Potomac River Bridges Towing Compact

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Potomac River Bridges Towing Compact
Formation date:	1991
Member jurisdictions:	3
Issue(s):	Infrastructure

The Potomac River Bridges Towing Compact is an interstate compact among Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The compact provides law enforcement officers and agencies the authorization to direct traffic, move disabled vehicles, or oversee other traffic-related matters on all Potomac River Bridges.

Text of the compact

The legislature of each member state passes the laws with certain modifications, but the core of the legislation remains the same.

Article I: Parties and Title This agreement shall be known as the Potomac River Bridges Towing Compact and the parties to this agreement are the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Article II: Findings and Purpose The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, Rochambeau Memorial Bridge, George Mason Memorial Bridge, Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge, Francis Scott Key Bridge, Chain Bridge and American Legion Bridge all pass through the territorial jurisdiction of two or more of the three parties.  Experience has shown that traffic back ups often prevent state troopers, state police officers, or police officers of the appropriate jurisdiction from arriving at the scene of a disabled or abandoned vehicle to take corrective action.  The purpose of this Compact is to facilitate the prompt and orderly removal of disabled and abandoned vehicles from the bridges by giving all three parties jurisdiction to exercise appropriate authority anywhere on the bridges. Article III: Authority to Direct Traffic and Authorize Removal of Vehicle The parties hereby give one another all necessary power and authority to have their respective state troopers, state police officers, or local law enforcement officers direct traffic and authorize the removal of disabled or abandoned vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, or the parts or contents thereof, from any part of the Potomac River bridges, to the same extent and in the same manner that such state troopers, state police officers, and law enforcement officers may exercise such authority in their own jurisdictions.  However, no party, acting through its state troopers, state police officers, or local law enforcement officers, shall have the authority to direct or authorize the towing or removal of any vehicle or other thing to a destination outside its own jurisdiction, unless the consent of a state trooper, state police officer, or law enforcement officer of the destination jurisdiction has been first obtained. Article IV: Disposition of Towed Vehicles All vehicles and their contents towed or removed from the Potomac River bridges pursuant to this Compact shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the place to which such vehicle and its contents are taken, and the handling and disposition of such vehicle and its contents shall be governed by the laws and procedures of that jurisdiction. Article V: No Agency Relationship Each of the parties shall act solely on its own authority within the jurisdiction granted.  This Compact shall not be construed as creating any agency relationship between the parties. Article VI: Effective Date The provisions of this Compact shall take effect thirty days after the legislative bodies of parties having jurisdiction over one or several of the bridges identified in Article II have enacted compacts substantially identical to this Compact. Article VII: Termination The Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the State of Maryland, or the Mayor of the District of Columbia may withdraw from this Compact at any time upon thirty days written notice to the other parties.

See also

• Interstate compact

External links

Suggest a link

• The Council of State Governments - National Center for Interstate Compacts
• The Council of State Governments - Potomac River Bridges Towing Compact