New Traffic Ticketing Procedure Begins Jan. 1

Driving down the highway, you see a police car out of the corner of your eye. You cross your fingers, promise to slow down forever and wait to see if the car pulls out behind you. It does. Twenty minutes later the officer is handing you a ticket and explaining your choices to pay or go to court. Effective Jan. 1, your options will be different when it comes to fighting those tickets.

According to a Westminster Police Department press release, if motorists receive a traffic citation on or after Jan. 1, 2011, a new law requires the driver to request a trial date if he or she wants one, instead of a trial date being automatically assigned.

Under the new law, motorists will have three options upon being ticketed for a traffic violation. The first is to pay the full amount of the fine; the second is to request a hearing where guilt is not disputed, but rather comments are heard regarding sentencing; and the third is to request a trial date to dispute the ticket.

The press release states that a person who receives a citation must make one of these three choices and notify the District Court within 30 days of receipt of the citation. If not, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration will be notified and may take action to suspend the person's driver's license.

Under the current law, a person issued a citation is automatically given a trial date, according to the press release.

The old law required a driver to either pay the fine by the trial date or appear in court on that day to answer to the charge. Often, people waited until the day before, or even the day of trial to pay the fine. As a result, it was often too late to notify the police officer who issued the citation that he or she need not appear in court.

The situation created scheduling difficulties for police officers and often incurred overtime expenditures for police departments required to have police officers present in court.

The press release notes that the new law does not apply to citations issued for 'must appear' violations, such as DUI. Drivers who receive tickets for 'must appear' offenses, such as DUI, will still be notified by the courts with a trial date and location.

The law puts the responsibility on the driver for being proactive in either paying the fine or making necessary arrangements to appear in court to try to reduce or avoid the fine.