Quick answer: Driving without insurance in Maryland is not one charge but two, and they are very different. Under Transp. § 17-104(b) the registered owner who let the security lapse faces a $290 payable citation carrying 0 points — no proof of knowledge required. Under § 17-107 a driver who knew or had reason to know the car was uninsured faces a must-appear misdemeanor: 5 points, up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Which charge you face changes everything about how you fight it.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases. This is the criminal-charge companion to my statewide guide to driving without insurance in Maryland — here I go deep on the two charges: what each requires the State to prove, what it costs, and where the real defense lives.
Don’t just pay the $290. Paying a preset Maryland fine is a guilty plea, and it puts a conviction on your record. Requesting a waiver hearing or a trial keeps a non-conviction on the table — including probation before judgment under Crim. Proc. § 6-220, which is foreclosed the moment you pay. A hearing is not free: the judge can raise the fine up to $500. But that trade is yours to make, and paying by mail forfeits it.
What Are the Two Maryland Charges for Driving Without Insurance?
Maryland splits uninsured driving between the owner who failed to keep coverage in force and the driver who got behind the wheel knowing there was none. The owner’s version, § 17-104(b), is a strict-liability paperwork failure — a payable citation. The driver’s version, § 17-107, is a criminal misdemeanor with a knowledge element, points, and jail exposure. Sometimes one person is charged with both.
| § 17-104(b) — the owner | § 17-107 — the driver who knew | |
|---|---|---|
| What the State proves | You owned a registered vehicle and let the required security lapse during the registration period. No knowledge needed. | You drove (or, as owner, knowingly let another drive) a vehicle you knew or had reason to know was uninsured. |
| Ticket type | Payable — preset $290 | Must-appear — no prepay option |
| Points | 0 | 5 |
| Maximum on conviction | $500 fine (Transp. § 27-101) | 1st: up to 1 year and/or $1,000; 2nd+: up to 2 years and/or $1,000 |
| The fight | Was security actually in force? Keep the disposition a non-conviction. | Did you truly know? The knowledge element is rebuttable. |
§ 17-104(b): The Owner’s Payable $290 Charge
Section 17-104(b) is short and unforgiving:
“The owner of a motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this State shall maintain the required security for the vehicle during the registration period.”
There is no mental-state element here. If your registered car went a single day without insurance, the owner violated the statute, full stop. That is why the District Court lists it as a payable offense with a preset fine of $290 and zero points — a registration failure, not a crime of intent. The statutory maximum on conviction at trial is $500 under § 27-101, but most owners see the $290 preset first.
Zero points does not mean harmless: a paid § 17-104 citation is still a conviction on your record. And if coverage really was in force — a policy that quietly reinstated, an insurer that reported late, the wrong VIN in the state’s database — that is a defense worth a waiver hearing rather than a mailed check. If you were charged even though you had coverage, start with my page on being charged with driving uninsured when you had insurance.
§ 17-107: The Driver Who Knew — 5 Points and Jail on the Table
This is the serious one. Section 17-107 makes it a misdemeanor for a person “who knows or has reason to know” that a vehicle is uninsured to drive it — or, if they own it, to knowingly let someone else drive it. A first offense carries up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine; a second offense doubles the jail exposure to 2 years. It is must-appear: no box to check, no fine to mail. You, or a lawyer standing in for you, has to show up.
For most clients the 5 points sting more than the fine. A single § 17-107 conviction drops 5 points on a clean license at once, which lands you in mandatory Driver Improvement Program territory — see Maryland’s point system in a nutshell for how 3, 5, 8, and 12 points each trigger a different consequence. Jail on a first offense is legally available but not the usual outcome for someone who shows up with coverage restored. The conviction and the points are the realistic damage, and they are what a defense aims to avoid.
The “Knew or Had Reason to Know” Defense
Knowledge is not a technicality — it is an element the State must prove, and it is where § 17-107 cases are won and lost. A driver who genuinely believed the car was covered has a real defense: a payment thought to be current, a spouse who handled the policy, a carrier that canceled without effective notice, or a borrowed car nobody thought to ask about. Anyone who tells you knowledge is irrelevant to a Maryland uninsured-driving charge is simply wrong.
There is a catch built into the statute. Section 17-107(b)(1) gives the State a shortcut:
“…the introduction of the official records of the Motor Vehicle Administration showing the absence of a record that the vehicle is covered by the required security… shall be prima facie evidence that a person knows or has reason to know that a motor vehicle is not covered by the required security.”
Prima facie evidence is a presumption, not a verdict. It shifts the practical burden to you, but § 17-107(b)(2) expressly says the MVA records “may not limit the introduction of other evidence.” That is the opening. Cancellation letters, bank statements showing the premium was paid, an insurer’s reinstatement notice, texts with the car’s owner — all of it is admissible to answer the presumption. The whole fight in a typical § 17-107 case is whether that evidence beats the state’s printout.
What Happens in Court on a § 17-107 Charge
Because § 17-107 is must-appear, the case goes on a District Court criminal docket, not the payable-ticket pile. A good outcome usually comes from one of three places: attacking the knowledge element, finding a problem with the stop, or mitigation — walking in with coverage restored so the judge sees the problem is fixed. A first offender is often a candidate for probation before judgment under Crim. Proc. § 6-220, which avoids both the conviction and the 5 points; my page on how probation before judgment works in Maryland explains when it’s available.
Out-of-state or can’t get the day off? In many of these cases a lawyer can appear for you — see whether your lawyer can appear without you in Maryland traffic court. And if the car is long gone by your court date, bring a bill of sale or the MVA record of surrendered tags. It won’t erase what was true on the day of the stop, but it shows the court the problem is resolved — and that carries weight.
The MVA Penalty Runs on a Separate Track
The criminal charge is not the whole story. Whenever coverage lapses, the MVA also runs an administrative penalty that has nothing to do with the courtroom: a fee of $200 for the first 30 days plus $7 for every day after, capped at $3,500 per violation in a 12-month period, plus an automatic registration suspension. You can beat the criminal charge and still owe the fees. Those money-and-plates mechanics live on my insurance lapse and license suspension in Maryland page, and the full pillar is the Maryland insurance violations and hit-and-run guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
It can be either. As the owner under Transp. § 17-104(b) it is a payable citation with a $290 preset fine and 0 points. As a driver who knew the car was uninsured under § 17-107 it is a must-appear criminal misdemeanor carrying 5 points and up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
A § 17-107 conviction, the driver-who-knew charge, carries 5 points. The § 17-104(b) owner charge carries 0 points. Five points on a single conviction is enough to put a clean driver into Maryland’s mandatory Driver Improvement Program.
Yes. Section 17-107 only reaches a person who knows or has reason to know the vehicle is uninsured, and the State must prove it. MVA records showing no coverage are prima facie evidence of knowledge, but § 17-107(b)(2) lets you rebut it with other evidence such as cancellation letters, payment records, or texts with the owner.
Charged Under § 17-104 or § 17-107? Let’s Talk.
The distinction most drivers never hear is the whole point: the owner’s $290 citation and the driver’s must-appear charge are different problems with different defenses, and the criminal one usually turns on a knowledge element you may not realize you have. Before you pay anything by mail, let me look at which charge you’re facing and whether a non-conviction is in reach — and it helps to understand payable vs. must-appear tickets in Maryland first.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. § 17-104, § 17-106, § 17-107, § 27-101; Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 6-220. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.