WANADA Maryland members cautioned on MVA drivers license enforcement changes
WANADA members and their employees are cautioned that the Maryland MVA no longer automatically assigns court dates in all traffic cases; so if you believe youre not guilty when stopped for a traffic violation, you must specifically request a trial within 30 days of getting the ticket.
The law changed on January 1, 2011, but word apparently hasnt reached traffic ticket holders. According to the MVA, license suspensions are up 35% this year, largely because the state suspends the license if the ticket isnt paid with a guilty plea, or a trial date is requested. The MVA suspended 89,868 licenses in the first seven months of 2011. That is up from 66,609 during the same period in 2010 and 66,940 in 2009. Driving on a suspend license in Maryland is punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. There is no fee to get a license reinstated provided the underlying ticket is paid.
The state is also expanding its Ignition Interlock Program to keep drunken drivers off the road. The program, which began in 1989, is being expanded to require more people to put the devices in their cars. Maryland has the highest per-capita participation in ignition interlock on the East Coast with numbers that have nearly doubled in the past few years to an estimated 9,100 drivers. Participating drivers are required to report monthly to have their devices calibrated and to have their monitoring data electronically downloaded and sent to the MVA.
Download Bulletin PDF