New Maryland Laws for Drivers Effective October 1, 2013

Driving with a cell phone?  Put it down!

Effective October 1, police can now pull Maryland drivers over for talking on a cell phone. The change likely to have the broadest impact could be that police can now pull over drivers for talking on a cell phone.  While this has been the law for 3 years, it was considered a secondary offense.  With the new law, talking on your cell phone will be a primary offense.  The cop doesn’t need to follow you in hopes you make a wrong move and ticket you for 2 things.  Along with the new primary offense law, if you are 18 years of age or older, you could pay $75 for a first violation, $125 for a second violation, and $175 for a third or subsequent violation, according to the Motor Vehicle Administration.  They’re stating that a violation will not add points to your Maryland driver’s license unless using the phone contributed to an accident.

Not wearing your seat belt?  Not placing your child(ren) in a seat belt?  This is for you!

The new Maryland seat belt law fines will increase from $25 to $50.  Here’s where I have a problem with the law.  Evidently, It is doing away with an exemption that formerly allowed a driver to have more child passengers in a vehicle than the number of safety seats or seat belts.  I never knew that, but apparently this was allowed.  The new law requires passengers 16 and older to wear a seat belt in any seat, but not wearing a seat belt in the back seat will be a secondary violation.