Quick answer: Yes — sign it. In Maryland your signature on a traffic citation acknowledges that you received the ticket, and nothing more. That is not a police department’s opinion: Md. Code, Transp. § 26-201(c)(7) requires every citation to print a statement, right beside the signature line, saying that acknowledging the citation is not an Read More

Reinstatement of a Revoked Maryland Driver’s License If your driver’s license was revoked because you accumulated 12 or more points on your driving record, or because you violated an alcohol restriction, you may eventually be able to have your license reinstated.  The minimum amount of time you must wait before requesting reinstatement of your license once Read More

Quick answer: Maryland suspends licenses for a short, specific list of reasons, and the most common has nothing to do with bad driving — it is a missed court date or an unpaid fine on an old ticket. Points, child support arrears, an insurance lapse, a skipped driver improvement class and a DUI arrest are Read More

Quick answer: Every Maryland “bad license” charge sits in one of five penalty tiers, and the subsection printed on your citation decides which. § 16-303(c) suspended and § 16-303(d) revoked both carry up to 1 year in jail, a $1,000 fine and 12 points. The § 16-303(h) and (i) administrative tier carries no jail — Read More

Quick answer: Driving while your Maryland privilege is revoked violates Md. Code, Transp. § 16-303(d). It is a criminal charge, not a payable ticket: up to 1 year in jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both on a first offense, and up to 2 years on a second offense within 3 years — plus Read More

Quick answer: If you hold a CDL, a Maryland traffic ticket is never “just a ticket.” Federal law can disqualify your commercial license for violations that cost an ordinary driver a small fine — and the usual Maryland fix, Probation Before Judgment, is not available to you. A CDL conviction can’t legally be hidden. That’s Read More

In Maryland, the term “highway” does not necessarily mean that you were on the “highway” as most of us define it.  The term is defined by Maryland law extremely broadly and includes any public street or road. The key with any Maryland traffic violation is whether or not the violation occurred on a public road.  If Read More

Quick answer: Fleeing or eluding police in Maryland (Transp. § 21-904) means the State must prove you willfully failed to stop after a proper signal from either a uniformed officer displaying a badge or an officer in a clearly marked police vehicle. It is a must-appear misdemeanor, and a conviction adds 12 points to your Read More

Quick answer: Following too closely is 2 points — or 3 if it contributed to an accident. The fine is modest. But here is the thing that decides these cases: the statute contains no distance at all. No car lengths, no seconds, no feet. The entire standard is whether you were “reasonable and prudent” — Read More