Traffic control officers get new ticket-writing power

July 30, 2009 - 8:58am
Darci Marchese, wtop.com
WASHINGTON - Heads up. You could get slapped with a D.C. traffic citation by a new group of officers -- traffic control officers.
Expect them to mostly write up tickets for parking violations, but D.C. Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle says the officers can write tickets for distracted driving violations, such as talking on a cell phone.
He says the main goal is "to ensure that everybody's safe."
Lisle says there will be no quotas or goals on tickets as the officers in their red and yellow vests are routinely deployed to busy intersections.
"We feel that it's really going to make the streets safer -- and that's what our focus is," says Lisle.
Here are some of the infractions for which the officers can ticket you:


  • Parking in a bus or loading zone;
  • Parking in front of a designated entrance;
  • Expired tags;
  • No standing;
  • No parking anytime;
  • Double parking;
  • No parking during rush hour;
  • Expired inspection sticker;
  • No stopping;
  • No front or rear tag.

The traffic control officers won't be able to write citations for criminal violations.
(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)


Darci Marchese, wtop.com
WASHINGTON - Heads up. You could get slapped with a D.C. traffic citation by a new group of officers -- traffic control officers.
Expect them to mostly write up tickets for parking violations, but D.C. Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle says the officers can write tickets for distracted driving violations, such as talking on a cell phone.
He says the main goal is "to ensure that everybody's safe."
Lisle says there will be no quotas or goals on tickets as the officers in their red and yellow vests are routinely deployed to busy intersections.
"We feel that it's really going to make the streets safer -- and that's what our focus is," says Lisle.
Here are some of the infractions for which the officers can ticket you:


  • Parking in a bus or loading zone;
  • Parking in front of a designated entrance;
  • Expired tags;
  • No standing;
  • No parking anytime;
  • Double parking;
  • No parking during rush hour;
  • Expired inspection sticker;
  • No stopping;
  • No front or rear tag.

The traffic control officers won't be able to write citations for criminal violations.
(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)