Change to Md. traffic law

(Thomson)

Starting Jan. 1, Maryland drivers who get ticketed will have to pick their own trial date. Currently, drivers who get a traffic ticket have three choices:

1. Pay the full amount of the fine
2. Request a waiver hearing. (Waiver hearings are for drivers
who don’t dispute the ticket, but want to have a judge hear an explanation before
being sentenced.)
3. Get a government-issued trial date.

In the new year, drivers who get a traffic ticket will no longer get a government-issued trial date. They will have to request a trial date if they want one. Sounds like a good thing to us.

The law was changed in part to reduce the amount of time police spend waiting in court for no-shows.

Drivers still have 30 days to pay the fine or request a trial.