ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Thursday marks the first day several new MVA laws go into effect in Maryland.
All of them were passed during the 2020 General Assembly.
One law exempts deployed military members from having to comply with the state's mandatory Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program.
It includes those who may be stationed away from Maryland, in a state that doesn't have vehicle emissions laws.
Among other major traffic laws going into effect, the MVA will no longer have the authority to suspend your driver's license or vehicle registration over unpaid traffic or speed camera tickets, even if a judgment has been placed against you.
Instead if you fail to pay a fine or enter into a payment plan, the court can send it to collections or add it to fines already owed to the court.
Under the previous law, outstanding tickets would have to amount to $300 to be eligible for a payment plan. That's now been changed to $150, as long as you're able to certify your inability to pay. The new law also eliminates the requirement that monthly payments equal 10% of the total fine amount due.
Drivers on Thursday will be allowed to cross into a no-passing zone in order to get around a bicycle, as long as they do it from at least three-feet away.
Motorists must still yield the right of way to the bicycle and oncoming traffic.
Fees to transfer the title of a trailer to a family member are being slashed in half to $50.
Some rules still apply, the trailer needs to weigh less than 3,000 pounds, the person transferring it has to be 65-years or older, and it must be handed over as a gift.
Finally by January 1, the MVA is required to issue a special card to those wishing to voluntarily reveal a developmental disability if stopped by law enforcement.
The card will be blue and the same size as a license. It will lend guidance on how law enforcement and the card holder should communicate given their disability.
