Maryland takes both insurance compliance and accident-scene responsibility seriously. Driving without insurance is treated as a separate, parallel offense system run by the MVA — with penalties that accumulate every single day you remain uninsured. Hit-and-run charges, depending on what was hit and whether anyone was hurt, range from a moderate ticket to a serious felony.
This guide explains how Maryland’s mandatory insurance laws actually work, what happens after a hit-and-run charge, how the consequences differ for property damage versus injury, and how an insurance lapse can quietly cost you your license without you realizing it.
Maryland’s Mandatory Insurance Requirement
Maryland requires every registered vehicle to carry liability insurance at all times — not just when you’re driving it. The minimum coverage is $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $15,000 for property damage. Uninsured motorist coverage at the same levels is also required.
Insurance companies are required to notify the MVA the moment your coverage lapses. There’s no grace period and no benefit of the doubt. The notification triggers automatic MVA action that begins running the same day.
Penalties for Driving Without Insurance
Driving uninsured in Maryland carries two parallel sets of consequences — civil penalties from the MVA, and criminal penalties if you’re caught driving the uninsured vehicle.
MVA Penalties (Civil)
The MVA assesses uninsured motorist penalty fees the moment your coverage lapses. The fee structure:
- $150 for the first 30 days uninsured
- $7 per day after that — running continuously until you either restore insurance or surrender your tags
The MVA does not send reminders, and the fees compound silently. Many drivers don’t discover the lapse until they go to renew their registration and find they owe several thousand dollars in accumulated penalties. The MVA will also suspend your registration and driver’s license until everything is resolved.
Criminal Penalties
Driving an uninsured vehicle is a misdemeanor under Maryland Transportation Article §17-107. Penalties include up to $1,000 in fines for a first offense and up to $2,000 plus possible jail time for repeat offenses. The charge is separate from the MVA penalty fees — meaning you can owe both at the same time.
Insurance Lapse and License Suspension
When the MVA receives notice of an insurance lapse, it suspends both your registration and your driver’s license. Many Maryland drivers learn this the hard way: they let a policy lapse during a financial crunch, intend to fix it within a week, and end up pulled over with a now-suspended license they didn’t know was suspended.
The compounding effect is severe. By the time you address the original lapse, you may also be facing a separate charge for driving while suspended — a charge that carries up to a year in jail and is its own permanent record. Restoring everything requires paying all accumulated MVA fees, providing proof of new insurance, paying reinstatement fees, and in some cases attending an MVA hearing.
Hit-and-Run: What the Law Actually Requires
Maryland law requires drivers involved in any accident — even minor ones — to stop, exchange information, and render reasonable assistance if anyone is injured. Failing to do these things is what triggers a hit-and-run or “leaving the scene” charge.
The duties apply whether the accident involved another vehicle, a parked car, a pedestrian, a cyclist, or property like a mailbox or guardrail. Even a low-speed parking lot incident can result in a hit-and-run charge if the driver leaves without making reasonable attempts to find the owner or leave a note.
Hit-and-Run With Property Damage Only
If the accident caused only property damage — no injuries — the offense is a misdemeanor. Penalties include up to 60 days in jail, fines up to $500, and 8 points on your driving record. Even though it’s the “lower tier” of hit-and-run, 8 points alone is enough to trigger a license suspension.
Common scenarios that result in property-damage hit-and-run charges: clipping a parked car in a lot, sideswiping a vehicle in traffic and continuing on, or hitting a fixed object like a fence or sign and not reporting it.
Hit-and-Run Involving Injuries
When someone is injured in the accident, leaving the scene becomes far more serious:
- Injury (non-serious): Up to 1 year in jail and $3,000 in fines
- Serious bodily injury: Felony charge, up to 5 years in prison
- Death: Felony, up to 10 years in prison (or longer if other factors apply)
In injury and death cases, the prosecution doesn’t have to prove you caused the accident — only that you were involved and failed to stop. This is a critical distinction: a driver who wasn’t at fault but left the scene can face the full hit-and-run penalty regardless of who actually caused the collision.
Leaving the Scene vs. Hit-and-Run
The terms are often used interchangeably, but Maryland law actually treats them as related but distinct concepts. “Leaving the scene” is the technical statutory term for failing to stop or fulfill duties after an accident. “Hit-and-run” is the colloquial term used by the public and media. In practice, a Maryland charging document will reference the specific statute (Transportation Article §20-102 through §20-105) covering the exact duty allegedly violated.
The distinction matters because some defenses apply only to certain statutes — for example, a driver who didn’t realize an accident occurred has a different defense than one who knew but left anyway.
How Insurance Companies Treat Traffic Convictions
A conviction for driving uninsured or hit-and-run has long-term insurance consequences that often outweigh the court penalty itself:
- SR-22 requirement — High-risk insurance certificate required to be filed with the MVA, typically for 3 years. Premiums are significantly higher.
- Carrier non-renewal — Many insurance companies will simply not renew a policy after these convictions. You’re forced to find coverage on the high-risk market.
- Permanent rating impact — Some convictions follow you across carriers indefinitely. Even after the legal penalty expires, the insurance impact may not.
This is why a PBJ outcome can be especially valuable in these cases — a probation-before-judgment disposition keeps the conviction off your record for insurance purposes, often saving more money in premiums over 3 years than the entire legal defense cost.
When to Get a Lawyer Involved
For insurance and hit-and-run charges, several situations require legal help right away:
- Any hit-and-run charge, regardless of whether injuries are alleged
- Driving without insurance charges (especially with accumulated MVA fees)
- Insurance lapses that have triggered license suspension
- Any charge tied to an accident with property damage or injury
- Combined charges — for example, hit-and-run plus DUI
The Law Offices of David R. Waranch represents Maryland drivers in both driving uninsured and hit-and-run cases throughout the state. Because these charges carry long-term insurance and license consequences beyond the immediate penalty, early involvement is particularly valuable — the difference between a conviction and a PBJ can outweigh the legal fee many times over.
This guide is part of the Maryland Traffic Law Knowledge Hub. For specific questions about your situation, contact the Law Offices of David R. Waranch directly.