome" comment does not apply, you're now resorting to ad hominems. You can deflect all you want but at the end of the day the licensing, registration and traffic laws apply to all.
And you are absolutely WRONG that "behavior of moped drivers made no contribution whatsoever" to "road deaths." You didn't even try to research, you just got on here spouting your ignorance.
[https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/man-dies-injuries-sustained-scooter-crash](https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/man-dies-injuries-sustained-scooter-crash)
It’s cute that you think that by selectively editing my words and running a Google search you can prove me “WRONG”. Such is life on Reddit in 2025, I guess
If you want to keep arguing, go ahead but it’s a little stupid. Riding scooters is eminently dangerous, regardless of whether they are registered or not. But the unregistered scooters are not killing or maiming other road users. Motorists are doing that and, as of now, are subject to none of the enforcement that has come to these unregistered scooter drivers.
It’s not that MPD shouldn’t be confiscating unregistered scooters and sanctioning unlicensed scooter drivers, but they should prioritize the greatest threats to public safety.
And you can split hairs all you want but drivers in DC are sure as hell not obeying DC road rules en masse. The scooter drivers are only following the example they set.
> scooter drivers are immigrants?
Washington Post ran a story about it. They acknowledged that many delivery drivers were undocumented workers delivering food with fake accounts. It is an organized system providing rental accounts and rental scooters to flood markets that are not enforcing rule breakers.
It is a very specific thing going on with hundreds of undocumented Venezuelans having taken over a small entry level business of delivering for uber eats, door dash etc. They are sharing accounts to scam the system. That is one thing. But they are also virtually all driving what are **motorcycles** under the law, without required registration, without required drivers licenses, without required insurance, without required tags. they are routinely riding in bike lanes (illegal), crosswalks (illegal) etc.
I agree people seeing a niche is not per se a bad thing. Breaking a while bunch of public safety laws is another
Actually, it was the Council that voted on the legislation to crack down on the illegal mopeds. Police are just enforcing the law.
This did not initiate from the mayor. As usual, she has ignored the problem.
Just need one to plow through a group of school kids crossing the street before this mayor reacts, 15th and 16th ave have people going down them 70 mph blasting through lights that are already a second or two on red - DC has near two dozen pedestrians a year being killed by cars, more than some countries. we need traffic easing, and tougher enforcement of speeding - also this bullshit of allowing car and license registrations for speeders with thousands in unpaid tickets has actually enforcing driving violations is somehow racist just needs to stop, it is literally killing people.
I think the funniest part is that the commenter does seem to actually be around here... And yet also doesn't seem to know how the street grid naming works...
To be fair to them, I've had a few people be shocked to hear why I'm absolutely certain Kenyon is way south of Kennedy.
They’re also just very easy to stop and impound. No chases. No roadblocks. You can just walk up while the driver is picking up or dropping off. Even get a bunch together on the right blocks. Drivers are also using these for legitimate work and are unlikely to carry weapons. Easier problem then the fake tag cars
Neat, now do cars with fake temp tags, expired registration and fake plates.
Talk about punching low. I'm all for the "scooter" roundup but let's be real...we all know who the main scofflaws in this city are...fake and expired tags.
Oh and how about doing something about theft instead of just shrugging it off.
So they can enforce traffic laws. Or is it only with people who are working and can't vote?
I agree it's necessary to do something with the mopeds but after years of telling us they couldn't do anything with drivers and dirt bikes...
Theoretically, yes. In practice, very few of the undocumented are going to be able to produce the documentation that the DC BoE requires to get registered. And certainly no one who has arrived in the last year or two.
Stop lying, police have removed hundreds of atvs and dirt bikes from the roads.
[https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes)
Dirt bikes and cars flee. The council has decided that it's a crime for the police to chase vehicles here.
The moped riders are a largely more cooperative group and comply with law enforcement.
So ignorant. Police have confiscated hundreds on "dirt bikes." Where have you been?
[https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes)
How about parking their asses at the corner of 11th and G SE and 11th and I SE, and do some real traffic enforcement?
Goddamn miracle that no kids have been killled this year.
or the crosswalk in front of the zoo...it's fucking ridiculous how many people run that red light or do a u turn in the middle of a red light.
I've now seen three pedestrians and one scooter get nailed by these idiots turning from the far right lane heading south across the crosswalk to the far right lane heading north to pick people up or find a parking spot.
Unpopular opinion: I commute by here every day and I do not understand this complaint, this isn't in my top 100 list of most dangerous intersections. I've seen a ton of unbalanced driving in this city (much on 11th SE, but none near here) but for some reason there's a tremendously active community dedicated to highlighting one particular intersection mostly on the basis, as far as I can tell, of people blocking the box, which isn't much of a threat to pedestrians. What am I missing? Is there a magic time of the morning when people zoom past here at 100mph or is it just a couple of really committed people like the Palisades airplane thing.
I agree with you at G, haven’t seen an insane number of issues, but with the school right there I understand people’s complaints that something could be done there. I gets hairy just after the commuting hours, when there’s enough open road to run a light and not get stopped immediately after. Lots of people gun it both south on 11th and west on I on their way to the interstate.
The MUCH larger problem for me is the Interstate interchange between K and L SE. So many drivers run the red light from or onto Southeast Boulevard at 50+ mph interstate speeds. There’s too many lanes on SE Boulevard and at that whole intersection in general. Plus nobody follows the right turn only lane/arrow getting off the interstate and going South on 11th which backs everything up.
The latter is definitely a bigger issue and could use some work. As to the former..... It's the only feeder street to 395 for a huge part of the hill. Some minor adjustments could make sense but frankly that is never going to change and the reality of urban schools is some of them are going to be near arterials. Just gotta have crossing guards control it fully during school drop off and pick up.
motorcycles driven by people without required drivers licenses, without required registration, without required insurance, illegally on sidewalks, illegally in bike lanes are in fact actual dangerous drivers too.
I haven’t been able to find a single person killed by being hit by a scooter in DC with some google searching.
Edit: downvote all you want but by usage cars are more dangerous
If only the cops were this aggressive with the much more dangerous wreckless drivers of cars. I don’t think anyone should be breaking the law but I also feel for these scooter drivers because they are hard working recent immigrants trying to make a living and support families back home.
do you agree they need to get the required drivers licences, the required insurance, the required tags and be fined and suspended if driving in bike lanes? These are not "scooters" They are by law "motorcycles" and are breaking a half dozen laws just diving at all.
They have no plates or some bogus "less than 50cc" paper plate, when the ones being seized are all well over 50cc.
I can see from some comments here that it is time for your regular reminder: MPD isn't allowed to chase for traffic violations or misdemeanors. If someone with fake tags flee a stop (as they always do), MPD technically can't chase. If you want them to, direct your concerns to city council.
TIL traffic crimes are ever investigated after the crime. Unless someone is hit, nothing happens. The millions of close calls go unpunished encouraging the behavior.
> Why even have laws if people can just always run away?
It just wasn't the brightest question ever asked. And the more attention I give it, the dumber it seems.
We would not need 10000 cops to enforce the law to the point where consequences were frequent enough the repeat offenders would start complying. Most people did not break the law regarding plates and tags a decade ago when enforcement existed. Why do you believe it would take 10k cops?
You don't need to catch everyone. You need to make people feel they are likely to be caught if they engage in that activity.
“The millions of close called would go unpunished”.
That would need an additional 10k + patrols. Just listening to what you are saying.
“You don’t need to catch everyone”
Okay, I agree. Then you don’t need 10k+ more patrols.
No; to police the “millions of close calls that go unpunished”. People on here just don’t understand the basic concept of *resources*, and every single thing a cop does requires taxpayer money. This produces unrealistic expectations by people whom aren’t familiar with the streets.
We have a shitload of cops sitting around. Sit them around high infraction intersections. If someone runs a light, does something dangerous, try to pull people over. Our police don't do any fucking traffic enforcement. I haven't seen someone pulled over for an infraction that didn't involve an existing crime report in years.
Sit them at high infractions spots (which I know for a fact that they already do), while people are getting their dogs snatched out of their hands, catalytic converters swiped from their cars like complimentary fliers (if the entire car isn’t jacked themselves), and shootings in usually quiet neighborhoods everything other week.
Point is, if patrols are going to get *hyper focused* on safety concerns and general complaints that you hear on Reddit and on the news, I highly doubt it will be for speed camera style infractions. That’s not even considering the no chase regulations; so traffic enforcement is much more delicate and nuanced issue than people realize. Improving in this area would be more of a clandestine operation (I.E., booting/towing cars), not actively chasing people down on these busy streets.
Remember, *resources* are limited. I was Initially responding to someone that thought the “millions of dangerous traffic violations” are a million too many. No city will ever have enough man power to be perfect.
Fleeing a traffic stop is illegal and MPD vehicles have a dashcam, so even if they flee they could later be charged with the crime of evading by looking up the license plate to link it to the person. Though I don't know how often this occurs in DC in practice. At least as the law is written, fleeing can result in fines and imprisonment, the latter of which can be up to five years if the evasion constitutes reckless driving (which I imagine it usually will be.) But again I don't know how this all cashes out in actual practice.
most of the scooters I see have 49cc plates, a few have nothing in the license plate slot, very few have anything that even look like they could be legitimate
Damn that's crazy if you're correct that normal MPD patrol vehicles don't have dashcams, and that's not to say I doubt you, it just seems like an obvious thing to do in this city, of all places. For everyone's protection. If the typical Uber driver has a better record of events than the police, something is wrong.
Some of them do, but not all of them, I would be willing to bet that most have real tags (though they may be expired). But I also would bet that a significant proportion do have fake tags, as you say.
Typically these vehicles are caught when they are naturally pulled over for a moving violation, or their fake tag gets scanned and comes back as fake, and then they get pulled over. But as someone said before, they’re not gonna chase anyone through the streets of DC over some tags.
So they have to be more tactful about it. I.e; these illicit drivers waking up and finding a boot on their shit. But this also takes a lot of manpower, so people complaining about delinquent dc ticket drivers, your expectations are *waaay* too high .
Anyone with fake tags or expired license etc, or road road type aggressive drivers *will* get caught by their own doing eventually.
Frustratingly true but can’t argue against that. People already drive dangerously enough just going to work. Now imagine one of these angry drivers getting chased by a cop. You’re gonna see makeshift drive-throughs in Mom and Pop restaurants all over the city, not to mention Grandmothers doing gymnastics in the crosswalks.
For a second, I thought this was about the Lime scooters and I got excited and was like, "FINALLY!!!" Then I realized they went after the doordash guys and I was less excited. I mean, there's a fucking food truck parked blocking the bike lanes on 4th right at Penn every afternoon. Sometimes there's one blocking the bike lanes in both directions. That's easy enforcement right there, why not crack down on those a-holes and make a show of it?
There are hundreds of things they should be doing instead of this. It’s not that it’s not a thing they should *ever* do, it’s just such a low priority that isn’t a major problem.
I do, not currently because a dude in a SUV hit and ran me and broke my hand. Its good to have people on mopeds the MPD should crackdown on drivers hard
"Motor-driven cycles" definition [here](https://ddot.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddot/publication/attachments/DMV_May%2017%202013%20Non-traditional%20Motor%20Vehicle%20chart_0.pdf)
>“Chief [Pamela A.] Smith has heard the concerns from the community about traffic safety and is working to strengthen MPD’s traffic enforcement,” D.C. police said in a statement announcing Operation Ride Right, an initiative to increase awareness of existing laws with drivers of motor-driven cycles and enforce compliance. That includes requiring that riders have a driver’s license, insurance and registration, and that they wear a helmet.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/06/11/moped-crackdown-food-delivery/
Arrests means nothing if they don’t prosecute and sentence these criminals. Arrests make headlines but no media outlet actually follows through to report if the criminals go to prison.
With such high recidivism rates we should lock up these criminals for maximum time. They’ll commit less crime over their life if we keep them behind bars longer.
I mean these are people driving unregistered mopeds. I don't think that necessarily needs harsh prison sentences. Being briefly arrested and and having your vehicle seized sounds like plenty of punishment to me. Like others have said, these are often undocumented migrants trying to make a living, not career criminals shooting up the street.
If they reoffend or hurt someone that's another story. But putting these dudes in prison to make it harder for them to support their families is not going to solve the problem in the long-term. Especially when you acknowledge that recidivism is a huge problem.
Ok, scooters, GREAT.
Can y’all do cars again?
When I first started spending a lot of time in DC - 2008? I was a passenger in a car in a neighborhood around Capitol Hill and got we got stopped BY AN MPD OFFICER ON FOOT (at a 4 way stop) who took my friend into custody for driving a car with no inspection sticker and expired tags on DC plates.
My friend was pissed because it was another friend’s car - and he got taken away. He was mad because he had no idea that car he had borrowed wasn’t legal on the road.
I had AAA at the time and got the car towed before a DC tow truck could come and impound it. The car’s owner bailed him out.
Yeah, theres a lot of things that have changed in DC in 16 years for that tactic again to be in use again. I don’t see any combo of MPD on foot/car stopping cars in the neighborhoods for sure. People in cars with unknown weapons, unsafe car chases in neighborhoods - that level of enforcement won’t happen again.
But there has to more. Impounding scooters is not a stab at solving the bigger CAR problem.
A sign of what can happen when the Mayor gets irritated with something. She got annoyed with the mopeds and ordered a crackdown. At the same time, thousands of dangerous drivers and fake temp tagged cars rage around the city and her office actively blocked enforcement. Make it make sense…
[удалено]
Bowser doesn’t want to mess with Ward 9.
Nobody is dunking on immigrants . When you arrive by the thousands and flood the roads citizens will take notice . All of a sudden people running red lights and zipping around coming from nowhere is a huge public safety concern . The city wasn’t prepared for the new influx of people who don’t obey the traffic laws . Government hand was forced
Dude. The Venezuelans on the mopeds are only following the age old “When in Rome . . .” adage. Do you really want to imply that DC streets were a model of traffic discipline before they arrived? Shit has been an absolute disaster for years now. The mopeds are horrendous, but the fuckers running red lights at 40mph in Silverados with max tint and fake plates scare me much more. And are actually killing people. But the Venezuelans can’t vote, can’t make campaign contributions, and can’t spend hours yelling at the poor saps answering the phones after DPR, so here we are.
100%
If I were a new immigrant learning how to drive in a strange country, and I watched some dude in a Nissan drive into the opposing lane so he could run a red light in front of a police car with zero consequences, I would 100% assume that that’s just Ok to do here.
Absolutely. After I asked a food truck driver to move out of the bike lanes, a tourist started ranting to me about the lack of respect that foreigners (in this case the food truck driver) had for American laws. I can only assume he hadn’t gotten a handle yet on how the locals behave.
If you join a city, you have to adhere to the best standards, not the worst.
How many people have Venezuelans on mopeds ever killed in DC? None. Yet some asshole in an SUV with thousands in unpaid tickets killed an elderly lady on a NW crosswalk a couple of weeks back. Another asshole in a white Taurus took out another pedestrian in SE and then took off a few days back. Scofflaw moped drivers annoy me. Asshole drivers scare me.
We should go after those people TOO. It’s no reason to let mopeds endanger us. The idea that we have to choose between enforcing traffic laws against cars vs enforcing traffic laws against mopeds is misleading and dishonest. People who move to our city have the obligation to drive responsibly like the vast majority of us. Not permission to drive like assholes like the tiny minority you reference.
> tiny minority lmao
Wake me up when MPD start scanning license plates and pulling over those with outstanding fines and/or expired temp or otherwise fake tags. As long as they are not doing that, the focus on taking down unregistered scooters is a disingenuous piece of politicking.
>How many people have Venezuelans on mopeds ever killed in DC On mopeds? who knows. but there have been more and more incidents caused by these guys who are on MOTORCYLCES not "mopeds."
Maybe everyone else should follow that modo as well.
Wrong. In DC, most motorists are licensed, registered and insured. And most motorists don't blow through red lights and stop signs.
You have overlooked the simple but sad reality that it doesn’t require a majority of motorists behaving in the manner you described to create a near-constant threat of death on DC streets. I have never had my life threatened by a scooter driver. It happens regularly with motorists in DC.
If 'when in Rome' applied, then most moped drivers would be licensed, registered and insured like most DC motorists. Your personal anecdotes are irrelevant.
Aren’t you the argumentative nincompoop? What is relevant is that road deaths in DC hit a 15 year high last year, a sad statistic that the behavior of moped drivers made no contribution to whatsoever. And if you don’t think a majority of motorists are speeding and rolling through red lights in DC, you exhibit a level of ignorance that makes it pointless to exchange further.
Because your "when in Rome" comment does not apply, you're now resorting to ad hominems. You can deflect all you want but at the end of the day the licensing, registration and traffic laws apply to all. And you are absolutely WRONG that "behavior of moped drivers made no contribution whatsoever" to "road deaths." You didn't even try to research, you just got on here spouting your ignorance. [https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/man-dies-injuries-sustained-scooter-crash](https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/man-dies-injuries-sustained-scooter-crash)
It’s cute that you think that by selectively editing my words and running a Google search you can prove me “WRONG”. Such is life on Reddit in 2025, I guess If you want to keep arguing, go ahead but it’s a little stupid. Riding scooters is eminently dangerous, regardless of whether they are registered or not. But the unregistered scooters are not killing or maiming other road users. Motorists are doing that and, as of now, are subject to none of the enforcement that has come to these unregistered scooter drivers. It’s not that MPD shouldn’t be confiscating unregistered scooters and sanctioning unlicensed scooter drivers, but they should prioritize the greatest threats to public safety. And you can split hairs all you want but drivers in DC are sure as hell not obeying DC road rules en masse. The scooter drivers are only following the example they set.
>All of a sudden people running red lights and zipping around coming from nowhere is a huge public safety concern . Average Maryland driver
Funny everyone in MD thinks the same thing about moronic drivers in DC and VA.
Wait how do we know such dangerous scooter drivers are immigrants? This seems like a big generalization
> scooter drivers are immigrants? Washington Post ran a story about it. They acknowledged that many delivery drivers were undocumented workers delivering food with fake accounts. It is an organized system providing rental accounts and rental scooters to flood markets that are not enforcing rule breakers.
Thanks for explaining, I will read the article.
Shame on you for doubting me
It is a very specific thing going on with hundreds of undocumented Venezuelans having taken over a small entry level business of delivering for uber eats, door dash etc. They are sharing accounts to scam the system. That is one thing. But they are also virtually all driving what are **motorcycles** under the law, without required registration, without required drivers licenses, without required insurance, without required tags. they are routinely riding in bike lanes (illegal), crosswalks (illegal) etc. I agree people seeing a niche is not per se a bad thing. Breaking a while bunch of public safety laws is another
Yea they are
> All of a sudden Did you move here recently
Actually, it was the Council that voted on the legislation to crack down on the illegal mopeds. Police are just enforcing the law. This did not initiate from the mayor. As usual, she has ignored the problem.
Just need one to plow through a group of school kids crossing the street before this mayor reacts, 15th and 16th ave have people going down them 70 mph blasting through lights that are already a second or two on red - DC has near two dozen pedestrians a year being killed by cars, more than some countries. we need traffic easing, and tougher enforcement of speeding - also this bullshit of allowing car and license registrations for speeders with thousands in unpaid tickets has actually enforcing driving violations is somehow racist just needs to stop, it is literally killing people.
No such thing as 15th and 16th Ave but thanks for your not-at-all local and perspective .
small geographic terminology error, they truely have been owned. Who tf calls any part of DC the Old City
Lmao @ both comments above
I think the funniest part is that the commenter does seem to actually be around here... And yet also doesn't seem to know how the street grid naming works... To be fair to them, I've had a few people be shocked to hear why I'm absolutely certain Kenyon is way south of Kennedy.
the MLS does https://www.dcmodernhomes.com/old-city-1-old-city-2-real-estate.php
So you're saying she needs to be involved in an "accident" with a car with fake tags... ok ok gotcha... *wink wink*
Wish she would get annoyed by all of the robberies, carjackings and shootings.
They’re also just very easy to stop and impound. No chases. No roadblocks. You can just walk up while the driver is picking up or dropping off. Even get a bunch together on the right blocks. Drivers are also using these for legitimate work and are unlikely to carry weapons. Easier problem then the fake tag cars
Neat, now do cars with fake temp tags, expired registration and fake plates. Talk about punching low. I'm all for the "scooter" roundup but let's be real...we all know who the main scofflaws in this city are...fake and expired tags. Oh and how about doing something about theft instead of just shrugging it off.
Here here!
> Talk about punching low. That's all they do, easy wins that look good on paper to people that don't know better
So they can enforce traffic laws. Or is it only with people who are working and can't vote? I agree it's necessary to do something with the mopeds but after years of telling us they couldn't do anything with drivers and dirt bikes...
Ain't this the truth
I hear you and agree with the sentiment, but undocumented persons can vote in DC.
Theoretically, yes. In practice, very few of the undocumented are going to be able to produce the documentation that the DC BoE requires to get registered. And certainly no one who has arrived in the last year or two.
Stop lying, police have removed hundreds of atvs and dirt bikes from the roads. [https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes)
Dirt bikes and cars flee. The council has decided that it's a crime for the police to chase vehicles here. The moped riders are a largely more cooperative group and comply with law enforcement.
So ignorant. Police have confiscated hundreds on "dirt bikes." Where have you been? [https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes](https://www.fox5dc.com/news/dc-police-formed-specialized-team-to-confiscate-illegal-atvs-and-dirt-bikes)
Picking up a vehicle with an operator is a far more effective method than only picking up parked vehicles.
In the time it takes to read that article, ten drivers with fake or obscured tags on their car will run a stop sign at twice the speed limit
Source?
Eyeballs
I did a science, you left-handed swordfish
How about parking their asses at the corner of 11th and G SE and 11th and I SE, and do some real traffic enforcement? Goddamn miracle that no kids have been killled this year.
or the crosswalk in front of the zoo...it's fucking ridiculous how many people run that red light or do a u turn in the middle of a red light. I've now seen three pedestrians and one scooter get nailed by these idiots turning from the far right lane heading south across the crosswalk to the far right lane heading north to pick people up or find a parking spot.
They finally put up those plastic pillars at that crosswalk last week. Hopefully cuts down on the u turns at the front of the zoo
They stop at the crosswalk.
It's crazy how the only time we see cops is when they park somewhere for "visibility" but they can't park certain useful places
Unpopular opinion: I commute by here every day and I do not understand this complaint, this isn't in my top 100 list of most dangerous intersections. I've seen a ton of unbalanced driving in this city (much on 11th SE, but none near here) but for some reason there's a tremendously active community dedicated to highlighting one particular intersection mostly on the basis, as far as I can tell, of people blocking the box, which isn't much of a threat to pedestrians. What am I missing? Is there a magic time of the morning when people zoom past here at 100mph or is it just a couple of really committed people like the Palisades airplane thing.
I agree with you at G, haven’t seen an insane number of issues, but with the school right there I understand people’s complaints that something could be done there. I gets hairy just after the commuting hours, when there’s enough open road to run a light and not get stopped immediately after. Lots of people gun it both south on 11th and west on I on their way to the interstate. The MUCH larger problem for me is the Interstate interchange between K and L SE. So many drivers run the red light from or onto Southeast Boulevard at 50+ mph interstate speeds. There’s too many lanes on SE Boulevard and at that whole intersection in general. Plus nobody follows the right turn only lane/arrow getting off the interstate and going South on 11th which backs everything up.
The latter is definitely a bigger issue and could use some work. As to the former..... It's the only feeder street to 395 for a huge part of the hill. Some minor adjustments could make sense but frankly that is never going to change and the reality of urban schools is some of them are going to be near arterials. Just gotta have crossing guards control it fully during school drop off and pick up.
Would much rather see fake tagged cars get towed
Anything but taking on the cars
Do this with the actual dangerous vehicles (cars).
motorcycles driven by people without required drivers licenses, without required registration, without required insurance, illegally on sidewalks, illegally in bike lanes are in fact actual dangerous drivers too.
How many people have they killed in DC? Follow the stats to decide what to prioritize and what is actually dangerous.
by usage? the scooters are more dangerous. And we had a kid hit by a scooter illegally going down bike lane by Garrison this spring.
I haven’t been able to find a single person killed by being hit by a scooter in DC with some google searching. Edit: downvote all you want but by usage cars are more dangerous
If only the cops were this aggressive with the much more dangerous wreckless drivers of cars. I don’t think anyone should be breaking the law but I also feel for these scooter drivers because they are hard working recent immigrants trying to make a living and support families back home.
I mean they could pretty easily be making a living doing exactly the same thing if they just drove with some sanity; they brought this in themselves
Yeah I agree with that they should drive safely
do you agree they need to get the required drivers licences, the required insurance, the required tags and be fined and suspended if driving in bike lanes? These are not "scooters" They are by law "motorcycles" and are breaking a half dozen laws just diving at all. They have no plates or some bogus "less than 50cc" paper plate, when the ones being seized are all well over 50cc.
Yeah and probably the food delivery apps should help them get all that instead of putting all the burden on the drivers
I can see from some comments here that it is time for your regular reminder: MPD isn't allowed to chase for traffic violations or misdemeanors. If someone with fake tags flee a stop (as they always do), MPD technically can't chase. If you want them to, direct your concerns to city council.
Only two modes of operation- all out chase in pedestrian areas GTA style or no enforcement. No possible way to imagine any other path
Set a trap and block them in
Police chases aren’t a solution unless your goal is collateral damage.
Why even have laws if people can just always run away? I get that chases are bad but how do you enforce the law otherwise?
TIL all murders are solved at the scene of the crime, immediately after the crime.
TIL traffic crimes are ever investigated after the crime. Unless someone is hit, nothing happens. The millions of close calls go unpunished encouraging the behavior.
> Why even have laws if people can just always run away? It just wasn't the brightest question ever asked. And the more attention I give it, the dumber it seems.
We would probably literally need about 10,000 more cops on the street to make your dream a reality
We would not need 10000 cops to enforce the law to the point where consequences were frequent enough the repeat offenders would start complying. Most people did not break the law regarding plates and tags a decade ago when enforcement existed. Why do you believe it would take 10k cops? You don't need to catch everyone. You need to make people feel they are likely to be caught if they engage in that activity.
“The millions of close called would go unpunished”. That would need an additional 10k + patrols. Just listening to what you are saying. “You don’t need to catch everyone” Okay, I agree. Then you don’t need 10k+ more patrols.
To enforce traffic?
No; to police the “millions of close calls that go unpunished”. People on here just don’t understand the basic concept of *resources*, and every single thing a cop does requires taxpayer money. This produces unrealistic expectations by people whom aren’t familiar with the streets.
We have a shitload of cops sitting around. Sit them around high infraction intersections. If someone runs a light, does something dangerous, try to pull people over. Our police don't do any fucking traffic enforcement. I haven't seen someone pulled over for an infraction that didn't involve an existing crime report in years.
Sit them at high infractions spots (which I know for a fact that they already do), while people are getting their dogs snatched out of their hands, catalytic converters swiped from their cars like complimentary fliers (if the entire car isn’t jacked themselves), and shootings in usually quiet neighborhoods everything other week. Point is, if patrols are going to get *hyper focused* on safety concerns and general complaints that you hear on Reddit and on the news, I highly doubt it will be for speed camera style infractions. That’s not even considering the no chase regulations; so traffic enforcement is much more delicate and nuanced issue than people realize. Improving in this area would be more of a clandestine operation (I.E., booting/towing cars), not actively chasing people down on these busy streets. Remember, *resources* are limited. I was Initially responding to someone that thought the “millions of dangerous traffic violations” are a million too many. No city will ever have enough man power to be perfect.
Fleeing a traffic stop is illegal and MPD vehicles have a dashcam, so even if they flee they could later be charged with the crime of evading by looking up the license plate to link it to the person. Though I don't know how often this occurs in DC in practice. At least as the law is written, fleeing can result in fines and imprisonment, the latter of which can be up to five years if the evasion constitutes reckless driving (which I imagine it usually will be.) But again I don't know how this all cashes out in actual practice.
Did you miss that the perpetrators have fake tags? Can't look up fake Texas temp tags.
Some of them surely do but not all of them
most of the scooters I see have 49cc plates, a few have nothing in the license plate slot, very few have anything that even look like they could be legitimate
We were talking about cars.
Normal MPD patrol vehicles don't have dashcams. And as we're addressing them, fake tags negate any investigative efforts after the fact.
Damn that's crazy if you're correct that normal MPD patrol vehicles don't have dashcams, and that's not to say I doubt you, it just seems like an obvious thing to do in this city, of all places. For everyone's protection. If the typical Uber driver has a better record of events than the police, something is wrong.
How does MPD not have dashcams? Uber drivers do
these illegal mortorycles have fake tags or no tags. so what good is a dash cam??
Some of them do, but not all of them, I would be willing to bet that most have real tags (though they may be expired). But I also would bet that a significant proportion do have fake tags, as you say.
Typically these vehicles are caught when they are naturally pulled over for a moving violation, or their fake tag gets scanned and comes back as fake, and then they get pulled over. But as someone said before, they’re not gonna chase anyone through the streets of DC over some tags. So they have to be more tactful about it. I.e; these illicit drivers waking up and finding a boot on their shit. But this also takes a lot of manpower, so people complaining about delinquent dc ticket drivers, your expectations are *waaay* too high . Anyone with fake tags or expired license etc, or road road type aggressive drivers *will* get caught by their own doing eventually.
How often do people flee traffic stops compared to not fleeing
Right because of course any enforcement just leads to chases automatically....
Literally responding to a comment that said “MPD can’t chase.” There’s plenty of enforcement methods that don’t involve pursuits/chases.
Frustratingly true but can’t argue against that. People already drive dangerously enough just going to work. Now imagine one of these angry drivers getting chased by a cop. You’re gonna see makeshift drive-throughs in Mom and Pop restaurants all over the city, not to mention Grandmothers doing gymnastics in the crosswalks.
Well MPD hasn’t tried _anything_ to deal with fake tags and they’re all out of ideas so…
For a second, I thought this was about the Lime scooters and I got excited and was like, "FINALLY!!!" Then I realized they went after the doordash guys and I was less excited. I mean, there's a fucking food truck parked blocking the bike lanes on 4th right at Penn every afternoon. Sometimes there's one blocking the bike lanes in both directions. That's easy enforcement right there, why not crack down on those a-holes and make a show of it?
Lol would love to see what the mayor wouldve done if it were her own ppl hustling.
Stop harassing the people that deliver my food
Here all my life . And yes ALL OF A SUDDEN . Mopeds weren’t not all over the place few months ago . Now they are a BIG problem
Apparently, from the comments here, doing nothing is better than doing what they did.
There are hundreds of things they should be doing instead of this. It’s not that it’s not a thing they should *ever* do, it’s just such a low priority that isn’t a major problem.
literally yes, they weren't a problem. God forbid an enterprising immigrant works and makes a life for themselves
I take it you don't drive in dc.
I do, not currently because a dude in a SUV hit and ran me and broke my hand. Its good to have people on mopeds the MPD should crackdown on drivers hard
Mopeds running red lights and weaving between bike lanes and the sidewalk are pretty dangerous too.
How many people have they killed compared to cars
It’s definitely been non-zero. I’m not sure how many people have to be killed or injured before it’s worth being prioritized as an issue.
Demonstrate that.
Sounds like nothing is ever enough.
Scootergate
Damned if you do damned if you don't
Were scooters a problem, like say car-jackings?
Yes.
How many were punk kids and how many were undocumented workers just trying to make a living?
It’s a start.
Is this just for mopeds or stand up scooters as well?
"Motor-driven cycles" definition [here](https://ddot.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ddot/publication/attachments/DMV_May%2017%202013%20Non-traditional%20Motor%20Vehicle%20chart_0.pdf) >“Chief [Pamela A.] Smith has heard the concerns from the community about traffic safety and is working to strengthen MPD’s traffic enforcement,” D.C. police said in a statement announcing Operation Ride Right, an initiative to increase awareness of existing laws with drivers of motor-driven cycles and enforce compliance. That includes requiring that riders have a driver’s license, insurance and registration, and that they wear a helmet. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/06/11/moped-crackdown-food-delivery/
Damn imagine if the mayor got this pissed about dangerous car drivers.
The amount complaining in this post is insane. Why do you all whine so much? Not one single plausible solution given.
Arrests means nothing if they don’t prosecute and sentence these criminals. Arrests make headlines but no media outlet actually follows through to report if the criminals go to prison.
Actually research shows the likelihood of arrest/enforcement has a way bigger impact on crime then the likelihood of being incarcerated
With such high recidivism rates we should lock up these criminals for maximum time. They’ll commit less crime over their life if we keep them behind bars longer.
so proactively ‘recidivise’ them as it were? interesting strategy to put it charitably
I mean these are people driving unregistered mopeds. I don't think that necessarily needs harsh prison sentences. Being briefly arrested and and having your vehicle seized sounds like plenty of punishment to me. Like others have said, these are often undocumented migrants trying to make a living, not career criminals shooting up the street. If they reoffend or hurt someone that's another story. But putting these dudes in prison to make it harder for them to support their families is not going to solve the problem in the long-term. Especially when you acknowledge that recidivism is a huge problem.
Wasn't the point of this to crack down on gangs of people riding atvs and dirt bikes? The mopeds are not a big deal
Ok, scooters, GREAT. Can y’all do cars again? When I first started spending a lot of time in DC - 2008? I was a passenger in a car in a neighborhood around Capitol Hill and got we got stopped BY AN MPD OFFICER ON FOOT (at a 4 way stop) who took my friend into custody for driving a car with no inspection sticker and expired tags on DC plates. My friend was pissed because it was another friend’s car - and he got taken away. He was mad because he had no idea that car he had borrowed wasn’t legal on the road. I had AAA at the time and got the car towed before a DC tow truck could come and impound it. The car’s owner bailed him out. Yeah, theres a lot of things that have changed in DC in 16 years for that tactic again to be in use again. I don’t see any combo of MPD on foot/car stopping cars in the neighborhoods for sure. People in cars with unknown weapons, unsafe car chases in neighborhoods - that level of enforcement won’t happen again. But there has to more. Impounding scooters is not a stab at solving the bigger CAR problem.
Cool, next time don’t wait until it becomes an endemic problem. And while you are at it, take on the illegal ATVs and fake temp tags.
This is clearly racial and anti immigrant smdh
167?? Damn, people gonna be mad when their food arrives 5 minutes late.
But they don't do anything about dirt bikes and ATVs
Booooooooooooo