Traffic Tickets in Maryland When There Is No Traffic School

Why Maryland never offered dismissal classes

Florida and California let drivers choose traffic school to keep a ticket's points off their record. Maryland has no such system. The MVA says it does not remove points on request, and the Judiciary's traffic page offers no course among the ways to answer a citation.

Be skeptical of any site promising a Maryland traffic school that dismisses tickets or deletes points. A class you take on your own does not change how the court handles your ticket, although a judge may take voluntary effort into account when setting a fine or deciding on probation.

If you want to explain: the waiver hearing

This is the closest thing Maryland has. You plead guilty but tell the judge the circumstances, after which the judge may cut the fine, cancel it, or choose probation over a conviction. It is not a trial. To ask for one, check its box on a payable ticket, sign and date, and mail it within 30 days.

Know the risk: a judge is free to increase the fine as well, as far as $500. Stick to a brief account covering the events, anything that made the situation unusual, and how you have driven over the years. If you get cold feet, you can still pay the original fine any time before the court date.

Example: a driver with ten clean years gets a ticket on an unfamiliar road where the speed limit dropped suddenly. That is the kind of story a waiver hearing is built for.

In court: what probation before judgment does

Under PBJ, guilt is established but the judge declines to enter a final judgment, imposing probation instead, often with the DIP as one of its terms. In most cases the MVA then skips the points a conviction would bring, and down the road you can ask the court for an expungement.

There are limits. By statute, a provisional license holder who already got one PBJ on that license cannot get a second for a moving violation. For permit and provisional drivers it also resets the waiting period and the 18 month count, and a provisional driver is still referred to the DIP.

After court: how the DIP works

The class lasts between 4 and 8 hours and is taught by MVA approved providers. Referrals come from four places: a District Court judge, an administrative law judge, the MVA once your points reach the 5 to 7 range, or a moving violation (conviction or PBJ) while you were provisional. After a court referral, the MVA's letter usually arrives in 4 to 6 weeks.

Pick a provider from the letter or from the myMVA search, call for dates and price, and pay them directly. Bring the referral letter to class, and the provider tells the MVA you finished. If you miss the deadline in the letter's top right corner, your license is suspended until you complete it.

If you live elsewhere or want to do it online

Maryland treats live virtual classes and self-paced online courses differently. Ask whether a provider teaches in person or live online, and confirm the MVA has approved it. Generic internet defensive driving classes do not count toward a referral.

If you have moved away or are out of state for a while, the MVA directs you to the National Safety Council and its 6 to 8 hour defensive driving course near you. Then send proof of completion to the DIP unit at the MVA, by fax or by post. If the referral letter never reached you, update your address with the MVA before anything else.

If you hold a CDL

PBJ will not shield a commercial record. Federal rule 49 CFR 384.226 stops states from masking or deferring a commercial driver's traffic convictions, even in a personal car; parking, weight and defect violations are the only carve-outs. Assume the result will appear on your CDL record.

Another federal rule, 49 CFR 383.31, requires a written heads-up to your employer inside 30 days of any traffic conviction other than parking. If driving is how you earn a living, paying a lawyer for advice before you plead is usually money well spent.

If you cannot pay the fine all at once

Owe $150 or more across your fines? The Courts Article allows installments. Tick the installment option next to every violation, sign, and post it within the 30 days. Drivers facing or serving a suspension over unpaid fines of at least $150 may be eligible for a separate program, the Traffic Violation Installment Payment Plan.

Unresolved tickets are the court's business rather than the MVA's. If a letter from the MVA arrives about an unresolved citation, get in touch with the court before the deadline on that letter to pay or get a new court date.