Apr 12, 2026
It’s not a stretch of the imagination to get a speeding ticket. Your odds of getting one in any given year are roughly one-in-five, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (1). Having more than one outstanding citation is a rarity. But for one Virginia driver, he managed to rack up traffic-stopping 893 violations, and somehow failed to pay them all.
The fines for the tickets totaled over $260,000, before the car, a Black Audi with Maryland plates, was towed away by police (2) in Washington, D.C., on April 8. It’s enough to make an insurance broker grin sheepishly for you.
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“Repeated disregard of traffic law is unacceptable,” the DC police department wrote in a social media post on X, showing the car getting towed. “We’ll continue to track down scofflaw vehicles to keep DC roadways safe.”
Whoever the owner is, they managed to elude authorities for quite some time. In the District of Columbia, a vehicle can be eligible for booting after just two or more unpaid violations that are more than 60 days old, according to the DC Department of Public Works (3).
Most of the tickets for the Audi came from speeding and red-light violations, officials said (4). But, police did not comment on whether the owner could face possible arrest for the long list of violations and the steep amount owed.
High speeds, high fines
The Audi was impounded by DCPD and the D.C. Department of Public Works, but not without the public shaming on social media.
Fines for speeding tickets vary by region, and how far over the limit you’re going. The average speeding ticket costs anywhere from $80 to $1,000, including court fees, depending on which state issues it. It is a given that the faster you go, the more you’ll pay.
That hits the wallet hard, but the real pain comes a few months later when it is time to renew your auto insurance policy.
A study by The Zebra (5), an insurance comparison tool, found that driving violations can raise premiums by anywhere from 2% to 70%, depending on the severity of the infraction. Because violations stay on a driving record for three years, at least, those higher rates can stick around for quite a while.
Speeding leads to a 22% increase in premiums, or about $340 a year on average nationwide, the report found. Running a red light bumps those costs up by 21%, or about $325.
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Law enforcement faces questions
While few are defending the owner of the Audi, the announcement by D.C. police prompted questions about how the driver was able to rack up so many tickets without accountability. The note that most of the tickets came from automated systems suggests that at least some were issued by officers or parking enforcement, who didn’t call for the vehicle to be impounded.
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“Why do you guys wait for a dangerous driver to accumulate over one quarter million dollars in fines before doing something that can prevent someone from getting killed?” one person replied on the post.
“How did you allow this to go on for so long? You have cameras all over the city to catch this,” another commented.
Police did not respond to the question.
What to do when you get a ticket
As for drivers in the D.C. area (6) or any other state, they can avoid tickets by paying close attention to the street signs. Rules are strictly enforced. But if you do find yourself in a jam, there are seven legal defenses for parking tickets:
- You were not the owner or lessee of the vehicle at the time of the ticket
- The ticketed vehicle or its state registration was stolen at the time
- The relevant signs were missing or obscured
- The relevant parking meter was inoperable through no fault of the ticket receiver
- The facts alleged on the parking ticket are inconsistent with the infraction
- The vehicle was experiencing car trouble and needed to be towed
- The operator suddenly required medical assistance
As for the red lights (7), a request for an adjudication within the specified timeframe on the ticket needs to be made. Options do include online, by mail or in-person at the DMV Adjudication Service Center.
If you decide to contest the ticket, do not pay the fine.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Bureau of Justice Statistics (1); DC Police Department on X (2); DC Department of Public Works on X (3); Daily Voice (4); The Zebra (5); DC DMV (6); DC DMV (7)
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience, the majority of which were spent with some of the Internet’s biggest sites, including CNNMoney.com, where he was director of content development, and Yahoo! Finance, where he was managing editor. His work has also appeared on Fortune, Fast Company, Inc., CNBC.com, AARP, Nasdaq.com, and Voice of America, as well as dozens of other national publications.
