I got a speeding ticket in Massachusetts and live in Maryland. Does the ticket transfer over to Maryland?

Question

I live in Maryland and I recently went on a road trip to Mt. Snow in Vermont. On my way back, I was stopped doing 83 in a 65 on Interstate 91. After he pulled me over he asked me to roll down all the windows, asked me why I was in Massachusetts, and asked my friends questions on where they were from. He took my license and quickly came back with a ticket. He said slow it down and stated he gave me a break by putting down 75 in a 65. On the ticket it states LIDAR & ESTIMATED. Interesting how you ESTIMATE a LIDAR reading.

My main question is this. I do not care about the $100 fine. I am wondering if Massachusetts will report the speeding ticket to Maryland and assess the 2 points Maryland imposes on speeds 10-15 miles over the limit. I have never had a speeding ticket before and am with GEICO. I don't want to be dropped from GEICO nor have my insurance premiums rasied. Thanks.

Answer 1

Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC) is an interstate compact used between the states to process traffic citations across state borders. If you did not pay the ticket that you got in Massachusetts they will notify the Maryland Department of motor vehicle and they will suspend your registration. I don't know how frequently you are in Massachusetts but they will eventually issue a warrant for failure to pay or plea to an infraction. No one is going to come and get you but if you get stopped in Massachusetts you'll have to post the $100 before you are released.
If your registration is suspended you're going to have to pay the fine before the State of Maryland will reinstate your registration and it costs you to get your reg reinstated.
I'm not sure of how it works in Massachusetts but in Connecticut if you pay the infraction no points go against your license. If you do not pay or you fight the ticket and lose you get points against your license.
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The State of Massachusetts will not report the ticket to the State of Maryland, but they will report it to your insurance company. Unless you have a VERY bad driving record, no insurance company on the planet will drop you for one speeding ticket, and in many cases your insurance won't go up if you only have one speeding ticket within a three-year period. So don't sweat it. The worst that could happen is your premiums might go up some, but if you only have the one ticket on your record you'll probably be fine.

Answer 3

You have to be very careful here. After many years of states not reporting violations to other states, most states signed on to the "Drivers License Compact" requiring states to report violations to other states, so if you get a ticket in Nevada it gets reported to California. You are fortunate in that Massachusetts did NOT sign on to this compact, so my impression is that they will NOT report the violation to Maryland.

However, Massachusetts DID sign the "Non-Resident Violator Compact", which says that if you don't pay the Massachusetts fine, Massachusetts will have Maryland suspend your license. Ouch!

So my research indicates that if you pay the fine you are probably OK (Massachusetts still has the option of reporting the violation, but they don't have to, and they tend to feel very strongly about privacy there, which is why I say, "Probably"), but if you don't pay the fine you're in real trouble.

Joe

Answer 4

If you do not respond to a ticket or fail to pay a fine for a moving violation that you committed in any state except Alaska, California, Michigan, Montana, Oregon or Wisconsin, the DMV suspends your driver license until you respond to the ticket or pay the fine. If a driver from a state except these six states fails to respond to a traffic ticket issued their driver license will be suspended until the driver responds to the traffic ticket.

Drivers from other states must contact the DMV in their home state to get information about the effect of a traffic violation conviction that occurs out of state.

It's most likely that they will deduct the points.

Answer 5

I had the same thing happen to me but I was in Arizona on my way to Texas. I was going 90 in a 70, I was charge about 200+ but It does still go on your DL record and you will have to pay raised insurance premiums. There is a small way around that though, if your still in good touch with your parents you can get put on there Insurance under them and usually get a raise of not more than 80 dollars depending on your's and your parents driving record. I know cause I was in California and I had 5 speeding tickets, all in 85 Ford Festiva. lol well hope this helps.

Answer 6

The offense will be eventually carried onto your DL in MD because both MA and MD are reciprocal states. It varies how MD will carry the points (if any) on your license.

However, as far as GEICO goes, I think you're SOL bud. Insurance companies always have a way of getting violation info from your DL, so sooner or later, whatever carries to MD will eventually reach their ears and jack your rates up accordingly.

Answer 7

I guess you would need to contact the Staties or someone to find out if Maryland and Massachusetts have a reciprocal agreement. For instance, I live in NJ - if I get a ticket in PA, they send it to NJ and I get NJ points.

Answer 8

It will still go against your license and you still have to pay it. Don't think that crossing state lines will make it go away. They will send you it in the mail, and they will make sure that you pay it. Call your insurance company. Chances are the won't drop you, but your rates may go up a bit.

Answer 9

yes your home state will be notified and normally will assess the points to your states license.

You should see if they will allow traffic school or some community service instead of points being assigned