Howard County Aggressive Driving Lawyer
A Howard County aggressive driving lawyer can help a person through charges. A person is charged with aggressive driving if they commit three or more of the following in Howard County:
- Passing a vehicle on the right
- Exceeding the maximum speed limit
- Following another vehicle too closely
- Failing to yield right-of-way
- Driving on laned roads
- Violating traffic lights and signs
- Overtaking and passing another vehicle unsafely
Committing three or more of these enumerated violations, simultaneously or anytime throughout a continuous period of operating a vehicle could result in aggressive driving charges. Penalties for this could be a thousand dollar fine and the driver could be assessed five points. Consult with a trusted lawyer for more information.
Speeding as Aggressive Driving
Speeding is one of the components of aggressive driving. Speeding by itself is not going to get an aggressive driving ticket. Speeding while tailgating or while hopping in and out of lanes would get a person an aggressive driving ticket. There is more than one offense at play.
Aggressive driving in Howard County is a common offense. There are really very few states that even have a penalty for aggressive driving and Maryland is one of them.
Level of Offense
Aggressive driving is a payable offense. A person can pay it without the need to appear in court. However, by paying the fine, they are automatically going to get the five points associated on their driving record and that could get their license in serious trouble very quickly. In Maryland, a person receiving five points on their driving record has to do a driver improvement course by the Motor Vehicle Administration. Talk to a Howard County aggressive driving lawyer for more information.
Prosecuting Aggressive Driving in Howard County
Aggressive driving is heard in District Court. It is on the non-serious Traffic Court Docket, so there is no state attorney present for these issues. It would just be the officer appearing.
If found guilty, there is a fine of no more than $500 and five points will be assessed on the driving record. If a fine is paid before the court hearing, it will be the full five points and the full fine. If the fine is paid after going to court, it is possible to get a reduced fine and/or point allocation, which is helpful because if the driver does get the five points, they would have to take an instructional course by the Motor Vehicle Administration.
Contacting a Howard County Aggressive Driving Lawyer
Even though it is a payable offense, aggressive driving is a fine and appearing in court is not required. It is best to go to court to try to fight the ticket so that, at the very minimum, the driver does not get the five points assessed to his license. It will be an opportunity, if the officer does appear in court, to ask questions, to cross-examine the police officer, and to make sure that everything was appropriately handled. A Howard County aggressive driving lawyer can look for loopholes to get the situation resolved without having to get points.